GRAMMYS 2025 Recap: L.A. Wildfires Tributes & Big Wins for Kendrick Lamar, Chappell Roan, & Beyoncé
The 2025 Grammy Awards took place in Los Angeles last night (February 2). It was a night of highlighting those impacted by the recent wildfires that ravaged the city. It was also a night full of newcomer glory, and finally righting some Recording Academy wrongs.
Comedian Trevor Noah hosted the event. At the very top of the show, he said that instead of just celebrating music, the ceremony would be “a celebration of the humanity and spirit of survival.” There were commercial breaks which highlighted local L.A. businesses that had lost their spaces due to the fires, as well as a QR code present on screen which allowed viewers watching at home (as well as corporate sponsors) to donate to relief efforts. By 11:30pm ET, the telecast had already raised $7 million for relief efforts.
The Winners
Starting the night off with Big Four wins was Chappell Roan. The theatrical songstress took home this year's award for Best New Artist in a particularly stacked category. She beat out Sabrina Carpenter, Shaboozey, Doechii, and more for the award. After a round of thank-you's in her acceptance speech, Roan took the time to call out the music industry. In particular, the lack of health care artists receive.
“I told myself if I ever won a Grammy and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially to developing artists,” Roan began, reading from a diary.
Roan talked about her experience being signed as a minor and how she got dropped from her label with “zero job experience under my belt, and like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in the pandemic and could not afford health insurance.” She said it was “so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and so dehumanized to not have help.”
Roan said that if her label prioritized her and other artists’ health, “I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to.” To wrap up, Roan said, “Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection.”
“Labels, we got you, but do you got us?” she concluded.
It was a big night for Kendrick Lamar, as the beloved rapper won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for his Drake diss track "Not Like Us." While the track has spurred a number of legal actions from Drizzy, it didn’t deter members of the Recording Academy for voting the song into Big Four Grammy glory. Record of the Year was Lamar's first big Grammy win, and he dedicated the prize to the city of L.A., God, and his aunt, who had passed away the day before.
“She’s probably watching it up there so make sure y’all got your smiles on right now make her feel right,” he said.
For Song of the Year, Kendrick received the award from the legendary Diana Ross, who was the presenter of the category. Appearing from backstage after taking home the prize for record of the year, Lamar immediately started beaming about being handed his second trophy of the evening by The Boss herself. “Damn, that’s Diana Ross,” he said with a laugh. “I’m starstruck.”
After letting his crew get a few words in (including Mustard declaring “somebody get the broom out” for his partner’s apparent sweep), Lamar took a moment to pay tribute to the West Coast rap stars who helped build the lane he occupies today.
“All the West Coast artists, from early on - G Malone, Problem, Bad Lucc, K-Bo, Daylyt … these are the cats that inspired me to be the MC I am today,” he said. “Schoolboy, J-Roc, Ab-Soul, this is what it’s about, man. Because at the end of the day, nothing more powerful than rap music - I don’t care what it is. We are the culture.”
The Album of the Year category was a bloodbath, with so many notable records – particularly pop records – nominated this year. But at the end of the day, it was Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter that lassoed in the grand prize. It was her first Album of the Year victory – ironically coming a year after Jay-Z threw shade at the Recording Academy for never giving Beyoncé the award. Previously, she had been nominated for the award four times. (2008’s I Am… Sasha Fierce, 2013’s Beyoncé, 2016’s Lemonade, and 2022’s Renaissance.)
The firefighters of Los Angeles county presented Beyoncé with the Grammy. She kept her speech short – thanking the firefighters for their hard work, giving gratitude to her collaborators, and dedicating the award to Linda Martell: the first commercially successful Black female country artist. Earlier in the night, Cowboy Carter also received the award for Best Country Album. The win made Beyoncé the first Black woman to ever receive the award.
Other notable winners throughout the evening included Doechii (who won Best Rap Album for Alligator Bites Never Heal - the third woman to ever do so after Lauryn Hill and Cardi B), Sabrina Carpenter's Short 'n Sweet (Best Pop Vocal Album), Shakira's Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Best Latin Pop Album), and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' "Die With a Smile" (Best Pop Duo/Group Performance).
