All the best and worst moments of the 2025 Grammys, as they happened
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She finally did it.
Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history, brought home its top prize. After 15 years of near misses, her country-infused LP “Cowboy Carter,” an all-star trip through the Black roots of and modern influence on Americana, won for album and country album (perhaps an equally challenging feat for a Black pop crossover artist).
While “Cowboy Carter” didn’t dominate culture in the way that “Renaissance” or “Lemonade” did, the album spoke to deep questions about who the idea of America belongs to — and who built it. The academy, perhaps desperately hoping not to miss the moment, finally obliged her with its highest honor.
In the other top categories, Compton’s own Kendrick Lamar swept the song and record awards for “Not Like Us,” his brutal diss track against Drake that rallied the Southland and put some giddy venom back into his intellectual achievements in music.
Meanwhile, Chappell Roan — the L.A. electro-pop newcomer whose “Pink Pony Club” and “Good Luck, Babe!” became rallying cries for young queer people the world over — took home the new artist prize, a clear statement of both her eccentric, politically uncompromising star power and her virtuosity as a singer and performer.
The devastating wildfires were a constant subtext to the night, which shifted in tone from its usual glamour to focus on emergency fundraising for affected communities and first responders.
Read about all of the night’s best and worst moments below in our Grammys live chat between pop music critic Mikael Wood and staff writer August Brown.
8:58 p.m. It’s so interesting that Bey finally won for an album that dominated the culture far less than any of her 15 years’ worth of contenders for prize, yet also spoke to something marrow-deep in America now. Mikael, was “Beyoncé’s country album wins the top prize amid right-wing revanchist backlash in America” a fait accompli or a shocker? I can’t tell yet. — A.B.
It was somehow both shocking and predictable? By filling “Cowboy Carter” with the kind of hand-played sounds that have routinely enticed Grammy voters — as seen in wins for Norah Jones, Jon Batiste, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, I could go on — Beyoncé basically dared the Recording Academy not to give her the big prize this time. Which, despite whatever reservations I might have about declaring “Cowboy Carter” the finest album of 2024, kind of feels like a challenge worth celebrating. (Did you see Taylor toasting Jay-Z after those firefighters opened the envelope? Taylor gets it.) Art is not a competitive sport — it’s not about winners and losers. But the world is. Beyoncé understood the obstacle that was in front of her, and she went and cleared it. — M.W.
8:48 p.m. There it is. Beyoncé at last. — M.W.
It happened. Her last hill to climb, for perhaps the least likely album to do it. — A.B.
Not a dry eye in the house right now, as Billie and Gaga look pretty overcome watching Bey thank the firefighters and Linda Martell and stake her claim in history. The Academy finally accepted what everyone in music hoped would happen. — A.B.
“It’s been many, many years,” Beyoncé says — 15, in fact, since the pop superstar was first nominated for (and first lost) album of the year with “I Am ... Sasha Fierce” in 2010. She went on to lose three more times, each defeat more baffling than the last. I’m not sure “Cowboy Carter” is the one that should have ended this injustice — song for song, it’s simply not the achievement that “Lemonade” or “Renaissance” was. But sometimes you have to cheer a moment of history righting itself. — M.W.
8:44 p.m. L.A. firefighters presenting album of the year. Classy move. — M.W.
8:37 p.m. Charli XCX already winning tonight for Best Use of the Grammy Loading Dock. — A.B.
Also Best Use of a Scandalously Placed Mic Pack. — M.W.
What’s Billie doing sitting at her table? She should be up there with Julia Fox and the girl gang. — A.B.
You catch the chyron that told us all the undergarments from Charli’s performance would be donated to charity? A trashy queen with ethics. — M.W.
No fire-displaced party goblin left behind. — A.B.
8:32 p.m. Wow. Truly did not see a “Not Like Us” win for song of the year. — M.W.
Clean sweep for Kendrick in the song and record categories. This one rewards not the production or performance but specifically the poison-pen songwriting that ethered Drake. What a feat. “Somebody get the broom out,” yelled an overjoyed Mustard. — A.B.
Wonder which lyric won voters over. When I interviewed Mustard last year, he told me his favorite line from “Not Like Us” was, “Beat your ass and hide the Bible if God watchin’.” “You know how crazy that is to say to somebody?” he added. — M.W.
8:26 p.m. “This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices,” Alicia Keys said, in a clear riposte to current politics. “DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift.” — A.B.
Loved Alicia’s Patrice Rushen shout-out. Go stream “Forget Me Nots.” — M.W.
8:24 p.m. I need Queen Latifah as my hype woman. — M.W.
8:20 p.m. Kendrick’s win for record of the year, by the way, gets us no closer to seeing where album of the year is going. (“GNX” wasn’t nominated because it came out too late to be eligible for this ceremony.) — M.W.
