Most Memorable Grammy Moments, From Beyoncé’s Historic Wins to L.A. Wildfire Tributes to Kanye West’s Shocking Red Carpet Moment
The 2025 Grammys saw plenty of smiles, tears, laughter and, honestly, a few shocking moments during Sunday’s awards ceremony. From Beyoncé’s record-breaking wins and The Weeknd’s surprise performance to Kanye West and Bianca Censori’s inappropriate red carpet moment and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ tribute to Los Angeles, here are some of the most memorable moments from music‘s biggest night.
Beyoncé Finally Wins Album of the Year
Beyoncé took home album of the year for the first time during the 2025 Grammys on Sunday night. The singer was nominated alongside André 3000 (New Blue Sun), Sabrina Carpenter (Short n’ Sweet), Charli XCX (Brat), Jacob Collier (Djesse Vol. 4), Billie Eilish (Hit Me Hard and Soft), Chappell Roan (The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess) and Taylor Swift (The Tortured Poets Department). Members of the L.A. Fire Department were on hand to present the award during a telecast that made fire relief central to the show and, as host Trevor Noah revealed toward the show’s end, raised $7 million for relief efforts. Read more here. — Lexy Perez
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Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Pay Tribute to L.A. Following Wildfires
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars paid homage to Los Angeles with a performance of “California Dreamin’” at the 2025 Grammys. After a harrowing video detailed the effects of the wildfires on the L.A. community, the “Die With a Smile” singers performed a stripped-down rendition of The Mamas & the Papas’ 1965 track. “I love you California,” Gaga said at the end of the performance, which prompted the crowd to erupt in a standing ovation. Grammys host Trevor Noah commended their tribute, reminding the audience “to donate what you can” to MusiCares fire relief, an effort created by the Recording Academy to aid those affected by the wildfires. Read more here. — McKinley Franklin
Kendrick Lamar Sweeps All of His Categories
Two of the top awards of the night, song of the year and record of the year, were awarded to Kendrick Lamar for “Not Like Us” during the 2025 Grammy Awards. Miley Cyrus, who presented the record of the year award, quipped that she may just say Beyoncé’s name instead, but eventually revealed that Lamar won the award. Once he made his way up to the stage to accept the golden gramophone trophy, Lamar said he’s “gonna dedicate this one [award] to the city” of Los Angeles. Lamar also won every other category in which he was nominated. Read more here. — Carly Thomas
Kanye West and Bianca Censori Shock Grammys With Red Carpet Moment
The 2025 Grammys red carpet had officially been open for roughly 20 minutes, but Kanye West and his wife, Bianca Censori, created the inappropriate moment viewers will be discussing long after the ceremony has ended. When the pair first stepped onto the carpet, Censori was wrapped in a high-necked fur coat (the jury is still out on real versus faux) that she clutched together in front. With extra security measures immediately put in place and a request for photographers to step back six inches, per The Hollywood Reporter‘s red carpet reporting, Censori dropped her coat to reveal that she was wearing an exceedingly sheer minidress in an open, nude-tone mesh and seemingly no underwear underneath. The photogs already had fallen silent when the pair arrived, which made it all the easier to hear one woman photographer remark, “What a reveal.” Read more here. — Laurie Brookins
The Grammys Get Political
It seems Donald Trump is making awards shows political again. High-profile ceremonies were mostly apolitical last year as celebs grew quiet after speaking out against Trump from awards show stages in his first term, the 2025 Grammys — the first major awards show in Trump’s second term — featured a number of references to some of the most controversial actions the president has taken at the start of his second term. Lady Gaga issued perhaps the strongest callout to Trump’s anti-trans executive orders, including a first-day proclamation that the U.S. would only recognize two genders (male and female) and that those “are not changeable.” Accepting the Grammy for best pop duo or group performance for her “Die With a Smile” duet with Bruno Mars, Gaga declared “Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love.” Read more here. — Hilary Lewis
The Weeknd Surprises Audience With Grammys Performance
