The Grammy went to Billie Eilish for Everything I Wanted - but the star used her speech to speak in tribute to Megan Thee Stallion, who was also nominated for the award.
"This is really embarrassing for me. Megan, girl, I was going to write a speech about how much you deserve this," Eilish said.
"You've had a year that I think is untoppable. You deserve everything in the world."
The global K-pop sensations landed their first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance this year, but lost out to Rain On Me by Lady Gaga With Ariana Grande.
3:50pm: Best Pop Vocal Album awarded to Dua Lipa for Future Nostalgia
Dua Lipa took out the Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy this year with her album Future Nostalgia, presented by Album of the Year nominees Jacob Collier and Jhené Aiko.
3:30pm: Megan Thee Stallion scoops second Grammy for Best Rap Song
The rapper landed her second award of the night for Savage featuring Beyonce. Queen Bey herself accompanied her onto the stage to accept the award.
"I definitely want to say thank you to Beyonce," Megan said on stage, sharing that she'd always wanted to grow up to be "the rap Beyonce".
3:20pm: Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion perform WAP live for the first time
It was one of the biggest hits of 2020, debuting at no.1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart with a record 93 million streams in the US in its first week alone.
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) March 15, 2021
Cardi B's performance included a pole dance routine to the song's heavily censored lyrics. She earlier revealed why she didn't submit the song for a Grammy: "If I was pressed for a Grammy I would have submitted WAP for this year. I didn't submit. I didn't want to be submitted to award shows until I put out my album."
Previously, Megan Thee Stallion took to the stage for her first Grammy performance. She performed a medley of her biggest hits so far including Savage, for which she's nominated for Record of the Year.
3.00pm: Song of the Year winner announced, country stars perform
The coveted Grammy for Song of the Year went to H.E.R. for I Can't Breathe, written in response to police killings of Black people in the US last year. The star was visibly stunned before she thanked her co-writers Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas.
"i'm so speechless right now ... we are the change we want to see," she said from the stage.
H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas accept the Song of the Year award for "I Can't Breathe". Photo / Getty Images
Earlier, country stars Miranda Lambert and Mickey Guyton graced the stage. Guyton sang her song Black Like Me and wowed with her first-ever Grammys performance.
And fresh from winning the award for best country album, Lambert sang Bluebird dressed in a beautiful blue gown.
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) March 15, 2021
Thank you Brittany Howard (@blkfootwhtfoot) and Chis Martin (@coldplay) for gracing the #GRAMMYs stage to honor the musicians who we love and have lost this past year.
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) March 15, 2021
The Grammys paid tribute to several artists who died in the past year.
Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak lead a tribute to Little Richard.
Lionel Richie lead the tribute to Kenny Rogers, who died in March last year aged 81. "I miss you, Kenny, I miss you man," Richie added at the end of his performance.
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) March 15, 2021
Brandi Carlile sang a beautiful rendition of Jon Prine's I Remember Everything. He died in April 2020.
2.15 pm: Taylor Swift performs
Joined by Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, Taylor Swift sang a medley of hits from the two albums she created during the pandemic. And Swift did not disappoint.
She began her performance with Cardigan. Picking up her guitar, she also performed her song August from Folklore which is up for the prestigious album of the year award. In a nod to her other recent album Evermore, she also sang Willow.
Performing not one or two, but three of her hits from 'folklore' and 'evermore.' pic.twitter.com/11RT651suQ
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) March 15, 2021
Her set was magical and whimsical, perfecting matching the mood of her album Folklore.
Elsewhere, Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak performed as Silk Sonic, singing their track Leave The Door open. It was a soulful performance, and they get big points for the matching suits.
Best country album was awarded to Miranda Lambert for her album Wildcard. She spoke about the "family" of country music singers and thanked her family for the award.
1. 50 pm: Dua Lipa's incredible performance
DaBaby was next, performing his record of the year nominated song Rockstar.
The energetic performance was complete with dancers and violinists and Bad Bunny followed with an impressive light show.
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) March 15, 2021
British pop star Dua Lipa dazzled in a series of stunning outfits while she sang her song Levitating. With just a short break, DaBaby picked up the mic to join Dua Lipa for the song.
With a costume change, the singer launched into her hit Don't Start Now.
1.35pm: Megan Thee Stallion wins best new artist
Lizzo presented the award to the rapper and singer, who teared up as she accepted the award.
Megan Thee Stallion accepts the Best New Artist award onstage. Photo / Getty Images
Black Pumas followed with a performance of their track Colors next, which is nominated for record of the year.
