2021 Grammys
Skillet Frontman John Cooper Attempts to Clarify Comments About Cardi B, The Grammys, and Hitler
Skillet frontman John Cooper has attempted to clarify his recent remarks comparing Cardi B’s “WAP” performance at the 2021 Grammys to speeches by Adolf Hitler. Cooper said his initial comments were “misrepresented” during a follow-up episode of his “Cooper Talk” video podcast, denying he compared Cardi B or the Grammys to any dictators. The Christian rock singer and self-described conservative sparked controversy when he tried to explain that a positive reception of Cardi B’s sexually charged Grammy performance with Megan Thee Stallion was an example of the “woke” public mistaking evil for good. He then used Hitler’s propaganda speeches as a historical example, saying that “every dictator in history says that what they were doing was good,” and that people are “forced to applaud” the “sexu...
Insensitive BTS Garbage Pail Kids Sticker Removed from Grammys Set
Following the 2021 Grammy Awards, popular trading card manufacturer Topps announced its “Shammy Awards” Garbage Pail Kids sticker collection. However, the company has since removed the BTS sticker from the set following swift backlash over the insensitive depiction of the K-pop stars amidst a rise in anti-Asian violence. The Garage Pail Kids are a long-running series spoofing and satirizing Cabbage Patch dolls by drawing characters in negative, often violent or vulgar situations. The Shammy set aimed to poke fun at some of music’s biggest names on music’s biggest night, focusing in on artists’ attire or performances. There’s a drawing of Taylor “Tree-Swift” becoming a tree during her woodland performance, Harry “Boa” Styles being attacked by an angry green boa, “Bouyant” Billie Eilish sing...
Tucker Carlson Decries “WAP” Grammys Performance: “Trying to Degrade Our Culture and Hurt Our Children”
On Monday night, conservative snowflake Tucker Carlson threw his latest hissy fit about Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s No. 1 hit, “WAP”, claiming their Grammys performance was proof that “they’re intentionally trying to degrade our culture and hurt our children.” Despite being so outraged about the display, the Tucker Carlson Tonight host continued to play the performance in the background and nearly showed the entire thing. The Daily Beast captured the segment, in which Carlson started disingenuously ranting about the “culture vandals” reexamining the racist and misogynist tones of Dr. Seuss, Disney, and Looney Tunes characters. He then aired “the only portion we can play you,” a statement he went back on shortly afterward. “No more Dumbo, it’s too filthy. We get that instead,” he said...
Grammys 2021: Music’s Biggest Night Finally Makes Music the Focus
The 2021 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and the pop culture landscape both look vastly different from years past. The show, which has often overlooked contributions from women and people of color, is working on course correction, and this year’s program certainly reflected these efforts. While band-aids on gaping wounds aren’t always enough, the choice to focus on the reason for gathering — the music — was a wise one and paid off due in part to the “in the round” stage setups that recalled Jools Holland’s BBC format. Executive producer Ben Winston pulled off one of the cleanest, smoothest awards shows of this era, working to create some of the moments that make shows like this memorable. As always, though, the Grammys are a frustrating paradox. They correctly spotlighted some of the best art...
Eddie Van Halen’s Son Wolfgang Declined Invite to Perform Tribute at Grammys
Many viewers came away from Sunday’s Grammy Awards disappointed with the very brief tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen. On Monday, his son Wolfgang revealed that he was invited to perform Van Halen’s “Eruption” but declined. Even so, he was one of the ones who was underwhelmed by the salute to his father. While such artists as John Prine, Little Richard, and Kenny Rogers were toasted with full musical performances, Eddie Van Halen’s legacy was observed with one of his guitars sitting on a stage for 15 seconds during the “In Memoriam” segment, as a few videos played behind it. In a tweet, Wolfgang explained that he didn’t want play his father’s iconic Van Halen instrumental track “Eruption” because he felt he wouldn’t do it justice. That said, he was hoping the Grammys would do a little mo...
2021 Grammy Awards Ratings Plummet to Less than Half of 2020’s Viewers
Music’s Biggest Night put on one hell of a concert, but unfortunately not a lot of people watched it go down. According to Nielsen figures, the 2021 Grammy Awards ratings experienced a huge drop in viewership this year, with only 7.89 million viewers tuning in to watch the show. That’s less than half (!) of the number of people who watched the Grammys in 2020. Out of that nearly eight million estimate, the 2021 Grammy Awards only drew a 1.9 rating among adults aged 18 to 49 years old — their key demographic and the audience that they court the hardest each year. By comparison, the 2020 awards averaged about 16.54 million viewers and a 4.8 in that same age group. And to think, that was before adjusting the ratings to their official (but still paltry) 18.69 million viewers and 5.4 rating amo...
