How the 2025 Grammys Responded to L.A. Wildfires
The 2025 Grammys didn’t just mention the Los Angeles fires that devastated the city over most of January. The televised ceremony made fire relief central to the show as it broadcast various performances, handed out awards to today’s top music artists over four hours, and, as host Trevor Noah revealed toward the show’s end, raised $7 million for relief efforts.
As the ceremony broadcast from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, the show’s producers and A-list musicians, actors and celebrities honored Angelenos and those impacted by the fires, starting with Noah celebrating the spirit of L.A. in his opening monologue and the folk-rock band Dawes opening the ceremony with an all-star version of Randy Newman’s classic, “I Love L.A.” The band more than doubled in size as they were joined by Grammy-winning artists Brad Paisley, Brittany Howard, John Legend, Sheryl Crow and St. Vincent backing them up during the biggest performance of the band’s career yet.
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Dawes, a native to L.A., has had various members and incarnations over the past 15 years but the outfit now consists of brothers Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. Combined they lost their home, home studio and much of the band’s musical equipment in the L.A. fires last month. The Eaton Fire took Griffin’s home in Altadena, the area of the city most severely impacted by that deadly and historic blaze. Taylor is husband to actress-singer Mandy Moore.
“One thing that’s hard to convey to anyone who isn’t there is the level of destruction and how total it is in Altadena,” Griffin told the press, including The Hollywood Reporter, backstage at the Grammys. “It’s immense and it’s hard to tell just from the pictures we’re seeing online of how massive the toll is.”
The band’s star-studded and crowd-pleasing performance was just the top of the Grammys, which landed with an urgent purpose this year after the massive fires ate 57,000 acres of land and destroyed over 10,000 structures. This year, the awards are raising funds to support Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts, and taking moments to look at and reflect upon the bravery and dedication of L.A.’s first responders who risked their lives against incredible odds to quell the multiple figures that began on Jan. 7 and are finally contained.
Throughout the show, the Palisades and Altadena communities devastated by the fires were consistently mentioned in speeches, while the city of L.A. was honored in performances, and shuttered or impacted local businesses were featured in ads each commercial break. Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan ended their performances early in the night by professing their love for L.A., while Kendrick Lamar dedicated his later win for record of the year to the neighborhoods of L.A.
“Compton, Watts, Long Beach, Inglewood, Hollywood, out to the Valley, Pacoima, the IE, San Bernardino, all that,” Lamar told the crowd. “This is my neck of the woods, that held me down … since I was in the studio scraping to write the best raps and all that, in order to do records like these. So I can’t give enough thanks to these places that I’ve rolled around since high school. Most importantly, the people and the families out in the Palisades and Altadena. This is the true testament that we can continue to restore the city.”
Grammys organizers had said Wednesday that Sunday night would include a salute to the late Quincy Jones and moments “celebrating the spirit of the city of Los Angeles” in the wake of the wildfires. While honoring the legendary producer, who died in November, living legends Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock were joined by students impacted by the fires when the Pasadena Waldorf School and Palisades Charter High School choirs appeared on stage donning sweatshirts with “L.A.” imprinted over a red heart, alongside the soul and jazz heroes. The Eaton fire impacted five schools in the Pasadena Unified School District.
After Noah discussed the fires in his opening segment and showed a clip reel of the devastation, he had launched an accompanying QR code onscreen and urged those in the room and watching at home to donate. The QR code reappeared throughout the show, with Noah calling out some of the companies making donations.
The most poignant tribute to L.A. came at the end of the night — ahead of Beyoncé being awarded the coveted album of the year Grammy — when members of the L.A. County fire departments were announced to the stage. After the thunderous and emotional applause settled, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone and L.A. County fire captain Sheila Kelliher Berkoh took to the mic.
“Wow, thank you,” said Marrone, who thanked the first responders who came near and far, as well as the audience for their star-studded welcome, and shared condolences for those who lost loved ones, homes and businesses in the fires. “Thank you for supporting all of us and recognizing the heroes standing behind me, and the she-roes. … I am confident that we will recover and we will rebuild together because we are L.A. strong.”
The Recording Academy and MusiCares have distributed over $4 million in emergency aid to nearly 3,000 music professionals affected by the wildfires, according to a release sent to THR on Sunday. This has been done in partnership with Direct Relief, the California Community Foundation and the Pasadena Community Foundation to support the city of Los Angeles.
The Grammys, a major annual affair in Los Angeles, saw many of the typical preceding events canceled or reformatted to help Angelenos in need of help after the massive fires tore through parts of the city.
The Hollywood Reporter shared a roundup of the varied red carpet looks ahead of the ceremony. See all the winners here.
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