By Mark Savage BBC music reporter
- Published
The 2021 Grammys have kicked off with a focus on performances, with Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Haim playing back-to-back in the opening 10 minutes.
"I know that you haven't been able to go to a concert in a long time," said host Trevor Noah. "So tonight we're bringing the concert to you."
Because of the pandemic, bands are arranged across five stages, in the style of Jools Holland's BBC TV show.
Styles raised the curtain with his hit single Watermelon Sugar.
The song, which is up for best pop single later in the night, was his first solo top 10 hit in the US last summer.
"It's crazy to think someone that talented and handsome is from the same place as Boris Johnson," joked Noah as his performance ended.
Billie Eilish, who dominated last year's ceremony, followed with her ballad Everything I Wanted.
The song, which looks at the disorientating effect of her stardom, is up for both record and song of the year. She has already won best song written for visual media, for her Bond theme No Time To Die.
"It was a dream to make the song," said the singer. "I have no words. I can't believe this is real. I couldn't believe it was real then…"
Most of the ceremony is being held 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 that: "Tonight is going to be the biggest outdoor event this year, besides the storming of the capital".
The first award of the main ceremony was best new artist, which went to Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
"I don't want to cry," she said as she took to the stage. "It's been a crazy year, but we made it."
The star also thanked her mother, who died of a brain tumour in 2019.
"She couldn't be here with me tonight," she had said on the red carpet earlier in the night. "But she always knew that I would be at the Grammys, and I would be like, 'Oh mom, that's so far away' but it came so quick.
"And I'm just so appreciative that I'm here."
Other performances due during the show come from BTS, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and Chris Martin of Coldplay.
Some awards will also be presented by staff from US music venues, which have been forced to close over the last year.
Beyoncé led the nominations going into the ceremony. with nine in total. Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and rapper Roddy Ricch also have six each.
She has already won two of those, in an extensive pre-ceremony show, where dozens of genre-based awards were handed out to the likes of Fiona Apple, Kanye West, The Strokes, Burna Boy and British musician Jacob Collier.
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