Grammys Ratings See Steep Decline; Final Tally Could See Record Low
Last night’s Grammy Awards were pretty good! They had a nice mix of performances, quips and mostly got the actual awards part right — with a few exceptions, of course. However, that didn’t mean that people tuned in. According to early ratings reports from Nielsen, the actual telecast on CBS was the lowest-rated Grammys in history. The show pulled in an average of 7.88 million viewers with a 1.9 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic (which is the key figure for advertisers). Believe it or not, that’s less than half of the audience who tuned in for the 2020 edition that took place last January. The final numbers for that event were 18.69 million and a 5.4 rating. The 2021 figure also includes people who lived livestreamed the event. <!– // Brid Player Singles. ...
Grammys 2021: John Prine Posthumously Wins Two Awards for “I Remember Everything”
The late John Prine posthumously won Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Prine’s final song “I Remember Everything” claimed the prize in both categories, beating out fellow nominees including Brittany Howard, Black Pumas, Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, and Mavis Staples. These Grammys mark the third and fourth ones of Prine’s legendary career. He previously won Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1991 and again in 2005. Additionally, last year he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Prine passed away on April 7th, 2020 from complications of COVID-19. “I Remember Everything” was released two months later on June 12th, and was later name one of Consequence of Sound’s favorite songs of 2020. In the corresponding writeup, Matt Melis had ...
Grammys 2021: Billie Eilish Performs “Everything I Wanted”: Watch
Billie Eilish took the stage at the 2021 Grammy Awards on Sunday to perform “Everything I Wanted”. Watch the replay below. “Everything I Wanted” is up for three Grammy Awards, including “Record of the Year”, “Song of the Year”, and “Best Solo Pop Performance”. During the Premiere Ceremony, Eilish won the award for Best Song Written for Visual Media for her James Bond theme, “No Time to Die”. Our former Rookie of the Year and Artist of the Year made a record-setting debut at the 2020 Grammys, becoming the youngest person in history to win the four main categories of Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. in the same year. Awards aside, 2020 was a relatively slow year by Eilish’s standards, but in addition to “No Time to Die” and “Therefore I Am”, ...
Grammys 2021: Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic Perform “Leave the Door Open”: Watch
After successfully talking their way onto the Grammys stage, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak made their live debut as Silk Sonic performing “Leave the Door Open”. Later, as the award ceremony paused to reflect on the artists who died this year, Mars and .Paak paid tribute to Little Richard with a performance of “Good Golly Miss Molly”. The soulful supergroup released their debut single earlier this month, and then all that was left to do was promote it. “Dear Grammys”, Mars wrote in a Twitter letter, “If you can see it in your hearts to allow two out of work musicians to perform at your show, we would really appreciate it.” Ask and ye shall receive. For music’s biggest night, the artists performed “Leave the Door Open” in throwback threads, wearing brown suits unbuttoned to the ste...
Grammys 2021: Taylor Swift Performs “cardigan”, “august”, and “willow”: Watch
Taylor Swift returned to the stage at the 2021 Grammy Awards on Sunday to sing moving renditions of her tracks “cardigan”, “august”, and “willow”. Watch a replay of the three-song medley below. On the heels of her excellent albums folklore and evermore, Swift delivered one of the most anticipated performances of the Grammys. She certainly did not disappoint, creating a woodland fantasy on the socially distanced stage. She began laying among the moss of what you’d assume was the forest floor, but turned out to be the slanted roof of a tiny house. Inside were Swift’s collaborators, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, whom she joined as she went inside “august”. All three then stepped outside to end on “willow” as the makeshift grove came alive with fairy dust. Unsurprisingly, Swift ea...
Grammys 2021: Silk Sonic, Lionel Richie, Brandi Carlie, and Brittany Howard Play In Memoriam Tribute: Watch
During the 2021 Grammys on Sunday night, Silk Sonic, Lionel Richie, Brandi Carlile, and Brittany Howard took the stage for an In Memoriam segment honoring Little Richard, Kenny Rogers, John Prine, and Gerry Marsden. Silk Sonic followed up their earlier performance of “Leave the Door Open” by paying tribute to Little Richard with “Long Tall Sally” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly”. Anderson .Paak slammed the drums and Bruno Mars acted like he was possessed by the late icon. Richie was up next, honoring Kenny Rogers with a performance of Rogers’ “Lady”, while Carlile ran through a solo acoustic version of Prine’s final song, “I Remember Everything”. The segment closed with Brittany Howard being joined by Chris Martin on the piano to sing Gerry and The Pacemakers’ “Y...
