Grammys 2025: 67th ceremony awards Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, encourages fire recovery in LA

Beyoncé accepts the trophy for Album of the Year at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. She won the trophy for her LP “COWBOY CARTER” after previously losing for “I AM…SASHA FIERCE,” “BEYONCÉ,” “Lemonade” and “RENAISSANCE.” (Courtesy of CBS/Recording Academy)

By Reid Sperisen
Feb. 2, 2025 10:42 p.m.
This post was updated Feb. 4 at 8:55 p.m.
In the heart of Los Angeles, this year’s Grammy Awards celebrated much more than music.
The 67th Annual Grammy Awards were held at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, honoring the best music released between Sept. 16, 2023 and Aug. 30, 2024. Celebrities and musicians descended on the venue to participate in music’s biggest night, as the broadcast struck a balance between its entertainment sensibilities and its message of LA’s unity, resilience and fire relief.
On several occasions throughout the broadcast, returning host Trevor Noah spoke about the devastation caused by the January wildfires across LA County while encouraging viewers in the audience and at home to donate to MusiCares Fire Relief, the California Community Foundation and the Pasadena Community Foundation. The show’s first performance was a jam session between six artists from the center of the auditorium, as rock band Dawes was joined by Brad Paisley, Brittany Howard, John Legend, Sheryl Crow and St. Vincent to perform a cover of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”
Billie Eilish took the stage for the night’s second performance, performing her hit single “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” while accompanied by her brother and collaborator Finneas O’Connell on guitar. Eilish sported an oversized orange jersey and baggy jeans with an LA Dodgers cap while roaming in a naturalistic set reminiscent of California’s chaparral terrain. After Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter sang a medley of two tracks from her album “Short n’ Sweet.” Beginning with a jazzy rendition of “Espresso,” Carpenter strode down a tall flight of white stairs and traded her black-tie ensemble for a bejeweled blue bodysuit, transitioning to “Please Please Please” before returning back to “Espresso.”
With the majority of the Grammys’ trophies presented during a preceremony, the first award of the main broadcast was Best Rap Album, which past winner Cardi B presented. Doechii, who hails from Tampa, Florida, received the award for her mixtape “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” becoming the third woman to win in the Best Rap Album category.
“There is some Black girl out there, so many Black women out there that are watching me right now, and I want to tell you, you can do it,” Doechii said. “Anything is possible. Don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you that tell you that you can’t be here, that you’re too dark or that you’re not smart enough or that you’re too dramatic or you’re too loud. You are who you need to be, so be right where you are.”

Following Doechii’s acceptance speech, Carpenter won Best Pop Vocal Album for “Short n’ Sweet” and Chappell Roan took the stage for her song “Pink Pony Club,” jiving around a Western-inspired set – complete with a gigantic pink pony and backup dancers in scarecrow ensembles – while whipping her red hair and interacting with her guitarist. Roan’s performance concluded with Taylor Swift arriving to present Best Country Album, which was awarded to Beyoncé’s “COWBOY CARTER.”
In an extended stretch of the show, almost all of the Best New Artist nominees appeared in consecutive performances. Khruangbin delivered “May Ninth” and Benson Boone moved from the audience to the stage for his hit “Beautiful Things.” Doechii, joined by dozens of dancers in gray school uniforms, rapped through her tracks “CATFISH” and “DENIAL IS A RIVER,” which Teddy Swims followed with “Lose Control.” Shaboozey wore a maroon suit while singing “Good News” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and RAYE closed the segment with a small orchestra backing her rendition of “Oscar Winning Tears.” After a commercial break, Victoria Monét presented the Best New Artist statuette to Roan.
“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 said. “So 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?”

Following a segment about fire victims across LA County and the importance of community support, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars – who later won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Die With A Smile” – joined for a cover of The Mamas & The Papas’ “California Dreamin’.” The Recording Academy CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., then introduced a surprise performance by The Weeknd. The Canadian star notably boycotted the Grammys in 2021, citing racial bias after failing to receive any nominations for his album “After Hours” and its smash hit “Blinding Lights.” Mason said in an article from The Hollywood Reporter that he valued The Weeknd’s criticisms and the Recording Academy has been overhauled the last few years. Shortly after, Shakira won Best Latin Pop Album for “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran.”
An extended tribute to Quincy Jones, the 28-time Grammy winner who died in November, featured commentary by Will Smith. Cynthia Erivo crooned “Fly Me To The Moon” while Herbie Hancock played piano, Lainey Wilson and Jacob Collier offered up a take on “Let the Good Times Roll” and Stevie Wonder played “Bluesette” on harmonica. Two songs that Jones produced ended the section, as Wonder sang the charity song “We Are The World” and Janelle Monáe moonwalked to Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.”
After the Jones tribute, Chris Martin performed Coldplay’s “All My Love” for the memorial segment, while Shakira performed “Ojos Así” and “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” alongside dancers in a rave-like setting with lasers and strobe lights. Kendrick Lamar then won two of the night’s biggest awards, with both Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year going to his hit diss track “Not Like Us.” After winning three other trophies during the preshow, “Not Like Us” walked away with five awards from every category it was nominated for, while becoming the second hip-hop track to win in the General Field.

Later, Queen Latifah presented the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award to Alicia Keys, and Charli xcx completed the final performance of the night with her songs “Von dutch” and “Guess.” The final award of the ceremony was presented by firefighters from the County of LA Fire Department, as Beyoncé’s “COWBOY CARTER” took Album Of The Year. Several artists with high nominations tallies – including Post Malone with eight, Eilish with seven and Swift with six – went home empty handed. But for Beyoncé, “COWBOY CARTER” is her first Album Of The Year trophy after previously losing for “I AM…SASHA FIERCE,” “BEYONCÉ,” “Lemonade” and “RENAISSANCE.”
“I just feel very full and very honored,” Beyoncé said. “It’s been many, many years. I just want to thank the Grammys, every songwriter, every collaborator, every producer, all of the hard work. I want to dedicate this to Ms. Martell, and I hope we just keep pushing forward, opening doors.”