1.20pm: Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Haim kick off the show
Pop sensation Harry Styles opened the show with a performance of his hit song Watermelon Sugar.
Harry Styles opened the performances with his song Watermelon Sugar. Photo / AP
Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas followed with a performance of their song Everything I Wanted.
Sister act Haim performed their song The Steps, and all of the artists in the room grooved out.
Trevor Noah introduced the show with a monologue that included jokes about the pandemic and the royal family.
He was tasked with explaining how the Grammys are doing things differently this year with socially distanced performances and a small audience stationed at an outdoor marquee next to Los Angeles' Staples Centre.
Today's ceremony will be a performance-heavy affair, with only a handful of key awards handed out during the three-hour-plus affair:
Between those awards, you can expect big performances from Swift, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Cardi B and more.
Beyoncé and her daughter Blue Ivy have already won Grammy awards ahead of the televised ceremony. Photo / AP
The 2021 Grammy Awards air locally from 1pm today on TVNZ 2, and the red carpet pre-show is screening on Sky's E! channel from 11am.
Taika Waititi's win
Waititi added another trophy to his shelf before the ceremony began, winning an unexpected award for Jojo Rabbbit's soundtrack compilation. The Māori filmmaker picked up the Oscar award for best-adapted screenplay.
Rockstar — DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch — SethinTheKitchen, producer; Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Chris Dennis & Liz Robson, engineers/mixers; Susan Tabor, mastering engineer
Say So — Doja Cat — Tyson Trax, producer; Clint Gibbs, engineer/mixer; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
Billie Eilish was the big winner at the ceremony last year. Photo / AP
Everything I Wanted — Billie Eilish — Finneas O'Connell, producer; Rob Kinelski & Finneas O'Connell, engineers/mixers; John Greenham, mastering engineer - WINNER
Don't Start Now — Dua Lipa — Caroline Ailin & Ian Kirkpatrick, producers; Josh Gudwin, Drew Jurecka & Ian Kirkpatrick, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
Circles — Post Malone — Louis Bell, Frank Dukes & Post Malone, producers; Louis Bell & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
Savage — Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé — Beyoncé & J. White Did It, producers; Stuart White, engineer/mixer; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
Chilombo — Jhené Aiko — Fisticuffs & Julian-Quán Việt Lê, producers; Fisticuffs, Julian-Quán Việt Lê, Zeke Mishanec, Christian Plata & Gregg Rominiecki, engineers/mixers; Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo, Julian-Quán Việt Lê, Maclean Robinson & Brian Keith Warfield, songwriters; Dave Kutch, mastering engineer
Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) — Black Pumas — Jon Kaplan & Adrian Quesada, producers; Adrian Quesada, Jacob Sciba, Stuart Sikes & Erik Wofford, engineers/mixers; Eric Burton & Adrian Quesada, songwriters; JJ Golden, mastering engineer
Will Taylor Swift add to her Grammy wins? Photo / AP
Everyday Life — Coldplay — Daniel Green, Bill Rahko & Rik Simpson, producers; Mark "Spike" Stent, engineer/mixer; Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters; Emily Lazar, mastering engineer
Djesse Vol.3 — Jacob Collier — Jacob Collier, producer; Ben Bloomberg & Jacob Collier, engineers/mixers; Jacob Collier, songwriter; Chris Allgood & Emily Lazar, mastering engineers
Women in Music Pt. III — HAIM — Rostam Batmanglij, Danielle Haim & Ariel Rechtshaid, producers; Rostam Batmanglij, Jasmine Chen, John DeBold, Matt DiMona, Tom Elmhirst, Joey Messina-Doerning & Ariel Rechtshaid, engineers/mixers; Rostam Batmanglij, Alana Haim, Danielle Haim, Este Haim & Ariel Rechtshaid, songwriters; Emily Lazar, mastering engineer
Future Nostalgia — Dua Lipa — Koz, producer; Josh Gudwin & Cameron Gower Poole, engineers/mixers; Clarence Coffee Jr. & Dua Lipa, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
Hollywood's Bleeding — Post Malone — Louis Bell & Frank Dukes, producers; Louis Bell & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Austin Post & Billy Walsh, songwriters; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
Folklore — Taylor Swift — Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, producers; Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Jonathan Low & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer - WINNER
SONG OF THE YEAR
Black Parade — Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim "Kaydence" Krysiuk & Rickie "Caso" Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)
The Box — Samuel Gloade & Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Roddy Ricch)
