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Billie Eilish has ‘Adele moment’ after dedicating Grammy win to Megan Thee Stallion

Artist won prize for second year running, but appeared to suggest Megan Thee Stallion should have won instead

Roisin O'Connor
Monday 15 March 2021 00:27 EDT
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Billie Eilish dedicates Record of the Year award to Megan Thee Stallion

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Billie Eilish dedicated her Record of the Year win at the 2021 Grammy Awards to Megan Thee Stallion, in a move that reminded many fans of Adele’s tribute to Beyonce in 2017.

The “Bad Guy” star won the prize for the second year in a row – this time for her song “everything i wanted” – with her brother and producer FINNEAS.

They beat songs by artists including Megan Thee Stallion (Savage” ft Beyonce), Doja Cat (”Say So”), Dua Lipa (”Don’t Start Now”), Post Malone (”Circles”), Da Baby and Roddy Ricch (”ROCKSTAR”), Black Pumas (”Colors”) and Beyonce (”Black Parade”).

Accepting her award, Eilish praised her fellow artist Megan Thee Stallion and suggested she should have won.

This is really embarrassing for me,” she said. “Megan, girl... I was gonna write a speech about how you deserve this but then I was like, ‘There’s no way they’re going to choose me,’ I was like, ‘It’s hers.’ You deserve this. You had a year that I think is un-toppable.

“You are a queen—I want to cry thinking about how much I love you... You deserve everything in the world, I think about you constantly... You deserve it.”

Eilish then asked everyone to applaud Megan before continuing her acceptance speech.

(Getty Images for The Recording A)

Many people watching the ceremony compared the moment to the 2017 Grammys, where Adele insisted that her Album of the Year award should have gone to Beyonce, for Lemonade.

Megan didn’t go home empty-handed, however. She made history as the first female rapper to win Best Rap Song (with Beyonce for their “Savage” collaboration), and also scooped up Best New Artist.

The first virtual Grammys ceremony went relatively smoothly, handing out awards to Beyonce, Harry Styles, HER, and Taylor Swift.

Read more: The full list of Grammy winners

Beyonce and Swift both made history on the night: Beyonce surpassed Alison Krauss to become the most decorated female artist in Grammys history, while Swift became the first woman to win the coveted Album of the Year prize three times.

Read more: Lil Baby addresses police brutality in powerful performance

This year, Swift won for her critically acclaimed album Folklore, which she surprise-released last year. The record, which marked a noticeable move away from the high-octane pop of her previous albums, features collaborations with Bon Iver and The National’s Aaron Dessner.

See the full list of winners here.

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