Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Is Hollywood ready to celebrate again? The Recording Academy sure hopes so. Just weeks after wildfires swept Los Angeles, the Grammys are going ahead with their ceremony, becoming one of the first major L.A. events in the city to take place. The show will feature tributes and fundraising, and the mood will certainly be more low-key after many of the usual Grammy-week parties were called off.
But there’ll also be a lot to celebrate, starting from the top. After becoming the most-awarded artist in Grammys history, Beyoncé is back in contention, jockeying for 11 awards for Cowboy Carter — including her first country trophies and her still-elusive first Album of the Year win. So are a slew of newer faces, including Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan. New (and new-to-the-Academy) artists seem to be the focus of the show, with those three all set to perform along with Doechii, Raye, Benson Boone, and Teddy Swims. But the show’s usual fixtures will be there too: Trevor Noah is hosting for a fifth straight year, perennial nominee Billie Eilish is also performing, and Taylor Swift is seeking a record fifth Album of the Year trophy (along with presenting another award).
On paper, it feels like this year’s Grammys are caught between the past and future, with the present weighing heavily over it all. But we should know better than to expect the Academy to make it all make sense tonight. Besides, maybe what we really need right now is just a good show.
This is a developing story.
The Grammy premiere ceremony yielded the first spin of the Recording Academy improbability matrix: A cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s 1971 Record and Song of the Year winner “Bridge Over Troubled Water” featured Beninese-French icon Angélique Kidjo; TV and now musical theater’s Wayne Brady; award-show gospel-segment closers Deborah Cox and Yolanda Adams; blues vet Taj Mahal; and, for some reason, Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying.
It’s hard to stuff all 94 categories into the main show, which is why each Grammys Sunday begins with the pre-telecast, a three-hour midday ceremony where most of the year’s winners are announced. The 2025 edition is being hosted by Song of the Year nominee Justin Tranter (“Good Luck, Babe”). You can watch the event before the event below; we’ll be updating the winners list over here.
