Grammys 2025: 10 takeaways from Beyoncé's biggest night

The Grammys like to call themselves Music's Biggest Night, and danged if they didn't pull together a pretty terrific evening. Here's a rundown of the night's highlights, storylines, memorable performances and sentimental favorites.

1. Our long national nightmare is finally over: Beyoncé has won album of the year.

Until Sunday night, the most decorated Grammy winner of all time — with 35 wins in 99 nominations — had never won the Grammys' biggest prize: album of the year. Not for I Am… Sasha Fierce (which lost to Taylor Swift's Fearless), not for Beyoncé (which lost to Beck's Morning Phase), not for Lemonade (which lost to Adele's 25) and not for Renaissance (which lost to Harry Styles' Harry's House). With Cowboy Carter, which also won best country album, she's finally taken home the Grammy she'd most coveted. In hindsight, the coronation wasn't a huge surprise, but it wouldn't have been a huge surprise had I Am… Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé, Lemonade or Renaissance won, either.

What does qualify as a surprise is the win for best country album, given that Beyoncé was shut out of so much as a nomination at last year's Country Music Awards. There's generally been a fair bit of ideological real estate between the CMAs and the Grammys, but that gulf has never felt wider.

2. It was Kendrick Lamar's night, too.

Lamar's "Not Like Us" was nominated for five Grammys Sunday: record of the year, song of the year, best rap song, best rap performance and best music video. It won all five of them. And, though the song was written as a diss track — part of Lamar's epic lyrical feud with Drake — it had long since become an anthem for Los Angeles, which suffered devastating wildfires last month. Given the night's focus on raising money for victims (more on that in a moment), it was only natural that Lamar's song would become one of these Grammys' major stories.

With Lamar headlining next weekend's Super Bowl Halftime Show, then embarking on a stadium tour with SZA, the rapper's huge year has only just begun. And to think that his latest album, GNX, dropped after the window for 2025 Grammy eligibility had closed. He's set to be a major factor in next year's Grammys, too.

3. Organizers said it wouldn't be a telethon, then put on a telethon

In the run-up to this year's Grammys, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told Variety that the telecast "will not be a telethon," adding, "It's going to be different, but I wouldn't say dramatically different." But in the end, it was pretty dramatically different.

Host Trevor Noah largely bypassed bits and skits and joke-filled monologues, instead peppering his many appearances with pleas for donations. The show opened with a performance of Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." — by the never-nominated rock band Dawes, which was joined by all-star ringers like John Legend and Sheryl Crow — and returned to the subject repeatedly throughout the night. Instead of performing their Grammy-winning chart-topper "Die With a Smile," Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars covered The Mamas & The Papas' "California Dreamin'." It was a night for LA long before "Not Like Us" took home two of the night's top prizes.

4. The newcomers got a chance to shine — especially Chappell Roan.

Though huge stars like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish put out colossal records in 2024, arguably the year's biggest musical story came from the surge of breakthrough artists, from Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan to three guys who each landed one of the year's most inescapable pop hits: Benson Boone, Shaboozey and Teddy Swims. (Doechii, RAYE and Khruangbin rounded out the stacked best new artist category.)

Aside from poor Khruangbin, whose vibey atmospherics were relegated to glorified interstitial music, everyone in the field got ample time to shine. Carpenter put on a charming and deeply theatrical medley of "Espresso" and "Please Please Please." Boone did his usual backflips as he thundered through "Beautiful Things." Swims and Shaboozey gamely treated viewers to their millionth exposure to "Lose Control" and "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," respectively. RAYE went 0-for-3 on the night but crushed "Oscar Winning Tears"; would anyone be shocked if she ended up winning dozens of Grammys before her career is out?

As for Roan, her commanding performance of "Pink Pony Club" provided one of the night's most spectacular highlights. And when she won best new artist, she gave one of the telecast's best and most memorable speeches — a call for developing artists to receive greater access to healthcare, mental-health support and all-around industry infrastructure. Give Roan credit for seeking ways to take care of the artists coming up behind her.

Oh, and let's not forget the other best new artist nominee…

5. Doechii may have had the biggest night of all.

No, she didn't win best new artist. But if you're looking for the star who's likeliest to experience a meteoric surge in streaming coming out of Sunday night's awards, you have to look at Doechii, who rightfully won best rap album (for Alligator Bites Never Heal), delivered a killer performance of "Catfish" and "Denial Is a River" and gave one of the night's finest victory speeches.

