“Can we take a minute and make some noise for the city of f–king angels,” the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony host Justin Tranter demanded while opening up the show on Sunday (Feb. 2) in Los Angeles.

As commanded, the crowd cheered for the Grammys’ longstanding city of residence, and the duration of the show — which eventually moved from the Peacock Theater to Crypto.com Arena next door for the main telecast — gave significant love and airtime to L.A., where wildfires decimated entire neighborhoods in early January. The disaster prompted the cancellation of many Grammy parties and related events, but the awards show itself persevered, nodding to the disaster and corresponding relief efforts many times during the telecast while also functioning as a fundraiser and, of course, providing many non-fire related moments that emphasized music’s power to thrill and uplift.

The atmosphere backstage was essentially a facsimile, with artists finding a deft balance between celebrating their wins while acknowledging the awards happening in the wake of a major natural disaster. Even the commercial breaks included stars such as Doja Cat, Anderson .Paak and Avril Lavigne appearing in ads with local L.A. business owners.

But of course, the Grammys also went big on what it always aims too accomplish — celebrating the year’s biggest songs and artists with the awards and showcasing huge, glitzy performances from some of the world’s biggest stars. Even back in the press room, journalists were cheering as artists such as Doechii and Benson Boone electrified the stage.

Throughout the busy, jubilant and occasionally tear-jerking night, Billboard was positioned on the red carpet, backstage and in the audience to report on all things behind the scenes. Read on for everything you didn’t see on TV.

2:32 p.m. PT: “Never get into a rap battle with Kendrick Lamar,” says Sean Lennon, offering a word of advice to the Premiere Ceremony audience and livestream viewers while accepting the award for best boxed or special limited edition package for his work art directing Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection), the 1973 album by his late father, John Lennon. (Even at this early hour Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has already won Grammys for best rap performance, best rap song and best music video.)

2:50 p.m. PT: Lennon then accepts the best rock performance award on behalf of The Beatles, who won the award for “Now and Then,” with Lennon acknowledging the band and making a request. “It’s really incredible if you think about it, man,” he told the Premiere Ceremony crowd. “The Beatles have done so much incredible work and they’re still in the culture … and as far as I’m concerned, its the greatest band of all time. … Play The Beatles to your kids. The world can’t afford to forget about people like The Beatles. We need the peace and love of the ’60s and we need the magic to stay alive.”

3:00 p.m. PT: Backstage in the press room, Norah Jones reflects on her best traditional pop vocal album win for Visions, which comes 22 years after her album Come Away With Me swept the 2003 Grammys, winning for album of the year, record of the year, best female pop vocal performance, best pop vocal album and Jones winning best new artist. “I’m really grateful that I still have a job,” Jones says while reflecting on this accomplishment backstage. “This business is crazy, so I’m just really happy to make music that I love and that people listen to still. It’s special. [Winning those early awards] was exciting, it was crazy though, and I was so young. I really, definitely, probably appreciate this even more.”

3:12 p.m. PT: Backstage, Anderson .Paak reflects on playing the massive FireAid benefit concert that took place two nights ago to raise money victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. “It was awesome to be a part of an epic lineup and to unite the city and provide some much needed aid for the people who need it,” the son of SoCal says. “I loved playing in the Forum. I was able to bring out the big homie Dr. Dre, the big homie Sheila E. and with my band The Free Nationals — it was one of the greatest nights for sure in L.A.”

3:17 p.m. PT: Jason Carter, the grandson of late President Jimmy Carter, reflects on his grandfather’s posthumous win for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for his Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration. The project features recordings from President Carter’s final Sunday School lessons delivered at Maranatha Baptist Church, in his hometown of Plains, Ga.

“He was such an enormous music fan,” Jason Carter said backstage in the Grammys press room after accepting the award on behalf of his grandfather, who died in December at age 100. “He loves the creative aspect of music, it’s an important part of his political life and an important part of his personal life. He was an artist in many ways himself. He was an author, he was a painter … so he really appreciates the aspect of the Grammys that recognizes creativity.”