Additionally, Queen Latifah presented Alicia Keys with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. It was the second award she took home that evening, as her Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, bringing Keys’ overall total to 17. In her acceptance speech, Keys lauded female producers, and celebrated the various "risk-takers" she's worked with over the years.
“This is not the time to shut down a diversity of voices. We’ve seen on this stage talented, hard-working people from different backgrounds with different points of view, and it changes the game. DEI is not a threat — it’s a gift,” Keys said while the audience roared with applause. “The more voices, the more powerful the sound. When destructive forces try to burn us down, we rise from the ashes like a phoenix. And as you see tonight, music is the unstoppable language that connects us all.”
The Performances
There were several incredible performances throughout the night. After a Dawes, Brad Paisley, St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow, Brittany Howard, and John Legend team-up of Randy Newman’s 1983 classic “I Love L.A.,” Billie Eilish kicked off the ceremony with her hit "Birds of a Feather." She performed in front of a mountainous backdrop wearing an L.A. ballcap. "I love you, LA," she said after the song concluded. Sabrina Carpenter then dazzled with a blend of "Espresso" and "Please Please Please," while Chappell Roan stunned with a kaleidoscopic presentation of "Pink Pony Club."
At one point during the show, Best New Artist nominees Khruangbin, Benson Boone, Doechii, Teddy Swims, Shaboozey and Raye all performed back-to-back. Later, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars dueted "California Dreamin'" as a tribute to those impacted by the wildfires. Speaking of Gaga: the artist released her new music video for "Abracadabra" during a commercial break. And after years of boycotting the Grammy Awards, The Weeknd gave a surprise performance of his Hurry Up Tomorrow song "Cry For Me."
Even more performances came during a posthumous Quincy Jones tribute. In honor of the legendary producer, Cynthia Erivo offered a rendition of "Fly Me to the Moon," Lainey performed "Let the Good Times Roll," and Stevie Wonder sat himself next to Herbie Hancock for “Bluesette” and “We Are the World.” (The latter performance featured a huge student choir made up of singers from schools destroyed by the wildfires.) Janelle Monae capped off the sequence by covering Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” – complete with moonwalking and a glittery tuxedo.
Even later in the night, Chris Martin sang the Coldplay track "All My Love" for the In Memoriam portion of the show, Shakira did some breathtaking belly dancing while singing songs from her album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, and late night party girl queen Charli XCX woke everyone back up with her performances of "Von Dutch" and "Guess." (Unfortunately, Billie Eilish did not join her up on stage.)
The Snubs
One huge detail about last night's show? Taylor Swift walked away empty-handed for once. Although the artist got some time in the spotlight presenting the award for Best Country Album, she did not win any of the six nominations she had received for this year's ceremony. It marks the first time she has ever left empt-handed when she had six or more nominations. Still, it's hard to think of it as a snub, since Swift has amassed more Album of the Year wins than anyone else in Grammy history.
Billie Eilish also went home with nothing. She was 0-7 this year: an exact repeat of her Grammys score in 2022. Eilish has won Record of the Year twice, Song of the Year twice (with FINNEAS) and Album of the Year once, so voters may have just wanted to share the wealth this year.
While Charli XCX didn't win any of the big categories she was nominated for, the British pop star did get three prizes in the pre-televised ceremony. She received the Grammys for Best Dance Pop Recording ("Von dutch"), Best Dance/Electronic Album, and Best Recording Package.
You can see the full list of winners from the 67th Annual Grammy Awards here.
Watch a sizzle reel from the ceremony below.
Discover thousands of free stations from every genre of music and talk at Live365.com.
Rather listen on our app? Download the Live365 app on iOS or Android. Ready to start your own station? Contact one of our Product Consultants or visit our website today. Keep up with the latest news by following us on Facebook (Live365 (Official) and Live365 Broadcasting) and Twitter (@Live365 and @Broadcast365)! You can also shop Live365 swag and branded merchandise at store.live365.com.
Article Image: Photos of Kendrick Lamar, Chappell Roan, and Beyonce. (Fuzheado [CC BY 4.0] via Wikimedia Commons, imagepressagency and PopularImages via DepositPhotos)