Every major category winner was a plausible and deserving contender, but nothing adds up to a Taylor-sized sweep, or even Silk Sonic-sized. — A.B.
8:16 p.m. Hate being manipulated by giant corporations, but that Uber Eats spot with Charli XCX and Matthew McConaughey was A+. — M.W.
From “Pop 2” to prime-time sausage ads with Rust Cohle, what a world. — A.B.
8:12 p.m. Shakira’s keeping “Babygirl” winter alive right now. What an astonishing physical performer. Get her that Coachella headline slot! — A.B.
“‘Babygirl’ winter” is what I’ll leave tonight thinking about. — M.W.
8:02 p.m. WOP WOP WOP WOP WOP. — A.B.
“Not Like Us” is just the second rap song to win record of the year (after Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” in 2019). — M.W.
Truly astonishing that the most Haterade-soaked single in a generation just won the most acclaimed recording prize the music industry can offer. — A.B.
After roll-calling a host of SoCal burgs — “Pacoima, San Bernardino, all that” — Kendrick calls his victory with “Not Like Us” a “true testament that we continue to restore the city” after last month’s devastating wildfires. — M.W.
Feels like L.A. has been united and ripped apart and rebuilt a few times since that song came out, but it’s in the canon whenever we need it. — A.B.
Worth noting that final Grammy voting closed four days before the fires began — so Kendrick’s win wasn’t the result of some up-with-L.A. campaign. (Just putting this here for Drake’s edification.) — M.W.
I’m sure he’ll be comforted by that. — A.B.
Take the feelings to the pod, Aubrey. — M.W.
8:00 p.m. Miley Cyrus: a true one-of-one career. — M.W.
“How could I tell my custom Alaïa that she had nowhere to go.” — A.B.
7:58 p.m. Pretty weird to see a Yeezy commercial after the red-carpet debacle earlier. — A.B.
7:57 p.m. Not sure about that Coldplay song for the “In Memoriam” segment, but I must admit that Chris Martin’s voice always twangs some melancholy chord deep inside me. — M.W.
7:50 p.m. “Die With a Smile” was the oldest-fashioned song nominated for pop duo/group performance — but it might also be the sturdiest pop tune released in 2024. — M.W.
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars winning for pop duo/group performance was A+ Grammy bait, great song and great combo, but Billie and Charli’s “Guess” probably would have made history as a song about actually hooking up with your duet partner IRL. — A.B.
“Trans people are not invisible,” Gaga says as she and Bruno accept their award. Pop stars speaking their minds tonight. —M.W.
7:42 p.m. By my clock, the Quincy tribute lasted just over 20 minutes — longest in Grammys history? — M.W.
That was what the Grammys so often do badly (meandering random medleys), done absolutely perfectly. — A.B.
7:32 p.m. Loving how leisurely this Quincy tribute is paced. — M.W.
They’re halfway through a Quincy Jones tribute on prime-time TV and haven’t even touched “Thriller.” — A.B.
Did not predict a “We Are the World” singalong! Or a shaggy-dog story about craft services on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”! — M.W.
Gotta acknowledge Michael Jackson’s towering achievements at a Quincy Jones tribute, but it’s still a little ... bracing ... to see him rehabbed as a figure of fun and cultural joy after “Leaving Neverland.” — A.B.
7:23 p.m. Will Smith, back on his best behavior on awards show telecasts. — A.B.
A thing that Grammys exec producer Ben Winston does that I admire: He finds ways to explain why monumental music figures like Quincy Jones matter rather than assuming that his audience already knows. — M.W.
A segment paying tribute to Jones is a great test of that. The story of someone who helped invent the very language of modern pop composition and production, relayed to a big Grammy audience that needs to actually hear why. — A.B.
Good use of Cynthia Erivo in the age of “Wicked.” — M.W.
Jacob Collier on piano, still the Grammys’ ultimate inside man — A.B.
Need a Collier/Lainey Wilson CBS buddy comedy pronto. Maybe she’s a dentist and he’s a hygienist? Just spitballing. — M.W.
Solving crimes in Nashville and London and wrapping up every episode with a lighthearted pop songbook jam. — A.B.
Would watch. — M.W.
7:14 p.m. Shakira, Colombian megastar and Latin pop album winner, on immigrants in the U.S. at this perilous moment: “You’re loved. ... I will always fight with you.” — A.B.
Nearly a quarter-century after her North American breakthrough, Shakira canceled an arena tour last year in order to reschedule it as a stadium tour this year. — M.W.
7:08 p.m. So now we’re getting a Lady Gaga music video that she paid for as a MasterCard commercial? I assume this song is from her new album. — M.W.
6:58 p.m. Wow, Recording Academy president Harvey Mason Jr. acknowledging the Weeknd’s boycott, with graphics onscreen, just at The Weeknd drops a new album. And The Weeknd’s back! A coup for the academy. — A.B.