3:35 p.m. PT: St. Vincent cradles the three Grammy awards she’s won during the Premiere Ceremony. When asked how she plans to celebrate, she says, “My sister is in town and we’re going to make the night ours, and probably be in bed by 10, if all goes well.”

She’s then asked about the representation of LGBTQ+ people at the Grammys, to which she responds: “There have always been queer people in the history of the world and especially in music, so I think there’s a bunch of queer people being celebrated this year especially. Of course it’s great. Empathy and humanity, let’s go.”

She also discloses that holding the three awards at once is making her biceps burn.

4:01 p.m. PT: In the press area, Sean Lennon is asked about “the burden” of carrying on the legacy of his father, John Lennon. “It’s not a burden,” the younger Lennon responds. “It’s honestly a great privilege for me. I just feel so lucky that I get to do good by my dad. It feels like a privilege as his son to be able give back. He gave the world so much, and he gave me so much and I just feel really honored to be able to do justice by him.”

4:57 p.m. PT: Celebrating her best R&B performance win for “Made for Me (Live on BET),” Muni Long reflects, “For me, moments like this are just a reminder that when you do what’s in your heart, you win no matter how much resistance you encounter, no matter how many opinions people might have, you have to be authentic, because that resonates with people.”

5:19 p.m. PT: Percussion legend Sheila E., who won an award for best global music performance for “Bemba Colorá” featuring Gloria Estefan and Mimy Succar, shares about temporarily evacuating her home during the L.A. wildfires. “I was one of the fortunate ones,” she says. “It was very, very close to my house. I had to evacuate the night of the fires … and the first thing that I took — because I had evacuated that area before — and this time I put all my music, all my hard drives in bins so I could carry them down the stairs by myself if I had to, and I just took my music, a pair of pajamas, a pair of sweats, and I left.”

5:25 p.m. PT: While speaking to the press after winning for best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella, John Legend discussed the recent wildfires in Los Angeles and the broader occurrence of climate change-related disasters. “We’ve had floods in this country, we’ve had hurricanes in this country, and what I love to see is when all of us realize that our neighbors, our fellow countrymen and women are struggling and suffering, and we all come together and help each other out,” Legend says.

“L.A.’s going through it now, and folks around the country and around the world are going through it in other ways,” he continues. “A lot of it is due to climate and heightened disasters and the strength of these storms and winds … I think more than ever, we’re going to have to come together and support each other in these times. It’s L.A.’s turn right now, but we’re going to have to return the favor for other communities and other cities and states as they go through the same things. Hopefully, we’ll be there for each other, and we’ll all do the best we can to think long term about climate change and how it’s affecting all of us, and we’ll do the things we need to do as a society to help mitigate the damage.”

6:10 p.m. PT: Brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of the band Dawes step backstage to discuss their show-opening performance of Randy Newman’s 1983 anthem “I Love L.A.” “We’ve never been nominated; we’ve never even been here,” says Taylor, “so for us this is just such a whirlwind of thinking [the Grammys] have never been a part of our journey, to going to the show and playing onstage. It’s a wild thing about how our childhood dreams could meet up with an opportunity to help our communities at such a tragic moment.”

7:22 p.m. PT: Inside the venue, Beyoncé — who has just won for best country album and attended the show with husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy — is escorted back to her seat just before a tribute to late genius Quincy Jones. The medley features Cynthia Ervio and Herbie Hancock performing “Fly Me to the Moon,” Lainey Wilson and Jacob Collier doing “Let The Good Times Roll,” Stevie Wonder and Hancock performing “Blusette” and “We Are the World” and Janelle Monáe singing “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough.”

7:38 p.m. PT: After winning for best rap album and putting on a jaw-dropping performances of “Catfish” and “Denial Is a River,” Doechii arrived backstage and said the performance was one of the most difficult she’s ever done. “I really felt I needed to push myself harder than I ever have before,” she told the journalists assembled, who’d cheered when she entered the room. “It meant everything to me to prove myself tonight, to me, and so it was about Broadway and theater and art, and I think I brought that to the stage.”

