Grammy Awards 2025: Beyoncé finally wins best album
Beyonce now has 35 Grammy Awards, more than any other artist in history.
Righting what was widely seen as a historical injustice, Beyoncé won best album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
The star was recognized for her eighth album, Cowboy Carter, which celebrates and contextualizes the black roots of country music. She had previously been excluded from the ceremony's top award four times.
When her name was read, Beyoncé hugged her daughter Blue Ivy, then her husband Jay-Z, before taking the stage in a gold paisley dress to accept the trophy.
"I feel very accomplished and very honored," she said. "It's been a long time coming."
The singer dedicated the award to Linda Martell, one of the pioneers of black country music and the first black woman to perform solo on the Grand Ole Opry (Ms. Martell appears on several Cowboy Carter songs).
"I hope we keep moving forward [and] keep opening doors," Beyoncé continued. "God bless you all, thank you so much."
The star's win comes 25 years after her first Grammy nomination, as part of the RandB group Destiny's Child.
She became the most awarded artist in Grammy history, with a whopping 35 trophies — but the top prize eluded her until Sunday night. In the end, it took a genre shift for the Texas-born musician to take the cake.
Focusing on country and Americana, Cowboy Carter is the second in a trilogy of albums that interrogate American musical traditions and reveal the often overlooked contributions of artists of color.
Notably, this makes Beyoncé the first black woman to win the Album of the Year award since 1999, when Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill took home the title.
Country Surprise
Earlier in the evening, Cowboy Carter also won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album — much to Beyoncé's surprise.
A look of surprise crossed the 43-year-old's face when her name was read. Beyoncé looks surprised as she wins best country album at Grammy Awards
The star and her husband Jay-Z (center) appeared shocked by the announcement
In a moment loaded with symbolism, the announcement came from Taylor Swift - another successful artist in the genre, who had previously beaten Beyonce for album of the year in 2010.
"Wow, I didn't expect this," Beyoncé said in her acceptance speech, thanking "all the incredible country artists" who voted for the award.
The recognition came five months after she was snubbed at the Country Music Awards - even after becoming the first black woman to have a number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart, with Texas Hold 'Em.
Taylor Swift gave her trophy to Beyonce
The song was also nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards, but lost to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us."
The rap hit, which was the latest in Lamar's long-running feud with Drake, took home all five awards it was nominated for, including song of the year, best rap song and best music video.
It was only the second hip-hop album to win the award (after Childish Gambino's This Is America in 2019), but Lamar downplayed the success, instead focusing on his hometown of Los Angeles, which was recently devastated by wildfires.
"We have to dedicate this to the city," he said. "Compton, Long Beach, Inglewood, Hollywood, all the way down under... It's my corner of the world that's supported me since I was a kid."
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The impact of the wildfires was the main theme of the ceremony, which also doubled as a fundraiser, raising more than $7 million (£5.7 million) for those affected .
Comedian Trevor Noah, who hosted the ceremony, admitted that just a few weeks ago we weren't sure the show would happen.
"Thankfully, thanks to the heroic efforts of firefighters, the fires were brought under control and despite all the destruction, the spirit of the city came out," he added, to loud applause.
The fire crews were invited to the awards ceremony to be recognized for their efforts; and they walked the red carpet to take selfies with music's biggest stars.
The show opened with a special performance by local band Dawes, whose homes were destroyed in the fire, who performed Randy Newman's classic I Love LA.
Los Angeles native Billie Eilish was the second artist on stage and performed her award-nominated song Birds Of A Feather against a backdrop inspired by California's natural beauty. "I love you LA," he said as the music ended.
Later, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars performed a moving version of California Dreamin', originally written by The Mamas and the Papas, dedicated to the first responders who helped put out the fires.
Noah also joked that winners whose speeches lasted longer than a minute and a half would be forced to donate $1,000 for every extra second they spoke.
Elsewhere, British pop star Charli XCX won three awards for her Russian club hit Brat - including best dance/pop album.
And the Beatles won the award for best rock performance, just 55 years after they broke up. Her award went to Now And Then, a song assembled from a demo by the late John Lennon, which was powered by machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence.
Lady Gaga Enters Politics
Getty Images Lady Gaga and Bruno MarsGetty Images
Lady Gaga Used Her Acceptance Speech to Address Transgender Rights
Chappell Roan won Best New Artist and used her speech to call for fair wages and conditions in the music industry.
"I told myself that if I ever won a Grammy and stood here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would ask myself if the labels and the industry, which make millions of dollars off the backs of artists, offer good wages and health care, especially for emerging artists," she said.
"Labels, we have you, but do you have us?"
Meanwhile, Lady Gaga was one of several artists to speak out for the LGBTQ+ community after President Trump issued executive orders banning diversity, equality and inclusion in government, as well as an executive order recognizing both genders, male and female. "I just want to say tonight that trans people are not invisible," she said, accepting the award for best pop duo/group performance with Bruno Mars, for their duet Die With A Smile. "Trans people deserve love, the queer community deserves to stand up. Music is love. THANK YOU."
Rapper Doechii became the third female artist in Grammy history to win best rap album.
The main award at the main ceremony is best rap album, which went to Florida-born rapper Doechii for her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal.
She noted that it was only the third time a woman had won the category since it began in 1989, with a tribute to her predecessors Lauryn Hill and Cardi B.
"There are so many black women looking up to me right now, and I want to say you can do this," she added. "Anything is possible." Don't let anyone project stereotypes onto you [or] tell you that you can't be here, or that you're too brown, or that you're not smart enough, or that you're too dramatic, or that you're too strong.
"You are exactly who you need to be to be where you are and I am a testament to that." Thank God."
And, in a banner year for female artists, newcomer Sabrina Carpenter took home two awards: Best Pop Solo Performance for her caffeinated summer anthem, Espresso, and Best Pop Album for Short n' Sweet.
However, a deep field of female pop stars meant that Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish went home empty-handed, despite 13 nominations between them. Charli XCX, Teddy Swims, Chappell Roan, Benson Boone and Shakira also performed, while Alicia Keys received a lifetime achievement award.
The show also included a lengthy tribute to Quincy Jones, who died last year at the age of 91 after producing some of the most iconic songs in pop history for artists including Frank Sinatra, Dizzie Gillespie, Michael Jackson and Chaka Khan.
The segment was hosted by Will Smith, who was making his first appearance on a televised awards show since beating Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Oscars.
The musician said he owes his career to Jones, who played him on the 1990s sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and called him "one of the most groundbreaking and influential figures in the history of the arts."
He then introduced Wicked star Cynthia Erivo and pianist Herbie Hancock, who performed Jones' arrangement of Fly Me To The Moon. The tribute continued with Stevie Wonder's rendition of We Are The World and Janelle Monae's rendition of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop" "Til You Get Enough," in a replica of the star's tuxedo and silver crystal stockings. The show also opened its In Memorium section with a tribute to One Direction star Liam Payne, who died at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last October.
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