GRAMMY AWARDS – Given how this year unfolds, you might be ready to move quickly to 2021. In addition to not being 2020 anymore, next year has other great things to do, including Music’s Biggest Night, aka the 63rd GRAMMY Awards, which will take place on January 31, 2021, and honor the excellence of music released at the end of 2019 and 2020. I hope you are as excited about the show as we are! And while there’s still a lot to be determined, including this year’s GRAMMY Nominees Pack and, of course, who will win the 2021 GRAMMYs voting-based Gold Gramophones, we certainly know enough to be excited.
To help you stay tuned, read on for more about dates and essential details about the GRAMMY nominations, the Recording Academy membership voting process, and everything else about the 2021 GRAMMY Awards!
When Is It?
The 63rd GRAMMY Awards will occur on January 31, 2021, rain or shine, with COVID-19 vaccine or not. The health and safety of artists, guests, crew, and staff are always the centers of attention during each GRAMMY, so logistically, this year, things will be slightly different.
How Can I Watch?
Music fans worldwide will be able to watch the dazzling show live on CBS / CBS All Access. The GRAMMY inaugural ceremony, where most of the 84 award categories are awarded, will be broadcast live on GRAMMY.com. Much like the main show, the premiere ceremony also includes GRAMMY nominees and star announcers’ epic live performances.
What About Nominations?
One of the biggest days in music outside the show itself is the nominations’ announcement when hundreds of performers learn they are in the running for a golden gramophone. For the upcoming 63rd GRAMMY Awards, nominees for all categories will be announced on November 24th. The big announcement will occur during a 1-hour live broadcast starting around 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET, right here on GRAMMY.com.
GRAMMY nominations are always a very festive day for the nominees. It’s truly a time when all the love, long hours, and hard work that has gone into music are worth it – not only did the artist’s peers hear it, but they felt it deserved the music. Highest musical recognition. Time to assemble the crew on Zoom and pop some sparkling wine!
Several significant changes to voting guidelines and rules will affect this year, the latter involving five prize categories. These updates, announced in June, reflect the Recording Academy’s continued commitment to evolving with the music landscape and making the nomination process and rules more transparent and fair. More details on the changes can be found in the link above, but the rule/category updates are highlighted below.
- Best Urban Contemporary Album was renamed Best Progressive R&B Album and contained a more precise definition to describe the merits or characteristics of musical compositions or performances in the R&B genre.
- Best Rap/Sung Performance has been rebranded as Best Melodic Rap Performance to represent the growing hybrid version trends’ rap genre.
- Latin Pop Album was renamed Best Latin Pop or Urban Album, And Latin Rock, Urban, or Alternative Album was renamed Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album to represent the current status and prominent representation in urban Latin genres.
There is no longer a specified maximum number of releases that prohibit artists from entering the Best New Artist category. The selection committees will determine if the artist has reached a turning point or a relief before the year of eligibility, with this determination would result in disqualification.
