diff --git a/go/cmd/vtctldclient/internal/command/backups.go b/go/cmd/vtctldclient/internal/command/backups.go
index 02fca34b620..38807e3d21a 100644
--- a/go/cmd/vtctldclient/internal/command/backups.go
+++ b/go/cmd/vtctldclient/internal/command/backups.go
@@ -36,8 +36,10 @@ var GetBackups = &cobra.Command{
 }
 
 var getBackupsOptions = struct {
-	Limit      uint32
-	OutputJSON bool
+	Limit         uint32
+	Detailed      bool
+	DetailedLimit uint32
+	OutputJSON    bool
 }{}
 
 func commandGetBackups(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
@@ -49,15 +51,17 @@ func commandGetBackups(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	cli.FinishedParsing(cmd)
 
 	resp, err := client.GetBackups(commandCtx, &vtctldatapb.GetBackupsRequest{
-		Keyspace: keyspace,
-		Shard:    shard,
-		Limit:    getBackupsOptions.Limit,
+		Keyspace:      keyspace,
+		Shard:         shard,
+		Limit:         getBackupsOptions.Limit,
+		Detailed:      getBackupsOptions.Detailed,
+		DetailedLimit: getBackupsOptions.DetailedLimit,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if getBackupsOptions.OutputJSON {
+	if getBackupsOptions.OutputJSON || getBackupsOptions.Detailed {
 		data, err := cli.MarshalJSON(resp)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -80,5 +84,7 @@ func commandGetBackups(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 func init() {
 	GetBackups.Flags().Uint32VarP(&getBackupsOptions.Limit, "limit", "l", 0, "Retrieve only the most recent N backups")
 	GetBackups.Flags().BoolVarP(&getBackupsOptions.OutputJSON, "json", "j", false, "Output backup info in JSON format rather than a list of backups")
+	GetBackups.Flags().BoolVar(&getBackupsOptions.Detailed, "detailed", false, "Get detailed backup info, such as the engine used for each backup, and its status. Implies --json.")
+	GetBackups.Flags().Uint32Var(&getBackupsOptions.DetailedLimit, "detailed-limit", 0, "Get detailed backup info for only the most recent N backups. Ignored if --detailed is not passed.")
 	Root.AddCommand(GetBackups)
 }
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/azblobbackupstorage/azblob.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/azblobbackupstorage/azblob.go
index 46ff6ca1d79..4573449adf1 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/azblobbackupstorage/azblob.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/azblobbackupstorage/azblob.go
@@ -262,6 +262,11 @@ func (bh *AZBlobBackupHandle) ReadFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (io
 	}), nil
 }
 
+// CheckFile is part of the BackupHandle interface. It is currently unimplemented.
+func (bh *AZBlobBackupHandle) CheckFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (bool, error) {
+	return false, nil
+}
+
 // AZBlobBackupStorage structs implements the BackupStorage interface for AZBlob
 type AZBlobBackupStorage struct {
 }
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/backup.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/backup.go
index 8480c4615ec..332a97a3c41 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/backup.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/backup.go
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 package mysqlctl
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -35,6 +37,7 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/topo/topoproto"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vterrors"
 
+	mysqlctlpb "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/mysqlctl"
 	topodatapb "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/topodata"
 )
 
@@ -141,6 +144,53 @@ func Backup(ctx context.Context, params BackupParams) error {
 	return finishErr
 }
 
+// GetBackupInfo returns the name of the backupengine used to produce a given
+// backup, based on the MANIFEST file from the backup, and the Status of the
+// backup, based on the engine-specific definition of what makes a complete or
+// valid backup.
+func GetBackupInfo(ctx context.Context, bh backupstorage.BackupHandle) (engine string, status mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_Status, err error) {
+	mfest, err := bh.ReadFile(ctx, backupManifestFileName)
+	if err != nil {
+		// (TODO|@ajm88): extend (backupstorage.BackupHandle).ReadFile to wrap
+		// certain errors as fs.ErrNotExist, and distinguish between INCOMPLETE
+		// (MANIFEST has not been written to storage) and INVALID (MANIFEST
+		// exists but can't be read/parsed).
+		return "", mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_INCOMPLETE, err
+	}
+	defer mfest.Close()
+
+	mfestBytes, err := ioutil.ReadAll(mfest)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_INVALID, err
+	}
+
+	// We unmarshal into a map here rather than using the GetBackupManifest
+	// because we are going to pass the raw mfestBytes to the particular
+	// backupengine implementation for further unmarshalling and processing.
+	//
+	// As a result, some of this code is duplicated with other functions in this
+	// package, but doing things this way has the benefit of minimizing extra
+	// calls to backupstorage.BackupHandle methods (which can be network-y and
+	// slow, or subject to external rate limits, etc).
+	var manifest map[string]interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(mfestBytes, &manifest); err != nil {
+		return "", mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_INVALID, err
+	}
+
+	engine, ok := manifest["BackupMethod"].(string)
+	if !ok {
+		return "", mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_INVALID, vterrors.Errorf(vtrpc.Code_INVALID_ARGUMENT, "missing BackupMethod field in MANIFEST")
+	}
+
+	be, err := getBackupEngine(engine)
+	if err != nil {
+		return engine, mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_COMPLETE, err
+	}
+
+	status, err = be.GetBackupStatus(ctx, bh, mfestBytes)
+	return engine, status, err
+}
+
 // ParseBackupName parses the backup name for a given dir/name, according to
 // the format generated by mysqlctl.Backup. An error is returned only if the
 // backup name does not have the expected number of parts; errors parsing the
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupengine.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupengine.go
index 932fe2c1593..3dc2a566b49 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupengine.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupengine.go
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/vtrpc"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/topo"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vterrors"
+
+	mysqlctlpb "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/mysqlctl"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -44,6 +46,10 @@ var (
 // BackupEngine is the interface to take a backup with a given engine.
 type BackupEngine interface {
 	ExecuteBackup(ctx context.Context, params BackupParams, bh backupstorage.BackupHandle) (bool, error)
+	// GetBackupStatus returns the status of a given backup, according to the
+	// specifics of the particular backupengine implementation. See the comments
+	// on the various implementations for more information.
+	GetBackupStatus(ctx context.Context, bh backupstorage.BackupHandle, mfestBytes []byte) (mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_Status, error)
 	ShouldDrainForBackup() bool
 }
 
