The biggest night in music took place on Sunday, as the 2025 Grammy Awards were hosted for the fifth time by Trevor Noah at the Crypto.com Arena in LA.
Beyoncé won the top award of the evening, taking home the album of the year prize for Cowboy Carter. Firefighters from the LA Fire Department presented her the award after they received a standing ovation.
While Taylor Swift walked away from the night empty-handed, she wore a red dress and sparkling leg chain that included a “T” charm, presumably a nod to boyfriend Travis Kelce, to present the award for best country album. It’s an honor she won 15 years ago. This year, Taylor presented it to Beyoncé, who won for Cowboy Carter, making her the first Black woman to win in that category.
Kendrick Lamar walked away from the evening with wins for record of the year and song of the year for his chart-topping track “Not Like Us.” He took to the stage in a Canadian tuxedo to accept his awards and paid tribute to the city of LA in his first acceptance speech, calling it the “neck of the woods that held me down … since I was in the studio scrapping to write the best raps.”
Sabrina Carpenter gave a glamorous performance of her nominated songs “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” before she won the Grammy for best pop vocal album for Short n’ Sweet. Before the ceremony began, she won her first-ever Grammys for best pop solo performance and best remix recording.
Chappell Roan lit up the stage to sing her hit “Pink Pony Club” from The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, before she won the award for best new artist. While donning an extravagant medieval princess hat that fell off mid-speech, Chappell spoke from the heart while accepting her trophy, calling on labels to pay their artists a livable wage.
“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,” Chappell said.
After Sabrina and Chappell’s performances, the rest of the nominees in the best new artist category, including Benson Boone, Doechii, Raye, Teddy Swims and Shaboozey, performed back-to-back in a medley celebrating their work from the past year.
As for other performances, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars sang a cover of “California Dreamin'” by The Mamas & the Papas in a tribute to those affected by the devastating wildfires in the LA area. Later in the night, the pair won best pop duo/group recording for their single “Die with a Smile.” In her acceptance speech, Lady Gaga shared her support for the queer and trans community. “I just want to say tonight that trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love,” she said.
The Weeknd, after years of boycotting the awards ceremony, took to the stage to sing “Cry for Me” and “Timeless” from his new album, Hurry Up Tomorrow. Playboi Carti appeared onstage to sing with him.
Charli XCX gave the last performance of the night, turning the Grammy stage into the Sweat Tour as she sang her Brat tracks “Von dutch” and “Guess.” Billie Eilish, who is featured on the “Guess” remix, cheered from the crowd, while Charli’s friends The Dare and Julia Fox joined her onstage. Charli walked away from the night with three awards, including best dance/electronic album and best dance pop recording.
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