Grammy Awards 2021: Winners

Jacob Collier made Grammy-history with Chick Corea receiving several posthumous wins

Author: Alastair SteelPublished 15th Mar 2021
Last updated 15th Mar 2021

The 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards took place in Los Angeles last night with a socially-distanced outdoor ceremony, and many winners collecting awards via video link. The show, which was hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, opened with an all-star rendition of Marvin Gaye’s song 'Mercy, Mercy, Me'.

It was a good night for jazz, soul and blues with wins for Fantastic Negrito ('Best Contemporary Blues Album'), Bobby Rush ('Best Traditional Blues Album'), Thundercat ('Best Progressive R&B Album') and Jacob Collier - who became the first British artist to win for his first four albums.

Maria Schneider was given 'Best Large Jazz Ensemble' and 'Best Instrumental Composition', while Kurt Elling’s Secrets Are The Best Stories was named best vocal jazz album.

Snarky Puppy won the 'Best Contemporary Instrumental Album' for Live At the Royal Albert Hall, while Robert Glasper and Ledisi won best R&B song and performance respectively.

The late great Chick Corea was honoured with two awards - both for his Trilogy 2 project with Christian McBride and Brian Blade - 'Best Jazz Instrumental Album' and 'Best Improvised Jazz Solo'. Both were collected by his wife Gayle, who paid tribute to her “beloved husband of fifty years, soulmate, best friend and my hero” she said, “he lived and breathed the joy of creating each day, and his mission in life was to keep the music fires burning bright and to uplift and inspire others”.

Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton was given a posthumous 'Lifetime Achievement Award', while saxophone legend Benny Golson was made a Trustee of the Recording Academy.

GRAMMY Awards 2021 - Winners

See our abridged winners list:

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL - Snarky Puppy

Best Traditional R&B Performance

'ANYTHING FOR YOU' - Ledisi

Best R&B Song

'BETTER THAN I IMAGINE' - Robert Glasper, Meshell Ndegeocello & Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Robert Glasper Featuring H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello)

Best Progressive R&B Album

IT IS WHAT IT IS - Thundercat

Best Improvised Jazz Solo

'ALL BLUES' - Chick Corea, soloist. Track from: Trilogy 2 (Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade)

Best Jazz Vocal Album

SECRETS ARE THE BEST STORIES- Kurt Elling Featuring Danilo Pérez

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

TRILOGY 2- Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

DATA LORDS - Maria Schneider Orchestra

Best Latin Jazz Album

FOUR QUESTIONS- Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Best Traditional Blues Album

RAWER THAN RAW - Bobby Rush

Best Contemporary Blues Album

HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND YET?- Fantastic Negrito

Best Instrumental Composition

'SPUTNIK' - Maria Schneider, composer (Maria Schneider)

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

'HE WON'T HOLD YOU' - Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier Featuring Rapsody)

You can see the full list of winners here.

When were the GRAMMY Awards 2021 announced?

The 63rd GRAMMY Awards ceremony were announced on Sunday 14 March 2021.

On the 5th of January 2021, the Recording Academy postponed the event, which was originally due to take place at the end of January, due to an influx of COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations.