Chappell Roan has never been one to shy away from making a point, and she made sure to make her voice heard at the 2025 Grammys Sunday (Feb. 2) when she won best new artist at the annual ceremony.

After she was announced as the category’s winner, Roan — who was dressed in a conical princess hat and a satin gray dress — took to the stage at the Crypto.com Arena and immediately offered a series of shout-outs. “Thank you to my fellow nominees, whose music got me through this past year — Brat was the best night of my life this year,” she said with a laugh. “Thank you all who listened to get me here today, and Dan, and Island Records, Amusement Records, my friends and my family, and above all my papa Chappell, who I named myself after.”

Then, the “Pink Pony Club” singer steered her speech to ask the music labels watching to provide better healthcare and financial support for their artists. “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 healthcare, especially for developing artists,” she said, reading out of a notebook.

Roan shared her own experience with being dropped from a major label, and how the lack of support she received affected her. “I got signed so young … and when I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt, and like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in the pandemic, and could not afford health insurance,” she said. “It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and to feel so betrayed by the system and to be so dehumanized to not have healthcare. If my label would have prioritized artists’ health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to.”

In closing her speech, Roan left executives with a powerful note: “Labels, we got you — but do you got us?”

Roan was nominated in a stacked best new artist category, featuring stars including Sabrina Carpenter, Benson Boone, Doechii, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and others. The “Femininomenon” singer also received five other nominations at the annual awards show, including in the other Big Four categories for album of the year (The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess), record of the year and song of the year (“Good Luck, Babe”).

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter has won best country album at the 2025 Grammys ceremony on Sunday (Feb. 2). The triumph makes Beyoncé the first Black woman to win in the best country album category.

Taylor Swift presented the trophy for best country album, telling the audience, “They say you never forget where you came from, and I will never forget standing here right on this spot almost exactly 15 years ago, accepting the award for best country album. It’s an honor that has gone to great artists that I admire so much, like The Chicks, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, George Strait, Faith Hill, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss and Shania Twain.”

Swift announced Beyoncé as the winner, with the audience cheering as Beyoncé rose from her seat in the crowd, hugging her husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy, and then taking the stage to accept the honor.

After greeting Swift, Beyoncé addressed the audience. “Wow. I want to thank God — oh my God — that I’m still able to do what I love after all these years. I’d like to thank all of the incredible country artists that accepted this album. We worked so hard on it. I think sometimes ‘genre’ is a cold word to keep us in our place as artists. I just want to encourage people to do what they are passionate about and to stay persistent.”

She thanked her family as well as her collaborators on Cowboy Carter. “This wouldn’t have been this album without you,” Beyoncé said, thanking God and her fans.

“I still am in shock, so thank you so much for this honor,” she concluded.

Cowboy Carter spent two weeks atop the all-genre Billboard 200 when it debuted in April. The project featured an array of artists including Country Music Hall of Famers such as Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, but also, crucially, the project paid homage to Black country trailblazers such as Linda Martell (who appears on the tracks “Spaghettii” and “The Linda Martell Show”), and put a spotlight on modern-day Black country artists. Shaboozey appeared on multiple songs on the project, including “Spaghettii” and “Sweet Honey Buckiin,” while Black women country artists Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts traded harmonies with Beyoncé on “Blackbiird.”

Earlier in the evening, Bey became the first Black female artist to win a country Grammy in the past five decades, when she took home the trophy for best country duo/group performance for “II Most Wanted,” her collaboration with Miley Cyrus. The Pointer Sisters had previously won a Grammy for best country vocal performance by a duo or group in 1975.

Beyoncé led the Grammy nominees this year with 11 nominations going into the ceremony. The 2025 Grammy Awards aired on CBS, live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Sabrina Carpenter clinched her second-ever Grammy win for best pop vocal album Sunday night (Feb. 2), courtesy of her 2024 home-run project Short n’ Sweet. The “Espresso” singer expressed gratitude at the 2025 Grammy Awards after edging out Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan in a heavyweight showdown for pop supremacy.

“I really was not expecting this,” said a visibly surprised Carpenter, who performed earlier in the night. “All those nominees who are on the screen are some of my favorite artists in the world, and I can’t believe that I’m nominated against them are even in this room right now. Whew. This is my [second] Grammy, so I’m gonna cry.”

Carpenter continued sharing her appreciation by thanking the Recording Academy, her fans, Island Records and her mother, who she said “drove her to every vocal lesson.”

“You guys have no idea how much I love you and how much this album means to me,” said Carpenter, her voice filled with emotion, before punctuating her rousing speech with a bleeped-out “holy s–t.”

Carpenter entered the night nominated for six awards, including album of the year, song of the year, record of the year and best new artist. As previously mentioned, earlier in the night, Carpenter punched in a fun performance of “Please Please Please” and “Espresso,” during which she delivered a Hollywood-nodding set consisting of numerous costume changes, an entertaining tap routine, some comedic bits and more.

Ahead of the show’s ceremony, Carpenter won best pop solo performance for “Espresso,” ousting Beyoncé, Eilish, Roan and Charli XCX from the race.