The Grammy Awards are back again this year with some of the most profound artists celebrating one of the biggest music award show. An award ceremony to highlight the success of these wonderful artists and a perfect opportunity to thank their loved ones and fans, the Grammys is truly a blessing.
Even with the pandemic in full effect, it did not stop our favourite artists from showcasing their performances and giving their acceptance speeches on stage. Fortunately, there was also a virtual audience to maintain social distancing.
Like every single year, the Grammys offers a fresh group of first-time winners. Here are the 15 musical talents to win their first Grammy award in 2021.
Megan Thee Stallion
- Awards won: 2
- Categories: Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance (featuring Beyoncé)
- Fun Fact: Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé made history at the Grammys as the first pair of women to win the best rap performance category for their remix of Megan Thee Stallion’s hit, “Savage”.
- Acceptance speech: “I don’t want to cry. First of all, I want to say everybody is amazing, every artist that is nominated for this award is amazing, so shout out to all of you all. It’s been a hell of a year, but we made it!”.
- Acceptance speech #2: “I’m so excited. Sometimes I’m in disbelief. I cannot believe I’m this girl from Houston who really made it. I and my mom used to always talk about me being at the Grammys, and she’d tell me that I’m going to win a Grammy”.
Harry Styles
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Pop Solo Performance
- Fun Fact: Harry Styles is the first member of One Direction to win a Grammy Award.
- Awkward moment: His acceptance speech had to be bleeped out due to saying the F-word.
- Acceptance speech: “This was the first song we wrote after my first album came out, during a day off in Nashville. I feel very grateful to be here, thank you“.
Kaytranada
- Awards won: 2
- Categories: Best Dance Recording (featuring Kali Uchis) and Best Dance/Electronic Album
- Fun fact: His award for Best Dance Recording featured two first-time winners including himself and Kali Uchis.
- Acceptance speech: “This is crazy. This is insane. I’m taking this one back to Montreal”.
Kali Uchis
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Dance Recording (featuring Kaytranada)
- Uchis’ reaction on Twitter: “WE WON THE GRAMMY WHATTTTTTTTT !!! AHHHHH”.
Brittany Howard
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Rock Song
- Fun Fact: Her category for Best Rock Song in 2021 was the first to ever have all-female nominees.
- Acceptance speech: “’Jaime’ is the beginning of something. A lot of work went into it, a lot of fear, a lot of ‘I’m not sure if this is a good idea. A lot of humility went into making the record. I walked away from my guys that I love to create something that I love. But because I released it, I now have this understanding of my own creativity, which is just: “Go for it. It doesn’t matter. You’re the one making it”. This record is me, making my own mistakes, making my own successes. It felt very freeing”.
The Strokes
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Rock Album
- Awkward acceptance speech: “It’s cutting out, who won? Woah! Damn, sorry we couldn’t hear. We won the damn Grammy!”.
- Their explanation: “We couldn’t hear, the connection got cut. All we heard was the nominees and then we heard, “Say something!” But we are very honored”.
Ledisi
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Traditional R&B Performance
- Acceptance speech: “Thank you God for this amazing gift,” Ledisi said. “Mama, look, look mom! To my amazing husband, Ron I love you, you’ve been there all the way. To all my fellow nominees and creatives out there, please keep going. We endure. Oh my Goooood!”.
Nas
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Rap Album
The Highwomen
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Country Song
- Brandi Carlile’s acceptance speech: “I am in complete shock! I’m so thrilled. We just wanted to see women in country music embraced, platformed. What a complete, astounding honor. Oh my God. Thank you!”
Jim “Kimo” West
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best New Age Album
- Technical Difficulties: We couldn’t hear his speech so producers have to quickly change to the next category.
- West’s reaction: “(Usually) after the main show you go to some nice parties, and now I’m just going to order some takeout, hang out and watch TV. I really want to win another one so that I can have the real experience”.
Bad Bunny
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Latin Pop Album and Urban Album
- Acceptance speech: “I’m very happy, very proud. I want to thank every person in the world that listens to my music and supports my career and ideas. It’s very special to achieve my dreams by simply doing what I love.”
Burna Boy
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Global Music Album
- Acceptance speech: “To every African out there, no matter where you are, no matter what you plan to do, you can achieve it, no matter where you’re from because you are a king. Look at me now! Grammy Award-winning Burna Boy. Thank you to everyone!!”.
Joanie Leeds
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Children’s Album
Tiffany Hadish
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Best Comedy Album
- Fun fact: It’s very rare for a woman to win this award. Plus, she was the only female nominee for this category.
Andrew Watt
- Awards won: 1
- Category: Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Congrats to all these first time Grammys winners! We can’t wait to see what they do next.
Source: Grammys.
