American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift, on March 15, won the 2021 Grammy for Album of the Year. This might’ve been the easiest of the nominations to pick the winner. Swift’s ‘Folklore’ was up against Dua Lipa’s ‘Future Nostalgia’, Post Malone’s ‘Hollywood’s Bleeding’ and Coldplay’s ‘Everyday Life’ among others.

What makes Swift’s Folklore stand out is its magic, helping people through the tough times during the COVID-19 pandemic. The album happens to be a “bonafide commercial success” and also became the highest-rated Swift-album by the critics.

What made this a predictable category is The Weeknd’s absence from the nomination.

The ‘Love Story’ singer climbed to fame with her second album ‘Fearless’ (2008) that had chartbuster singles such as ‘Love Story’ and ‘You Belong With Me’.

Since 2008, Swift has taken home 11 Grammys (including 2021’s), 32 American Music Awards, 23 Billboard Music Awards and is one of the best-selling music artists with sales of over 200 million records worldwide.

Swift, who hasn’t won in five years, had bagged a handful of nominations and last month re-released ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’, which comprises re-recorded versions of her 2008 ‘Fearless’ songs.

Swift — a onetime Grammys darling who hasn’t won in five years — bagged Album of the Year.

Watch: Taylor Swift performs exile, song from ‘Folklore’

Folklore’ – Taylor Swift

Producers: Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner and Swift

Engineers/mixers: Antonoff, Dessner, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Jonathan Low and Laura Sisk

Songwriters: Dessner and Swift

Mastering engineer: Randy Merrill

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the music world celebrated its stars sans the normally glitzy gala. It was turned into a primarily virtual affair, with a mix of live and pre-taped performances in keeping with restrictions now commonplace in the coronavirus era, which left the industry flailing and forced the ceremony to be pushed back.

Grammys organisers plugged performances – bringing in heavyweights including Cardi B, Swift, Eilish, Lipa, Harry Styles, South Korean boy band sensation BTS and rapper DaBaby to light up screens.

Comedian Trevor Noah was roped in to host Sunday’s set-piece. This year the Academy has dedicated to the resilience of the music industry as well as frontline workers combatting the spread of COVID-19.