“Just a few weeks ago, we weren’t sure if this night would even happen,” said Trevor Noah, the host of the 2025 Grammy Awards, “this city has just been through one of the largest natural disasters in American history.”
On Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, the 67th annual Grammys took place in the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The evening was filled with extravagant gowns, witty comedy, poignant tributes, and lively performances from some of the most celebrated artists of the year. It was a memorable night, being the first awards ceremony since the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. CBS created a fundraiser called Musicares Fire Relief, to have viewers donate to help those who have lost homes in the wildfires. The company got millions of dollars from viewers at home and especially from the ones sitting in the audience. “It’s often that in the darkest times, the best of humanity shines through and the people of Los Angeles right now are a perfect example of that,” Noah said.
The show opened with the band Dawes, accompanied by many artists such as John Legend and St. Vicent. They all performed “I Love L.A.” a cover of the original song by Randy Newman. Following that, Billie Ellish performed the song “Birds of a Feather” with her brother Finneas O’Connell. Throughout the night, there were numerous performances by notable artists who were nominated this year, including Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Charli XCX and many more.
Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, with the stage name Doechii, is a new artist from Tampa, Florida, who was nominated for three grammys this year: Best Rap Album, Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance. She won Best Rap Album for her newest album “Alligator Bites Never Heal.” Doechii is now the third woman to win in this category alongside Cardi B and Lauren Hill.
“Anything is possible, don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes onto you that tell you that you can’t be here,” said Doechii in her acceptance speech, speaking to the Black women watching her, “You are exactly who you need to be.” It was an incredible year for Doechii, after many of her songs of hers went viral on TikTok. At the Grammys on Sunday night, Doechii performed her songs “Catfish” and “Denial is a River.”
In the preshow, Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus won Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “11 Most Wanted.” Earlier in the night, Beyoncé won Best Country Album for “Cowboy Carter,” making her the first Black woman to have won in this category. In total, throughout Beyoncé’s career, she has been nominated for 99 Grammys, 35 of which she has won.
Kendrick Lamar won five Grammys for one song “Not Like Us”: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Music Video. Lamar is only the second rap artist to win Record of the Year, back in 2019 when Childish Gambino won for his song “This Is America.” This year the category of Song of the Year was presented by Diana Ross. Lamar and Ross shared a quick hug before Lamar gave a short speech.
Close to the end of the night, Queen Latifah awarded Alicia Keys with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. In her acceptance speech, Keys addressed the difficulties of becoming a female producer in the music industry. “It’s a beautiful feeling to be acknowledged for the thing I always thought people didn’t really recognize me (for),” Keys said during her speech.
Closing the show, members of the L.A. County Fire Department came to award the Album of the Year, in honor of all of the first responders that risked their lives against the wildfires this year.
Album of the Year went to Beyoncé for Cowboy Carter. Beyoncé was previously nominated for this award four times, losing all of them. After years of pumping out notorious albums that would hit the top charts, she finally won. Her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, walked her mother up to the stage and stood back to watch her mother have the moment she had been waiting a long time for.