The 67th annual Grammy Awards took place on Sunday, Feb. 2 at Crypto.com arena, hosted by Trevor Noah, now a veteran of the broadcast, for the fifth consecutive year. Though this show is no stranger to Los Angeles, it was surrounded this time by a change in scenery, following a January marked by two of the city’s most destructive and expensive wildfires on record, which claimed a combined 37,469 acres across Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.
But alas, the show must go on, albeit in a more muted register; several events traditionally held in the week leading up to the Sunday night program were canceled due to the environmental devastation and ongoing rebuilding efforts, namely those held by Universal Music Group, Sony, Spotify, BMG, and Warner Music Group, all of which have allocated resources to help affected citizens. (The Recording Academy, which has presented the Grammys since 1959, launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort in tandem with its MusiCares charity with a $1 million dollar donation.) By 11:30 ET, the telecast had already raised $7 million for relief efforts, with Noah at one point joking about charging winners $1,000 per minute for going over 90 seconds in their acceptance speeches.
Despite the tragedy that hung in the air, the 2025 Grammys were still a celebration, both of history an of contemporary music. For the first time since 1997, the Beatles earned new Grammy nominations (and nabbed one win). The late, former president Jimmy Carter (who was nominated for his audiobook, Last Sundays In Plains: A Centennial Celebration, at age 100) is now the oldest award nominee and winner in Grammy history. And in a night-defining moment, Beyoncé finally won Album of the Year after many years of perceived snubs in the biggest category of the ceremony—and she achieved that after earlier in the evening becoming the first Black woman to win an award in a country category since the Pointer Sisters in 1974. She and Charli XCX tied with three wins, while…