@@ -119,6 +125,10 @@ var BackupRestoreEngineMap = make(map[string]BackupRestoreEngine)
 // This must only be called after flags have been parsed.
 func GetBackupEngine() (BackupEngine, error) {
 	name := *backupEngineImplementation
+	return getBackupEngine(name)
+}
+
+func getBackupEngine(name string) (BackupEngine, error) {
 	be, ok := BackupRestoreEngineMap[name]
 	if !ok {
 		return nil, vterrors.Errorf(vtrpc.Code_NOT_FOUND, "unknown BackupEngine implementation %q", name)
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstorage/interface.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstorage/interface.go
index 98286e2c07f..8355a33e1ff 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstorage/interface.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstorage/interface.go
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@ type BackupHandle interface {
 	// ReadCloser is closed.
 	ReadFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (io.ReadCloser, error)
 
+	// CheckFile checks if a file is included in a backup. Only works for
+	// read-only backups (created by ListBackups). Returns a boolean to indicate
+	// if the file exists, and an error. Variants of "file not found" errors do
+	// result in an error, but instead result in (false, nil).
+	CheckFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (bool, error)
+
 	// concurrency.ErrorRecorder is embedded here to coordinate reporting and
 	// handling of errors among all the components involved in taking a backup.
 	concurrency.ErrorRecorder
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/builtinbackupengine.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/builtinbackupengine.go
index b435ec29439..3f88b5eecd1 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/builtinbackupengine.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/builtinbackupengine.go
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/topo/topoproto"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vterrors"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vttablet/tmclient"
+
+	mysqlctlpb "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/mysqlctl"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -456,6 +458,14 @@ func (be *BuiltinBackupEngine) backupFile(ctx context.Context, params BackupPara
 	return nil
 }
 
+// GetBackupStatus is part of the BackupEngine interface.
+//
+// This is currently not implemented for builtinbackupengine, so we always
+// return UNKNOWN.
+func (be *BuiltinBackupEngine) GetBackupStatus(ctx context.Context, bh backupstorage.BackupHandle, mfestBytes []byte) (mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_Status, error) {
+	return mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_UNKNOWN, nil
+}
+
 // ExecuteRestore restores from a backup. If the restore is successful
 // we return the position from which replication should start
 // otherwise an error is returned
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/cephbackupstorage/ceph.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/cephbackupstorage/ceph.go
index abc08d80f4f..e7951ce7141 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/cephbackupstorage/ceph.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/cephbackupstorage/ceph.go
@@ -146,6 +146,12 @@ func (bh *CephBackupHandle) ReadFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (io.R
 	return bh.client.GetObjectWithContext(ctx, bucket, object, minio.GetObjectOptions{})
 }
 
+// CheckFile is part of the BackupHandle interface. It is currently unimplemented.
+func (bh *CephBackupHandle) CheckFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (bool, error) {
+	// (TODO) when we implement this, use bh.client.StatObject
+	return false, nil
+}
+
 // CephBackupStorage implements BackupStorage for Ceph Cloud Storage.
 type CephBackupStorage struct {
 	// client is the instance of the Ceph Cloud Storage Go client.
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/filebackupstorage/file.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/filebackupstorage/file.go
index d505070219e..191b94d3008 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/filebackupstorage/file.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/filebackupstorage/file.go
@@ -106,6 +106,25 @@ func (fbh *FileBackupHandle) ReadFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (io.
 	return os.Open(p)
 }
 
+// CheckFile is part of the BackupHandle interface.
+func (fbh *FileBackupHandle) CheckFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (bool, error) {
+	if !fbh.readOnly {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("CheckFile cannot be called on read-write backup")
+	}
+
+	p := path.Join(*FileBackupStorageRoot, fbh.dir, fbh.name, filename)
+	_, err := os.Stat(p)
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	return true, nil
+}
+
 // FileBackupStorage implements BackupStorage for local file system.
 type FileBackupStorage struct{}
 