The Grammys don't just give out trophies; they also anoint unofficial industry ambassadors, and those ambassadors tend to win awards year after year. Doechii did herself every favor imaginable Sunday night: She was stellar in performance, gracious in victory and perfectly situated to be a staple of Grammy telecasts for years to come. (Also, for the love of all that is holy, do not sleep on her Tiny Desk concert.)

6. Brat Summer rolled on. Charli xcx didn't win either of the night's biggest prizes — Brat lost album of the year to Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter and "360" lost record of the year to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" — but she did take home her first three Grammys, winning best electronic/dance album, best dance pop recording and best recording package.

She also gave one of the night's grabbiest and most memorable performances, with a medley of "Von Dutch" and "Guess" that featured an abundance of guest stars (Gabbriette Bechtel! Alex Consani! Julia Fox!) and, um, undergarments, which rained from the ceiling as a chyron helpfully informed viewers that the unworn clothing would be donated.

7. Quincy Jones received a lavish, lengthy tribute.

A towering figure as a producer, a musician, a humanitarian and a 28-time Grammy-winner, Jones — who died in November at age 91 — inspired a memorial tribute befitting his enormous impact on the music industry. Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Will Smith, Cynthia Erivo, Jacob Collier, Lainey Wilson and Janelle Monáe (standing in for Michael Jackson) all got in on an epic-length medley that dwarfed the regular "In Memoriam" segment — and still barely scratched the surface of Jones' career.

8. The Weeknd returned to the fold, but Lady Gaga had to buy airtime.

When his album After Hours (and its blockbuster single "Blinding Lights") received zero Grammy nominations in 2021, The Weeknd announced that he'd boycott the Grammys going forward. He refused to submit subsequent recordings for consideration — though he's appeared on Grammy-honored works by other artists — and hasn't performed at or attended the Grammys since.

This year, he returned to the fold unannounced, performing a medley of his new songs "Cry for Me" and "Timeless (feat. Playboi Carti)" after an introduction by Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., who acknowledged The Weeknd's past complaints. It seemed pretty mercenary all around: Mason has a vested interest in undercutting artist boycotts, while The Weeknd had just put out his new album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, two days earlier. It's easier to set aside past grievances when there's an album to promote.

A cynic might note that Lady Gaga — who was actually nominated for Grammys this year, and who bypassed promoting her hit Bruno Mars duet "Die With a Smile" when the two of them performed together — actually bought commercial airtime to premiere her new single "Abracadabra" during Sunday night's telecast. Maybe she could have saved some money by boycotting the Grammys for a few years first.

9. The Premiere Ceremony had its moments, too.

The epic Grammy telecast — the one that airs on CBS — only gave out nine statuettes. That's nine out of 94 categories, which meant that 85 awards had to be handed out in a marathon, roughly four-hour premiere ceremony earlier in the day. Where else could you see recently departed president Jimmy Carter win his fourth Grammy? (That's right: Our 39th president has won more Grammys than The Beach Boys, Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, Queen and Katy Perry combined.)

You can scan the full list of winners here, but if we're picking sentimental favorites, let's call it a tie between 1) Tank and the Bangas becoming the second-ever Tiny Desk Contest winner to take home a Grammy; and 2) Gojira, the French metal band who stole the Olympics' opening ceremony last summer, winning best metal performance for "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)." It was the band's first win in four nominations, and… let's revisit that song one more time, shall we? It rules.

10. Alas, someone had to be shut out.

In 2020, Billie Eilish became the second artist (after Christopher Cross) to sweep the Grammys' big four categories: album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist. She's since won record and song of the year a second time, as she's piled up nine Grammy wins in her young career. But she went 0-for-7 Sunday night.

Taylor Swift is even more decorated than Eilish: She's won 14 Grammys, including four for album of the year. But she just went 0-for-6 in her Tortured Poets Department era — not that she seemed to mind, as she danced, cheered, sang along and otherwise pulled focus throughout the night. For those who fear that Swift's losses mean she'll embark on an extended absence from your TV screens, worry not: She'll cheer on Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce from a heavily televised luxury box at Sunday's Super Bowl.

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