8:35 p.m. PT: Backstage, SZA, whose “Saturn” has won for best R&B recording, is asked if she can reveal any secrets about her upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show special guest appearance with Kendrick Lamar. “Mm-mm,” she says, politely declining. “That’s King Kendrick’s performance, and all I can say is that he’s working really hard on it.”

She’s then asked what her future plans are in terms of not being “placed in a box” of R&B. “I don’t really think I’m actually really placed in a box,” she says. “I think these are the parameters in which I’ve been honored this evening, and I’m grateful for that, and I think within all the parameters I’ve been honored, regardless of the label, I’m grateful to have gotten the award, the but that’s not the point. The point is the reach, and the impact, and the experience I’ve had creating music.”

Beyoncé finally won the Grammy for album of the year at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 2) for her country project Cowboy Carter. The win followed four previous losses in the category, for I Am…Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé, Lemonade and Renaissance.

Beyoncé is just the fourth Black woman to win album of the year as a lead artist, following Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill. (Two of these women won for stylistic departures – Cole for her warm embrace of the traditional pop songs made famous by her father, Nat “King” Cole, and Bey for an album which sought to bring attention to Black artists’ overlooked role in country music history. Beyoncé won a total of three awards on the night, extending her record as the artist with the most wins ever to 35.

Cowboy Carter is the first country album to win album of the year since Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour six years ago. Cowboy Carter didn’t receive a single nomination at the Country Music Association Awards in November. The same thing happened with The Chicks’ album Taking the Long Road, which won album of the year at the Grammys in 2007 despite being blanked at the CMA Awards. It is believed to have swept the Grammys because voters were making a point about freedom of speech, amid the severe backlash the group experienced following Natalie Maines’ critical comments about President George W. Bush. Note: The Chicks were nominated for vocal group of the year at the CMAs the following year.

Lamar was the year’s top Grammy winner, with five wins, followed by Sierra Ferrell, with four; Beyoncé, Charli XCX and St. Vincent, with three each; and Jon Batiste, Sabrina Carpenter, Gustavo Dudamel, Samara Joy and CeCe Winans, with two each.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” won record of the year, becoming just the second rap smash to win in the category. It follows Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” in 2019. This is the second time in four years that Black lead or co-lead artists have won both album and record of the year in the same year. On the 2022 telecast, Jon Batiste won album of the year for We Are. Silk Sonic, with Anderson .Paak alongside Bruno Mars, won record of the year for “Leave the Door Open.”

Chappell Roan won best new artist. This is the eighth consecutive year that a female solo artist has won best new artist. That constitutes the longest winning streak by women artists in the history of the category, topping the seven-year winning streak that extended from 1997 to 2003.

Amy Allen became the first woman to win the award for songwriter of the year, non-classical. The first two winners in the category were Tobias Jesso Jr. and Theron Thomas.

Daniel Nigro won producer of the year, non-classical. He was first nominated in the category last year, when the award went to Jack Antonoff (who was not nominated this year).

Elaine Martone won producer of the year, classical for the third time. She’s the third woman to win the award, joining Judith Sherman (seven wins) and Joanna Nickrenz (two wins). Note that women producers have won 12 times in this category, compared to zero times in the producer of the year, non-classical category – which had a five-year head-start on the classical producer award.

Sabrina Carpenter won best pop vocal album for Short n’ Sweet. She beat three past winners in the category – Taylor Swift (who has won it twice), Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish, as well as the red-hot Chappell Roan. That’s what you call a stacked category.

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” won best pop duo/group performance. It’s Gaga’s record third win in the category. She previously won for “Shallow” with Bradley Cooper in 2019 and “Rain on Me” with Ariana Grande in 2021. That was Mars’ 12th consecutive Grammy win without a loss. Alas, Mars’ winning streak came to an end on the live telecast when “Die With a Smile” lost song of the year. Still, 12 wins in a row without a loss ain’t bad.

The Beatles won best rock performance for “Now and Then.” This is the group’s first win in a rock category. (The Grammys didn’t have categories dedicated specifically to rock until the 1980 ceremony.) Most would call “A Hard Day’s Night” a rock performance, but it won in the genre-less category of best performance by a vocal group. The Grammys had rock categories when “Free as a Bird” won a Grammy in 1997, but it won instead for best pop performance by a vocal group.