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/gcsbackupstorage/gcs.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/gcsbackupstorage/gcs.go
index 111fdd2b16f..10eca7c686e 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/gcsbackupstorage/gcs.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/gcsbackupstorage/gcs.go
@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ func (bh *GCSBackupHandle) ReadFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (io.Re
 	return bh.client.Bucket(*bucket).Object(object).NewReader(ctx)
 }
 
+// CheckFile is part of the BackupHandle interface. It is currently unimplemented.
+func (bh *GCSBackupHandle) CheckFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (bool, error) {
+	return false, nil
+}
+
 // GCSBackupStorage implements BackupStorage for Google Cloud Storage.
 type GCSBackupStorage struct {
 	// client is the instance of the Google Cloud Storage Go client.
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/s3backupstorage/s3.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/s3backupstorage/s3.go
index e4c3aad446e..0a47f750c19 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/s3backupstorage/s3.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/s3backupstorage/s3.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/awserr"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/client"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/request"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/session"
@@ -207,6 +208,32 @@ func (bh *S3BackupHandle) ReadFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (io.Rea
 	return out.Body, nil
 }
 
+// CheckFile is part of the backupstorage.BackupHandle interface.
+func (bh *S3BackupHandle) CheckFile(ctx context.Context, filename string) (bool, error) {
+	if !bh.readOnly {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("CheckFile cannot be called on read-write backup")
+	}
+	object := objName(bh.dir, bh.name, filename)
+	_, err := bh.client.HeadObject(&s3.HeadObjectInput{
+		Bucket:               bucket,
+		Key:                  object,
+		SSECustomerAlgorithm: bh.bs.s3SSE.customerAlg,
+		SSECustomerKey:       bh.bs.s3SSE.customerKey,
+		SSECustomerKeyMD5:    bh.bs.s3SSE.customerMd5,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		if aerr, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok {
+			if aerr.Code() == "NotFound" {
+				return false, nil
+			}
+		}
+
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	return true, nil
+}
+
 var _ backupstorage.BackupHandle = (*S3BackupHandle)(nil)
 
 type S3ServerSideEncryption struct {
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/xtrabackupengine.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/xtrabackupengine.go
index d1935acb144..5f76bf9fc24 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/xtrabackupengine.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/xtrabackupengine.go
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstorage"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/vtrpc"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vterrors"
+
+	mysqlctlpb "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/mysqlctl"
 )
 
 // XtrabackupEngine encapsulates the logic of the xtrabackup engine
@@ -370,6 +372,31 @@ func (be *XtrabackupEngine) backupFiles(ctx context.Context, params BackupParams
 	return replicationPosition, nil
 }
 
+// GetBackupStatus is part of the BackupEngine interface.
+//
+// For xtrabackup, we currently (we may want to expand this later) define a
+// backup status as:
+// - manifest can be read but contains invalid json => INVALID
+// - the FileName in the manifest does not exist => INVALID
+// - the FileName in the manifest exists => VALID
+func (be *XtrabackupEngine) GetBackupStatus(ctx context.Context, bh backupstorage.BackupHandle, mfestBytes []byte) (mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_Status, error) {
+	var manifest xtraBackupManifest
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(mfestBytes, &manifest); err != nil {
+		return mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_INVALID, err
+	}
+
+	exists, err := bh.CheckFile(ctx, manifest.FileName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_INVALID, err
+	}
+
+	if !exists {
+		return mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_INVALID, nil
+	}
+
+	return mysqlctlpb.BackupInfo_VALID, nil
+}
+
 // ExecuteRestore restores from a backup. Any error is returned.
 func (be *XtrabackupEngine) ExecuteRestore(ctx context.Context, params RestoreParams, bh backupstorage.BackupHandle) (*BackupManifest, error) {
 
diff --git a/go/vt/vtctl/grpcvtctldserver/server.go b/go/vt/vtctl/grpcvtctldserver/server.go
index 4dec80c2664..5a91380aa68 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtctl/grpcvtctldserver/server.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtctl/grpcvtctldserver/server.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/concurrency"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/log"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/logutil"
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/mysqlctl"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/mysqlctl/backupstorage"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqlctlproto"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/sqlparser"
@@ -696,9 +697,14 @@ func (s *VtctldServer) GetBackups(ctx context.Context, req *vtctldatapb.GetBacku
 		bi.Shard = req.Shard
 
 		if req.Detailed {
-			if i >= backupsToSkipDetails { // nolint:staticcheck
-				// (TODO:@ajm188) Update backupengine/backupstorage implementations
-				// to get Status info for backups.
+			if i >= backupsToSkipDetails {
+				engine, status, err := mysqlctl.GetBackupInfo(ctx, bh)
+				if err != nil {
+					log.Warningf("error getting detailed backup info for %s/%s %s/%s: %s", bi.Keyspace, bi.Shard, bi.Directory, bi.Name, err)
+				}
+
+				bi.Engine = engine
+				bi.Status = status
 			}
 		}