The Weeknd made a surprise appearance and performance at the 2025 Grammys after he had announced three years prior that he planned to boycott the show following his 2021 snub. The Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. introduced the performance as he reflected on criticism that the Academy received, in particular from The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye). In 2021, The Weeknd called out the Recording Academy after his hit After Hours album was snubbed from the album of the year category — After Hours held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart for more than three weeks — as was his hit single “Blinding Lights” for record of the year. “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…” he tweeted at the time. Read more here. — Lexy Perez
Beyoncé Makes History With Country Album ‘Cowboy Carter’
It’s safe to say Beyoncé was genuinely shocked by her best country album win at the 2025 Grammy Awards. The music icon, who made history as the first Black woman to win in the category for Cowboy Carter, was presented the honor by Taylor Swift, who previously won best country album in 2010 for Fearless. After Swift read her name, the camera cut to Beyoncé, who was seemingly surprised by the win, and she made that clear during her acceptance speech. “Wow, I really was not expecting this,” she says after hugging Swift on the stage. “Wow, I wanna thank God — Oh my God! — that I’m able to still do what I love after so many years. Oh my God!” Read more here. — Carly Thomas
Chappell Roan Comes Down on Music Industry During Speech
Chappell Roan took home the highly anticipated best new artist award at the 2025 Grammys, and she used her win to highlight the treatment of developing artists in the music industry. Victoria Monet, the 2024 winner of the category, returned to the Grammy stage to announce Roan as this year’s winner. The “Hot to Go” singer thanked her fellow nominees “whose music got me through this past year,” she said. Roan brought a notebook to the stage to deliver remarks she said she’d told herself she always would say if she were ever to find herself in this position. “I told myself if I ever won a Grammy, and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage in health care, especially to developing artists,” Roan said, met with cheers from the crowd. Read more here. — Nicole Fell
Doechii Gets Emotional During Inspirational Acceptance Speech
Doechii shared some powerful words while accepting her first Grammy during the 2025 awards ceremony. After Cardi B revealed that Doechii won the award for best rap album for Alligator Bites Never Heal, she instantly burst into tears. Once she took to the stage, the rapper noted that only three women have won in the category since being introduced in 1989, including Lauryn Hill, Cardi B and now, Doechii. “I put my heart and my soul into this mixtape. I bared my life,” she continued in her speech through tears. “I went through so much. I dedicated myself to sobriety, and God told me that I would be rewarded and that he would show me just how good it can get. And I have to thank God.” Read more here. — Carly Thomas
Quincy Jones Tribute Features Cynthia Erivo, Will Smith and a Medley of Iconic Hits
A slew of musical artists paid tribute to the late Quincy Jones at the Grammys on Sunday night. The music legend, who died Nov. 4, was honored with a medley of some of the hundreds of songs he had a hand in during his prolific career as a record producer, film composer, multi-genre artist, entertainment executive and humanitarian. Will Smith introduced the tribute, calling Jones — known as “Q” to his friends — “one of the most influential and groundbreaking figures of our times.” Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monaé, Lainey Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and Jacob Collier performed a medley of hits as part of the tribute. Read more here. — Kimberly Nordyke
Charli XCX Goes Full ‘Brat’ Alongside Julia Fox and Alex Consani
Charli XCX showed the Recording Academy how to be a Brat during her debut performance at the 2025 Grammys. The British singer started her live rendition of “360” in a parking garage outside the Crypto.com Arena alongside Gabbriette Bechtel and Alex Consani — two of the stars of the Grammy nominated track’s music video. In true Charli XCX fashion, she created a party atmosphere throughout her live performance, walking throughout the venue accompanied by her entourage before making her way inside the venue. She went on to perform “Guess,” cultivating her signature party vibe on the Grammys main stage. Charli XCX quite literally recreated a club scene during the performance, where she was later joined by model and socialite Julia Fox. She performed with a group of partygoers as garments flew around the stage, mimicking the track’s music video, dancing around the stage how Charli XCX would. Notably, all unworn garments used during her performance will be donated to domestic violence survivors. Read more here. — McKinley Franklin
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