The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds won best rock album. The Stones were the first winners in the category when it was first presented in 1985, for their album Voodoo Lounge. This is the first time that The Beatles and The Stones, the two top rock groups of the 1960s, have won Grammys in the same year.

St. Vincent’s All Born Screaming won best alternative music album. It’s her third win in the category, which puts her in a tie with Beck, Radiohead and The White Stripes for the most wins in the category’s history. She also won best alternative music performance for “Flea” and best rock song for “Broken Man,” two tracks from the album.

Doechii’s mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal won best rap album. Doechii is just the third woman to win in this category, following Lauryn Hill (as part of Fugees, for their second album, The Score) and Cardi B, for her debut album, Invasion of Privacy. In a fitting touch, Cardi B presented Doechii with the award. Doechii beat Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace). Em has won six times in this category, and in fact had only lost once before – when Ye’s Late Registration beat Encore in 2006.

Norah Jones’ Visions won best traditional pop vocal album, 22 years after she won best pop vocal album for Come Away With Me. Jones is the fifth artist to win in both of these categories, following Joni Mitchell, Lady Gaga, James Taylor and Paul McCartney (counting an early pop album award with The Beatles).

Chris Stapleton won best country solo performance for a record-extending fifth time. That’s more than double the tally of the next two winners combined. Carrie Underwood and Willie Nelson have each won twice since this gender-neutral category was introduced in 2012.

Beyoncé featuring Miley Cyrus won best country duo/group performance for “II Most Wanted.” It’s the first time that two artists from outside the country world have won for a collaboration in that category. Pentatonix and Justin Bieber have each won in the category, but for collaborations with core country artists – Dolly Parton and Dan + Shay, respectively.

Kendrick Lamar became the first artist to win best music video three times. He won this year for “Not Like Us,” having previously won as a featured artist on Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” and for his own video “Humble.” Lamar was among the video directors on both “Humble.” and “Not Like Us.”

Lamar also won a record-extending seventh time for best rap performance. And he won best rap song for the fifth time, a tally topped only by Ye (with seven wins).

Cowboy Carter also won best country album. Beyoncé is the first Black artist to win in that category.

The late Chick Corea won best jazz instrumental album for Remembrance, a collab with Béla Fleck. It’s Corea’s 28th Grammy, which puts him in a tie with the late Quincy Jones for third place on the all-time Grammy leaderboard. They are topped by just two artists – a total topped by Beyoncé (35) and Sir Georg Solti (31).

Jay-Z won his 25th Grammy for his work as a songwriter on Cowboy Carter. This allows him to stand alone as the rap artist with the most Grammys – 25. He was formerly tied for that distinction with Ye.

Sean Ono Lennon won a Grammy for best boxed or special limited edition package for a reissue of his father John Lennon’s 1973 album Mind Games. Both of the younger Lennon’s parents are multiple Grammy winners. John Lennon won seven Grammys. Yoko Ono has won two. They shared the album of the year award in 1982 for their collaborative album, Double Fantasy.

Jimmy Carter’s Last Sunday in Plains: A Centennial Celebration won best audio book, narration and storytelling recording. It’s the late president’s fourth Grammy win. Carter has won more Grammys than any other U.S. president. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are runners-up with two wins each. Carter has won all four of his Grammys in this category, which is more than anyone else in the category’s history. Maya Angelou is second with three wins. Carter died at age 100 in December.

Hell’s Kitchen won best musical theater album. Alicia Keys won as one of the album’s producers. It’s her 17th Grammy. Keys also won the honorary Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.

Dave Chappelle’s The Dreamer won best comedy album. It’s his sixth win in the category, which puts him just one behind longtime category leader Bill Cosby. Chappelle pulls ahead of George Carlin and Richard Pryor, with five wins each.

Hans Zimmer’s Dune: Part Two won best score soundtrack for visual media (includes film and television). This makes up for the fact that the score wasn’t allowed to compete in this year’s Oscar voting process because it was judged to have leaned too heavily on Zimmer’s score for the first Dune. This is Zimmer’s third win in this Grammy category, following Crimson Tide and The Dark Knight, a collab with James Newton Howard.

