Billie Eilish Apologizes For Winning

For the second time in the last four years, The Grammys ended with a white winner apologizing to the Black artist she’d defeated for the top award of the night, according to The Wrap.

In 2017, it was Adele telling Beyonce that she “can’t possibly accept” the Album of the Year Grammy for “25,” because Beyonce deserved it for “Lemonade.” And this year, it was Billie Eilish telling Megan Thee Stallion that she thought about writing an acceptance speech that would explain why Megan deserved the Record of the Year award for “Savage,” but abandoned that idea because she was so sure that “Savage” would win.

But “Savage” didn’t win — Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” did, a year after she had swept all the top awards at the 2020 Grammys. While the teenage star to all appearances enjoyed her victories last year, she was clearly troubled by her win this year — and maybe the Recording Academy should be, too, because it simply continues the trend that Black artists have more trouble than they should winning in the four general categories — Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.