Fascinating bit of theater here from the academy — though the fact that the Weeknd has struggled to connect with the singles from his new album has to be considered as part of his decision to return to the Grammys. — M.W.
This leaves Drake as the last big Grammy skeptic, but I’m not betting he shows up for “Not Like Us” to win. — A.B.
Great point on Drake. The Weeknd’s return says to me that he still wants to be involved in the part of the record business that the academy represents. But everything Drake’s done since he lost the beef with Kendrick — the trolling on social media, the international tour dates, the alignment with creepy streamers — suggests he’s looking for an alternate career path. — M.W.
I predict: Podcast Bro. — A.B.
Hundred percent. — M.W.
6:50 p.m. Spotted: St. Vincent and Kim Gordon gabbing in the nominees’ section. Would love to know what these career eccentrics make of the pomp and pageantry of the Grammys. — M.W.
6:46 p.m. Love Bruno, love Gaga. But this “California Dreamin’” feels a bit karaoke to me. — M.W.
Yeah, that performance was a classic Grammy roulette wheel spin. — A.B.
6:40 p.m. Huge, huge cheers in the crowd for Chappell Roan winning new artist. Think they’re almost glad someone not in the Disney machine broke through to major pop success, especially for being exactly as eccentric and unabashedly gay as she wanted to be. Good on her for advocating for living wages and healthcare from music!
“Labels, we got you, but do you got us?” Hell yeah. — A.B.
Chappell Roan, the Norma Rae of drag-inspired 2020s electro-pop! I’m so, so interested to see how Chappell’s career plays out over the next five years. “Fame sucks” has been the default mode for new pop stars since, what, Lorde’s “Royals” more than a decade ago? Yet again and again, Chappell finds a way to take it a click further, either by provoking her fans or the music-business machinery around her. — M.W.
She’ll be fascinating to watch from this night onward, almost shades of Nirvana in that ambient loathing of fame while being so, so good at cultivating it. — A.B.
6:24 p.m. You know, it says something very encouraging about pop’s freshman class that the normie of the group — Teddy Swims — is a face-tatted grunge-soul singer wearing Doc Ock shades and a flower-adorned duster. Keep pop weird! — M.W.
Shaboozey’s got a big hill to climb here for new artist but man, I’m rooting for him. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is just a perfect song, and he’s got more of them in the wings. It’s just a diabolically well-crafted single. He’s got even better tunes to come. — A.B.
Will admit I’m extremely tired of hearing “A Bar Song,” but I’m with you on Shaboozey’s charm and magnetism. Hope he finds a way to break the Lil Nas X curse. — M.W.
Raye has been an industry best-kept secret for a bit as a writer; hope this is a big breakout for her in the Adele-power-bloc of voters. — A.B.
Huge look for Raye, though she’s probably the act that would’ve been best served by one of the Grammys’ little biographical videos. Sometimes I think the secret of Adele’s success isn’t her voice — it’s her personality. — M.W.
6:21 p.m. Doechii is legit the first rapper I think may have seen “All That Jazz” more times than I have. — M.W.
Doechii is so, so good, and good in a specific virtuoso-lyricist/rap-craft way that probably reminds Grammy voters of the ’90s golden era that keeps winning trophies today. — A.B.
6:15 p.m. Benson Boone at a bistro table with Jennifer Lopez. Inspiring. — M.W.
J. Lo moves on QUICK. — A.B.
Who could resist? I’ve seen Benson Boone perform three or four times at this point and have never NOT seen him in a gorgeous jumpsuit. Not the same jumpsuit. Different jumpsuits! — M.W.
Tearaway powder blue disco singlets are gonna be flying off the shelves after this Benson Boone set. What a backflip! — A.B.
“THE GRAMMYS, BABY!” says Boone. I’ve seen enough. Best new dreamboat. — M.W.
6:03 p.m. Taylor Swift presenting the country album award says to me that Beyoncé won. — M.W.
Did someone just watch “Conclave,” Mikael? — A.B.
LOL the Grammys are very Vatican! — M.W.
Beyoncé for country album. Huge achievement on the merits in a hard genre to cross into, and a giant flashing neon bar sign this might be her year for album. — A.B.
“Genre is sometimes a code word to keep us in our place,” says Beyoncé, who’s now the first Black woman to win the country album Grammy. — M.W.
And I agree, August, that Beyoncé’s win augurs more awards. Was texting with a Nashville source the other night who’s convinced she’s taking it all tonight. — M.W.
Yep, if she broke through the famously Beyoncé-skeptical Nashville establishment voting bloc to win this, she’s got a huge, huge wind at her back. — A.B.
