The 2025 Grammys offered some of the best performances of the awards season, from the young talents to iconic vets. With the California fires raging around and the difficult political climate, this year’s Grammys were guaranteed to be a ride.
The talented crop of Best New Artist nominees dominated the Grammys performances. Doechii brought experimental rap in a lively and unique performance. Though she did not win in this category, she took home the Best Rap Album, becoming only the third woman to ever do so. Benson Boone revealed a Harry-Styles-esque jumpsuit, sang, did two flips, and adjusted a certain area to top it all off.
The winner of this category, Chappell Roan offered arguably the most well-done performance of the night. The singer sat atop a sparkly pink pony, crawled across the floor, and danced throughout the whole performance, proving that you can still have a lively performance while delivering great vocals. Take notes Sabrina Carpenter. Chappell had the whole audience of the most successful artists in the world singing her smash hit Pink Pony Girl word for word, proving she really is your favorite artist’s favorite artist.
Kendrick Lamar took home both the Record of the Year and Song of the Year for his smash diss track “They Not Like Us.” The sweep let viewers know that the Grammys still support rap artists.
Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift both didn’t win a single award, surprising some fans. After losing the Album of the Year award, the camera panned to Eilish with tears in her eyes. Beyonce’s experimental country album, “Cowboy Carter” was the winner of that category. “Cowboy Carter” was arguably the least likely to win the category, despite Beyonce’s immense impact on the music industry this year, her album was not impactful in the same way the other nominees were. An Album of the Year award for Beyonce is long overdue but giving her the award now for an album that doesn’t deserve it is just a band-aid covering a bullet hole.
Other performances included that of Grammy critic The Weekend. His first appearance back after publicly boycotting the awards show due to a series of snubs. He gave a vengeful performance of “Timeless.” Cynthia Erivo’s jazzy “Fly Me To The Moon” in remembrance of Quincy Jones was ethereal and Charli XCX’s “Brat” era ended in a clubby final performance featuring Troye Sivan and countless other iconic artists.
The acceptance speeches of recipients seemed to have a common theme. Many winning artists chose to use their time as a way to speak out about certain issues.
“I told myself that if I ever won a Grammy and got to stand up here before the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially to developing artists,” Chappel Roan said.
Alongside Roan, Lady Gaga let the audience know that trans people and the queer community deserved to be seen, Alicia Keys talked about diversity, and Shakira spoke out on immigration amid new, troubling policies.
“I want to dedicate this award to all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country,” The Best Latin Pop Album winner said boldly, “You are loved, you are worth it and I will always fight with you.”
Perhaps the craziest moment of the Grammys was Kanye West’s and wife Bianca Censori’s alleged crash of the red carpet. Censori was pictured taking off her coat to reveal a barely there dress—and by barely there I mean absolutely nothing. The stunt has fans worried for her well-being.
The Grammys theme this year seemed to be the California wildfires. While it was commendable that they took the time to support all those affected, it was slightly tone-deaf to ask viewers at home to donate to the cause from a room full of the wealthiest people in the world.
This Grammys season was one for the books, and we are so excited to see the next one.