The Taj Mahal Sextet won best traditional blues album for Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa. The win came less than 24 hours after Taj Mahal received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy at their annual Special Merit Awards.

The deluxe edition of Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired by the Film won best reggae album. Among the albums the soundtrack beat this year: Evolution, the latest album by Marley’s band, The Wailers. Marley never won a Grammy in competition – the Grammys didn’t introduce a reggae album category until 1984, three years after Marley’s death. The Academy awarded Marley a lifetime achievement award in 2001.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ Woodland won best folk album – the pair’s second win in the category. They previously won in 2021 for All the Good Times. They are the second two-time winner in the category, following Chris Thile.

It’s OK to just admit that you’re jealous of Charli XCX — she did just close out the 2025 Grammys with the final performance of the night, after all.

Performing a medley of two of the most beloved tracks on her album Brat, the star kicked things off outdoors in the Crypto.com Arena driveway, popping out of a car in a furry black jacket and throwing a glass of bubbly to the side before catwalking all the way to a square-shaped platform, on which she belted out “Von Dutch” in the middle of a horde of fellow brats for an end-of-night rave. She then made her way to the main stage inside, shedding her coat and swiveling her hips while singing “Guess” — minus remix duet partner Billie Eilish, who sang along passionately in the crowd — for more head-banging over a pile of women’s underwear that littered the floor

Also on stage were producer The Dare and Julia Fox, whom Charli wished a happy birthday at the end of her performance. A message on screen read, “All unworn undergarments will be donated to survivors of domestic violence through I Support the Girls.”

Charli was the final performer of the night, following a lineup that also included fellow nominees Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Shakira, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, as well as a best new artist medley featuring Benson Boone, Doechii, Teddy Swims, Shaboozey and Raye. Thanks to the breakthrough success of her album Brat — which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in June — the “Apple” singer was nominated for a total of seven prizes at the 2025 Grammys, including album of the year, which Beyoncé took home for Cowboy Carter, and record of the year for “360,” which went to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

Though Charli lost out in the main categories, the British singer-songwriter did snag her first two golden gramophones ever Sunday night. “Von Dutch” won best dance/pop recording, and Brat won best dance/electronic album.

Shortly after taking home the Grammy for record of the year, Kendrick Lamar returned to the stage at Crypto.com Arena to accept his second Big Four Grammy for song of the year on Sunday night (Feb. 2) for hit breakout hit “Not Like Us.”

The award was presented by the legend Diana Ross, who offered a somber reflection on the goings on of the world. “How can we have the balance between celebrating and being filled with sorrow? Even as we face trials and tributes with our soul, music brings us home,” she told the audience. “You are not alone, we stand with you, my heart reaches out to you.”

Appearing from backstage after taking home the prize for record of the year, Lamar immediately started beaming about being handed his second trophy of the evening by The Boss herself. “Damn, that’s Diana Ross,” he said with a laugh. “I’m starstruck.”

After letting his crew get a few words in (including Mustard declaring “somebody get the broom out” for his partner’s apparent sweep), Lamar took a moment to pay tribute to the West Coast rap stars who helped build the lane he occupies today. “All the West Coast artists, from early on — G Malone, Problem, Bad Lucc, K-Bo, Daylyt … these are the cats that inspired me to be the MC I am today,” he said. “Schoolboy, J-Roc, Ab-Soul, this is what it’s about, man. Because at the end of the day, nothing more powerful than rap music — I don’t care what it is. We are the culture.”

With his final words, Lamar offered one final message to any up-and-coming rap artists watching. “To all the young artists, like my man Punch say, I just hope you respect the art form,” he said. “It’ll get you where you need to go.”

At Sunday night’s ceremony, Beyoncé led the pack of nominees with a whopping 11 nods, with Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Lamar himself and Post Malone tied for the second most nominations with seven each. Meanwhile, the jam-packed show included performances from stars such as Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Benson Boone and plenty of others.