American musician Jon Batiste
Credit: © Ron Adar, Shutterstock

For the 64th time, musicians gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, April 3rd to celebrate the past year‘s music. The Grammy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. South African comedian and television personality Trevor Noah hosted the awards show. American jazz pianist Jon Batiste won album of the year for “We Are,” in addition to 4 more of the 11 awards for which he was nominated. R&B duo Silk Sonic won record of the year for “Leave the Door Open.” American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo won three awards. She walked away from her first Grammy Awards after winning best new artist, best pop solo performance, and best pop vocal album. Doja Cat and SZA won best pop duo or group performance for “Kiss Me More.” Although Kanye West was not in attendance, he and Jay-Z won best rap song for “Jail.” In the rock genre, the Foo Fighters stole the show—winning best rock performance, best rock song, and best rock album only a week after the loss of their drummer Taylor Hawkins. Billie Eilish performed “Happier than Ever” wearing a T-shirt with the photograph of Hawkins. BTS performed their hit song “Butter” with a James Bond theme. Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, and Lil Nas X performed among other artists.

American entertainer Olivia Rodrigo
Credit: © Tinseltown, Shutterstock

The Grammy Awards are presented annually in the United States to honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences. Grammys currently are awarded in more than 80 categories in pop, rock, country, jazz, blues, gospel, folk, rap, Latin, and classical music, as well as engineering, producing, and music videos. Lifetime achievement awards are also presented by the Academy to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. Winners receive awards modeled after an old-fashioned record player called a gramophone. The term Grammy comes from the word gramophone.

American musician Billie Eilish in concert
Credit: © Ben Houdijk, Shutterstock

To be eligible for a Grammy, recordings must have been released during a one-year eligibility period defined by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. Members of the Academy and record companies submit entries, which are screened for eligibility and category placement. The Academy’s voting members nominate five finalists in each category. Members then vote for the winners. The Academy consists of musicians, producers, and other recording professionals.

Members of the South Korean pop group BTS are, left to right, front row: Suga and V. Back row: J-Hope, RM, Jin, Jimin, and Jungkook.
Credit: © RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

The first Grammys were awarded in 1958. Since 1971, the Grammy Awards have been presented on a live television special. Today, the special is watched by many millions of viewers throughout the world. In 1997, the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences was established as a separate organization with its own awards ceremony. The first Latin Grammys were awarded in 2000. Latin Grammys recognize excellence in international Latin music in more than 45 categories. Latin Grammys are selected by voting members of the Latin Recording Academy and follow many of the same rules as the other Grammys.

American rap artist Lil Nas X
Credit: © Denise Truscello, Getty Images

March 21, 2016

Canadian pop megastar Justin Bieber, who turned 22 on March 1, won his first Grammy Award last month. The hit single “Where Are Ü Now” (2015), by the American music producers Skrillex and Diplo (as the group Jack Ü), featuring Bieber on vocals, won a Grammy Award as best dance recording. Bieber has also won a number of other awards for his music, including American Music Awards, ASCAP Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and Juno Awards, which are presented annually to Canadian artists.

Justin Bieber is a Canadian pop singer, songwriter, and musician who gained international fame in the early 2000’s. Bieber became one of the youngest solo male artists to top the United States popular music albums chart. This photo shows him during a performance. Credit: © Shutterstock

The singer, songwriter, and musician gained international fame in the first decade of the 2000’s while still a teenager. Bieber’s first EP, My World (2009) became a huge worldwide hit. EP stands for extended play and is a type of musical recording that includes several songs but is not considered a full-length album. Bieber’s first studio album, My World 2.0 (2010), also became a huge worldwide hit. Bieber received Grammy nominations in 2011 for best new artist and for best pop vocal album for My World 2.0. The success of My World 2.0, released when Bieber was 16, made him the youngest solo male artist to top the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart since 13-year-old Stevie Wonder in 1963.

Justin Drew Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario. He grew up in Stratford, Ontario. He taught himself to play piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet. In 2007, when Bieber was 12, he posted a video of himself performing in a local singing competition on the video-sharing website YouTube. Bieber’s popularity grew as his mother posted more videos of him singing. Bieber’s videos were discovered by a music producer named Scooter Braun, who became his manager. Bieber was soon signed to a recording contract.

Bieber’s first single, “One Time,” was released in 2009 and became a hit in more than 10 countries. His other hits include “One Less Lonely Girl,” “Love Me,” and “Favorite Girl” (all 2009); “Baby,” “Never Let You Go,” and “U Smile” (all 2010); “Boyfriend” (2012); and “Love Yourself,” “Sorry,” and “What Do You Mean?” (all 2015). The release of the latter, on Aug. 28, 2015, made Bieber the youngest male artist to debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In addition to that record, Bieber has also set five other records in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 2012, his music video for “Baby” (with the American rap performer Ludacris) became the most popular video of any kind online. Also that year, Bieber became the first artist to have three #1 albums in the United States and the United Kingdom before the age of 18, as well as the person with the most widespread social network message in 24 hours, after a message celebrating his 18th birthday was posted 251,878 times on Facebook and Twitter. In 2014, Bieber became the youngest solo artist to have five #1 albums in the United States and the youngest musician with a music channel viewed three billion times.

Bieber’s second studio album, the Christmas album Under the Mistletoe (2011), also became a #1 hit. It was the first holiday album by a male solo artist to open at #1 in the 55 years of Billboard’s album chart. Bieber donated some of the album’s proceeds to his “BELIEVE” charity. Bieber’s third studio album, Believe (2012), also became a #1 hit. His fourth studio album, Purpose, released in November 2015, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. It sold 522,000 copies in its first week of release, giving Bieber the largest first-week sales of his career. Bieber also had #1 hits with the remix albums Never Say Never: The Remixes (2011) and Believe Acoustic (2013).

Bieber appeared in the documentary concert films Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) and Justin Bieber’s Believe (2013).

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