5:58 p.m. In a pretaped piece before her performance of “Pink Pony Club,” Chappell Roan says L.A. was “ultimately where I feel the most free,” and that’s an L.A. value worth keeping in mind the next few years. And I really hope “Pink Pony Club” ends up in the great L.A. sleazy underdog pop canon. It’s Randy Newman-worthy. — A.B.
I wonder if Chappell decided after the fires to do “Pink Pony Club” instead of her Big Grammy Record, which is “Good Luck, Babe!” — M.W.
Yeah, great occasion to shout out neighborhoods affected by all this. — A.B.
5:43 p.m. Everyone knew this was a big year for the Pop Girlies, but St. Vincent and Doechii and Charli XCX and Sierra Ferrell cleaning up in the subgenres suggests this is going to be a deep-category story too. — A.B.
Feel like I’ve still never gotten a good explanation of the Chad Smith/Will Ferrell thing. — M.W.
Anthony Kiedis has regrettably changed from his outfit at FireAid, where he was a goth Tapatio guy. — A.B.
Goth. Tapatio. Guy. — M.W.
Sabrina for pop vocal album. Barry Koeghan must be in shambles. Might actually become the Joker now. — A.B.
I’m into Sabrina’s win. I think “Short n’ Sweet” is a long shot for album of the year — like, a very long shot — but it does basically everything you want from a pop album. You laugh, you cry, you wonder which Letters to Cleo record she told her guitar player to study. — M.W.
Yeah, it’s an exemplary pop album in the sense that it’s expert, accessible and packed with variety and true star power. She’s clearly got a lot of champions here tonight. — A.B.
5:41 p.m. While we’re on a commercial break, I’ll mention that I spoke with Dawes and the god Randy Newman yesterday about their opening number. Fun fact I couldn’t fit into my story: Newman’s favorite new discovery is ... Gracie Abrams. —M.W.
5:31 p.m. Cardi B, who’s presenting rap album, is one of only two women who’ve ever won this award (along with Lauryn Hill of the Fugees). — M.W.
And it’s Doechii! Add a third name to that criminally short list, Mikael. — A.B.
Love that Doechii is calling attention to the history here. — M.W.
Big shoutout to her sobriety too, hell yeah. — A.B.
It is crazy, though, that — as a proud hip-hop theater kid — Doechii won a rap album Grammy before Nicki Minaj. — M.W.
5:25 p.m. I appreciate Sabrina Carpenter’s NOT trying to tell the world that she was sleeping when Grammy noms came out and she didn’t even know until she woke up to a million texts and wow what a crazy thing. — M.W.
Kinda rare to get someone who is receiving the breakout-young-superstar treatment at the Grammys who is also this many albums (and years of Disney training) deep in preparation to be this good and pro tonight. — A.B.
She’s got such a head start that it’s almost not fair. — M.W.
5:18 p.m. Very sweet gesture to give this ad block to an Altadena flower studio, Orla. — A.B.
Raj Kapoor, one of the show’s executive producers, told me in an interview last week about their plan to make spots with local businesses affected by the fires. Sounded weird, but that was kind of touching. Doja Cat: good pitchwoman. — M.W.
5:14 p.m. It’s kind of nice to see Billie with a really big backing band of live players! — A.B.
And this parched desert landscape — two for two on L.A.-centric performances. — M.W.
“Birds of a Feather” feels like one of those songs that’ll be around forever. I’ve probably heard it 150 times? Still dig it. — M.W.
5:12 p.m. Trevor Noah getting in some light cracks about being deported. Will that just be a dark undertone of the night or will anyone speak up more forcefully? — A.B.
Feel like Noah just live-blogged the entire last year of music in six minutes. I’m tired! — M.W.
5:10 p.m. Wonder what palms Sam Altman greased for Trevor Noah to suggest AI can make a new Rihanna album happen. — A.B.
5:05 p.m. Pretty big moment for local rock to give stalwarts Dawes (whose singer and drummer lost homes and studios in the Eaton fire) such a huge opener with “I Love L.A.” with John Legend, Brad Paisley, St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow and Brittany Howard. — A.B.
St. Vincent finessing that indelibly ’80s synth solo — love to see it. — M.W.
5:03 p.m. Best line from Trevor Noah’s opening monologue about our town’s identity as the global hub of pop music: “L.A. was the city where Snoop first mixed gin and juice.” — M.W.
5 p.m. Well, August, here we find ourselves yet again. Obviously, the big awards-centric question is whether Beyoncé finally wins album of the year — or the Recording Academy just goes ahead and renames the prize after Taylor Swift. Any other tight races you’re watching? — M.W.
Mikael, it’s finally time for the inimitable high drama that only Music’s Biggest Night can offer. The fires obviously will be a huge theme for the night, and a big responsibility for the academy to honor. It’s such an undisputed huge year for excellent pop that I’m holding out for at least one insane Classic Grammy Curveball, like an André 3000 win for album. — A.B.
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