The 67th Grammys award show was held on February 2 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, an event dedicated to giving awards to music artists in various genres for performances, songs and albums.
The main theme was centered around the recent devastation of the LA wildfires, and many paid tributes to the cause. The New York Times reported how small businesses that were destroyed by the fires had been given ad segments to promote themselves, and according to the Grammy Awards website, the 2025 Grammys were raising money for the MusiCares Fire Relief efforts. The funds will stay in the community to help people who have been impacted by the fires.
In addition to the ad segments, many artists dedicated their performances to raising awareness about the wildfires. Taylor Goldsmith, the lead singer of the folk-rock band from LA known as Dawes, started the night by singing Randy Newman’s song “I Love LA” with a few other big names, such as Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley and St. Vincent.
Billie Eilish also dedicated her performance to the wildfires, considering the fact that she is from LA. While she performed “Birds of a Feather” with her band, her backdrop showed the LA hills with the occasional baby picture.
Some of the biggest news is the success of Kendrick Lamar, winning five Grammy awards throughout the night including record of the year, song of the year, best rap performance, best rap song and best music video, according to NPR. All of these were for his song “Not Like Us,” which has certainly left an impression, especially after his recent Super Bowl performance.
Another controversial topic of the night was Beyoncé winning album of the year for “Cowboy Carter,” the second album in her three-part series, starting with her 2022 album “Renaissance,” according to Vox. Some of the other artists nominated for this were Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish, according to NPR.
This was also the first time a black artist won best country album this century, according to The New York Times. While Beyoncé’s album was a large project, it was questioned as the least surprising win in a New York Times article.
Even with these results, there were numerous performances by artists, especially by newer ones, such as Benson Boone, Shaboozey and Teddy Swims, but it was Chappell Roan who won best new artist. She performed one of her more popular songs, “Pink Pony Club,” for the audience, starting her song while sitting on a giant pink horse.
This was not her only song that was loved this year. Her song “Good Luck, Babe!” was also nominated for song of the year, although that was lost to Lamar. It was also nominated for best pop solo performance. “The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess,” her first album, was nominated for album of the year, as well as best pop vocal album, according to NPR.
During her acceptance speech, she advocated for music artists’ rights, addressing what she had to go through to get to where she is today, according to The New York Times. This was a speech that opened eyes to the worse side of getting into the music industry, as well as mentioning the queer community.
Doechii, the third woman to ever win best rap album, had an inspiring speech when her award was presented to her by Cardi B, one of the only other women to win the same award.
The album that won the award, “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” was released in late August of 2024, including 19 songs. It won against albums from already established artists, like J. Cole, who had not released an album since March of 2022 before his nominated album, “Might Delete Later.” She also won over Eminem’s album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce),” his first album since 2020, according to Spotify.
Another memorable performance was by Lady Gaga, showcasing her new song “Abracadabra,” with dancing that used some of her earlier choreography styles. She has also hinted at some of her past work with the upcoming release of her album “Mayhem” in March of 2024, becoming a callback to her earlier electro-pop style.
She received two nominations, both for the hit song “Die With a Smile,” her duet with Bruno Mars that has almost 1.8 billion streams on Spotify, becoming the fastest song to reach one billion streams after reaching that milestone in 96 days, according to Billboard.
“Die With a Smile” did win best pop duo/group performance at this event. During Gaga’s acceptance speech, she addressed transgender rights in the light of President Donald Trump claiming that there were only two genders in his inauguration speech, saying that “trans people are not invisible,” according to Variety.
Hayley Doda can be contacted at
hayley@kscequinox.com
