Blues Music Awards 2021: Shemekia Copeland, Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram among big winners
MEMPHIS – Chicago blues queen Shemekia Copeland and Mississippi guitar ace Christone "Kingfish" Ingram were among the big winners at the 42nd annual Blues Music Awards on Sunday.
The awards — presented by the Memphis-based Blues Foundation — were held as a virtual event again in 2021, the second year in a row the long-running ceremonies have been affected by COVID-19.
Despite the streaming nature of the event, the show was a lively two-hour-plus ceremony that featured numerous musical performances and 25 awards handed out as part of the blues world's top honors.
Copeland nabbed three BMA trophies including the prestigious B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award. Her socially and politically charged opus "Uncivil War" helped her earn the top Contemporary Blues Female Artist award for the second year in a row. Copeland also earned honors for the best Contemporary Blues Album.
Ingram, the 22-year-old Clarksdale, Mississippi, six-string phenom, followed his BMA triumphs in 2020 — when he won five awards — with a pair of trophies in 2021: Contemporary Blues Male Artist and the instrumentalist award as top guitarist.
A pair of blues veterans in guitarist Elvin Bishop and Mississippi-born, Memphis-raised harp man Charlie Musselwhite won multiple awards for their joint LP, "100 Years of Blues." The record nabbed Album of the Year and Traditional Blues Album honors.
St. Louis native Mike Zito won in the Blues Rock Artist category, as well as the Blues Rock Album category for "Rock ‘n’ Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry."
Other big names, including Blues Hall of Famers Bettye LaVette and Bobby Rush also earned victories on Sunday. LaVette won for Soul Blues Female Artist, while Rush took the prize for Acoustic Blues Album with "Rawer than Raw."
Rush, Ingram, R&B singer Don Bryant and soul-blues bands John Németh & the Blue Dreamers and Southern Avenue were among the Memphis and Mississippi artists who also performed as part of the ceremonies.
The Blues Foundation’s new President Patricia Wilson Aden oversaw her first BMAs since taking over the role in fall 2020. Aden noted the foundation was “proud to continue the Blues Music Awards’ time-honored tradition in 2021."
"Although we were not able to gather for a live performance, the global blues community came together virtually for an awesome celebration of the best of the blues," Aden said. "We applaud all of this year’s winners and are grateful for the support of everyone who made the 42nd Blues Music Awards a one-of-a-kind experience.”
2021 Blues Music Awards Winners
B.B. King Entertainer of the Year: Shemekia Copeland
Album of the Year: "100 Years of Blues," Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite
Band of the Year: Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
Song of the Year: “All Out of Tears,” written by Walter Trout, Marie Trout, and Teeny Tucker (performed by Walter Trout)
Best Emerging Artist Album: "Harlem," King Solomon Hicks
Acoustic Blues Album: "Rawer Than Raw," Bobby Rush
Blues Rock Album: "Mike Zito and Friends - Rock ‘n’ Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry," Mike Zito
Contemporary Blues Album: "Uncivil War," Shemekia Copeland
Soul Blues Album: "That's What I Heard," Robert Cray Band
Traditional Blues Album: "100 Years of Blues," Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite
Acoustic Blues Artist: Keb' Mo'
Blues Rock Artist: Mike Zito
Contemporary Blues Female Artist: Shemekia Copeland
Contemporary Blues Male Artist: Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
Soul Blues Female Artist: Bettye LaVette
Soul Blues Male Artist: Curtis Salgado
Traditional Blues Female Artist (Koko Taylor Award): Rory Block
Traditional Blues Male Artist: John Primer
Instrumentalist - Bass: Danielle Nicole
Instrumentalist - Drums: Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith
Instrumentalist - Guitar: Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
Instrumentalist - Harmonica: Kim Wilson
Instrumentalist - Horn: Jimmy Carpenter
Instrumentalist - Piano (Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award): Anthony Geraci
Instrumentalist - Vocals: Ruthie Foster
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Blues Music Awards: Shemekia Copeland, Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram win
