Trevor Noah peppered his opening monologue at the Grammys 2021 last night (March 14) with jokes about the Royal Family and Harry Styles.
The comedian took over from Alicia Keys, who hosted in 2020, and joked about the set up of this year’s event which was held in a marquee outside the LA Convention Center, with nominees sitting at socially-distanced tables.
“So there’s more tension in that tent than at a family reunion at Buckingham Palace,” joked Noah, who added: “Tonight is going to be the biggest outdoor event this year, besides the storming of the Capitol.”
You can read his full monologue below:
Good evening, everyone. And welcome to the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. My name is Trevor Noah and I’ll be your host tonight as we celebrate the last 10 years of music that got us through the last 10 years of coronavirus. I know it’s been one year, but it feels like 10.
As you can see, this year, people, we have made the decision to socially distance from the Staples Center, but we’re still broadcasting to you from the heart of downtown Los Angeles. This is not a Zoom background, alright? This is real. My uncle isn’t going to walk behind me naked even though I told him I was having an important meeting. That’s not going to happen tonight.
Tonight, we’re going to celebrate some of the fantastic music that has touched our lives and saved our souls over this unprecedented year. And as you can see, we are outside. Meaning, we get to enjoy the great Los Angeles air — which I know maybe as dangerous as COVID, but we’re willing to take the risk.
Tonight is going to be the biggest outdoor event this year besides the storming of the Capitol. Because, you see, right here in this elegant, open-air tent, we will be presenting the most prestigious, sought-after, peer-voted trophies in music, giving out shiny new Grammy awards live throughout the evening. But we have to do it quickly because tomorrow this tent is reserved for an outdoor wedding in Malibu and I do not want to lose my security deposit.
Now, rest assured, everyone here is following all COVID-19 protocols and guidelines. In fact, this is going to be the rare awards show where the white stuff going up people’s noses is cotton swabs. It’s really safe.
So, this year’s Grammys does look a little different, I’m not going to front. The whole thing is going to be different. But, it’s also going to be more exciting, because our impressive nominees will be sitting at those tables for their awards. So right now, there is more tension in that tent than at a family reunion at Buckingham palace. And I know that you haven’t been able to go to a concert in a long time, neither have I. So tonight, we’re bringing the concert to you.
After everyone makes their way down this red carpet, they’re going to head inside there to perform for each other and for you. And unlike an actual concert, two teenagers stacked on top of each other won’t stand in front of you and block your view.
That is what tonight is all about — it’s about bringing us all together as only music can. Well, I mean, music and vaccines. This evening, we will celebrate music and hopefully forget all our problems, unless one of our problems is being obsessed with Harry Styles, because that’s only going to worse, I can promise you.
You see, tonight we will enjoy performances from everyone from Megan Thee stallion to Cardi B, from Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic to Taylor Swift. We will hear some of the remarkable stars of country music — Miranda Lambert, Micky Guyton and Maren Morris. We will be paying tribute to some of the many great musical artists that we’ve lost during the last year, including Little Richard and Kenny Rogers and John Prine. We’ll also be bringing you global sensations: Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, BTS and Post Malone, plus exciting performances by Doja Cat, Roddy Ricch, Brandi Carlile, John Mayer, Brittany Howard and Chris Martin. And on top of all of that, people, we will be joined by not one, but two of the biggest and most beloved babies on planet Earth: Da Baby and Lil Baby.
And all of them will be performing right here in this beautiful room.
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards aired live on CBS and Paramount+. Overall, winners in a total of 83 categories were handed out at Sunday’s ceremonies.
Beyoncé took home the most awards at the ceremony, picking up four out of her nine nominations. In the process, she also broke the record for the most Grammy wins by a female artist or any singer, male or female.
Performances on the night came from Harry Styles, who kicked off the main ceremony with ‘Watermelon Sugar’, Taylor Swift, who gave a medley of songs from ‘folklore’ and evermore’, and BTS, who recreated the Grammys stage in Seoul.