2025 Grammy Awards Highlights And Calls To Action

This year’s Grammy Awards was dedicated to those affected by the LA fires, raising funds for relief organizations while recognizing first responders and the Los Angeles Fire Department. Here are some of the most memorable moments.

The 67th Annual Grammy Awards just took place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, hosted by comedian Trevor Noah for the fifth consecutive year.

Going into the awards ceremony, Beyoncé led the pack with 11 nominations for her work in Cowboy Carter. Following close behind, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter also received nominations in major categories.

READ ALSO: 2025 Oscars Nominations: Surprises And Snubs At This Year’s Academy Awards

This year’s Grammy Awards was dedicated to all those affected by the recent LA wildfires, raising funds for MusiCares, Direct Relief, the Pasadena Community Foundation, and the California Community Foundation. First responders and members of the Los Angeles Fire Department were also invited and honored at the show.

First responders at the 2025 Grammy Awards
Honoring LA’s brave first responders

See more of the highlights from the evening, from the red carpet to the awarding ceremony, the standout performances, and other memorable moments.

Red Carpet Fashion

In light of the LA wildfires, many of the Grammy Awards attendees opted for more subdued tones, from Miley Cyrus’ black leather dress by Saint Laurent to Olivia Rodrigo’s vintage Versace black halter-neck gown. Artists like Brittany Howard, Jaden Smith, and Jacob Collier wore blue heart pins, a symbol of their support for MusiCares.

Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter kept it light with a baby blue floor-length gown with feathers along her hips and the dress’ hem. The Jonathan Anderson design features a deep cut in the back, which the singer adorned with a string of Chopard diamonds.

Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter

Two of the night’s most recognized artists, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan, both wore gowns by Jean Paul Gaultier. Charli XCX’s gray corset gown covered in ruffles was from the designer’s Spring-Summer 2025 collection while Roan went for an archival piece from Spring 2003 featuring prints of Edgar Degas’ ballet dancer paintings.

Lady Gaga brought in the dramatics with a long-sleeved ball gown while Taylor Swift offered a pop of color with a red minidress and a thigh chain that had a “T” charm. Both singers were dressed in Vivienne Westwood designs.

Beyoncé Wins Big

This year, Beyoncé finally won the highly coveted Album of the Year award for Cowboy Carter. The singer also took home the trophy for Best Country Album—after being snubbed by the Country Music Association Awards last year—and became the first Black woman to do so.

“I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists, and I just want to encourage people to do what they’re passionate about, and to stay persistent,” Beyoncé said in her acceptance speech for Best Country Album.

Later on in the evening, a group of firefighters presented her with the award for Album of the Year. “I’d like to thank and acknowledge and praise all the firefighters for keeping us safe,” the singer said, as she shared the stage with her daughter Blue Ivy.

“I just feel very full and very honored. It’s been many, many years,” she continued. “I just want to thank the Grammys, every songwriter, every collaborator, every producer, for all of the hard work … I hope we just keep pushing forward, opening doors.”

Young Artists Take Home Their First Grammy Awards

During the Premiere Ceremony, a pre-telecast show, Sabrina Carpenter received her first-ever Grammy Award. She was honored with Best Pop Solo Performance for her hit single “Espresso.”

At the actual awards ceremony, she also took home the Best Pop Vocal Album award for Short n’ Sweet. Still out of breath from her performance of “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” Carpenter accepted the award saying, “Thank you to the Recording Academy for having me and having everyone here tonight, in celebration and in honor of everything that’s happened.”

Celebrating the viral success of brat summer, Charli XCX performed “Von dutch” and “Guess” at the Grammys this year. She then went on to win three awards—Best Dance Pop Recording (“Von dutch”), Best Dance/Electronic Album, and Best Recording Package.

Alongside Carpenter, Chappell Roan was one of two artists to be nominated in all four major categories at this year’s Grammy Awards. With her first Grammy nominations, she took to the stage to perform “Pink Pony Club” and had the entire room singing along. She was later honored with the Best New Artist award.

Calls to Action

Some artists took the chance to use their platform to bring larger issues to light during their acceptance speeches.

Chappell Roan accepting her award for Best New Artist
Chappell Roan accepting her award for Best New Artist

Winning her first Grammy Award, Roan spoke up about the state of healthcare in the music industry, especially for up-and-coming artists. “Like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in the pandemic and couldn’t afford health insurance. It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system,” she said.

“If my label would’ve prioritized artists’ health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to. So, record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a liveable wage and health insurance and protection. Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”

Accepting the award for Best Latin Pop Album, Shakira reached out to her “immigrant brothers and sisters” saying, “You’re loved and worth it, and I will always fight with you.”

When Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars accepted the award for Best Pop Duo Performance, Gaga made sure to address recent events in the US by stating, “Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love.”

Alicia Keys highlighting the importance of diverse voices
Alicia Keys highlighting the importance of diverse voices

In her speech for the Global Impact Award, Alicia Keys also criticized President Donald Trump’s recent statements. “This is not the time to shut down a diversity of voices. We’ve seen on this stage talented, hard-working people from different backgrounds with different points of view, and it changes the game. DEI is not a threat — it’s a gift,” she said.

“The more voices, the more powerful the sound. When destructive forces try to burn us down, we rise from the ashes like a phoenix. And as you see tonight, music is the unstoppable language that connects us all.”

All images via Instagram @recordingacademy.

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