Grammys 2021: Harry Styles Opens The Show With “Watermelon Sugar” And A Dev Hynes Bass Solo
As per usual, the Grammys burned through most of their awards this afternoon and are on to what producers must believe is the main attraction: live performances. The first of the night was by Harry Styles, who is up for two trophies tonight as well: Best Pop Solo Performance for “Watermelon Sugar,” his first career #1 hit, and Best Pop Vocal Album for Fine Line, the album that yielded it. (His extremely twee “Adore You” video lost to Beyoncé, Wizkid, and Blue Ivy’s “Brown Skin Girl” video earlier today; yes, Blue Ivy is now a Grammy winner.)
Grammys producers announced ahead of time that they would not be broadcasting from the Staples Center this year as usual but instead using a unique setup with five stages in the round with a masked crew in the center. That room, as it turns out, is across the street from the Staples Center. After an opening monologue by host Trevor Noah in which he introduced the top nominees, Styles made his debut Grammys performance, singing the aforementioned “Watermelon Sugar” while wearing a leather suit and an extremely long boa. His band included Dev Hynes, aka Blood Orange, who got a bass solo at one point.
Watch the performance below.
And here’s just the bass solo:
Blood Orange and “Watermelon Sugar”: two great tastes that taste great together.