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The 67th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles
Beyonce receives the Best Country Album award for "Cowboy Carter" during the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 2, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni Image: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni
entertainment

Beyonce, Sabrina Carpenter win Grammys as musicians honor Los Angeles

9 Comments
By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway

Beyonce scored the top prize at music's Grammy Awards on Sunday, taking album of the year for the first time in her career with her country record "Cowboy Carter," at a ceremony that delivered a love letter to wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles.

The superstar singer triumphed over Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and others to claim the trophy that had eluded her even as she collected more lifetime Grammys than any other artist.

"I just feel very full and very honored. It's been many, many years," Beyonce said on stage, standing next to her daughter Blue Ivy Carter.

Beyonce's win came on her fifth nomination in the album category. She earned three trophies in total on Sunday, bringing her career haul to 35.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar claimed record and song of the year for "Not Like Us," a diss track in his feud with Canadian rapper and singer Drake. Lamar, who swept the five categories he was nominated for, dedicated his wins to Los Angeles, where the ceremony was held.

"This is my neck of the woods that's held me down since I was a young pup," he said, adding "we are going to restore the city."

"Pink Pony Club" singer Chappell Roan was named best new artist and used her time on stage to urge record labels to pay musicians a living wage with healthcare benefits. She recalled a time when she felt "dehumanized" to not have health insurance."Labels - we got you, but do you got us?" she said.

Swift, who has won album of the year a record four times and was nominated for "The Tortured Poets Department," was shut out this time. She took the stage once to present the Grammy for best country album, an honor that went to Beyonce.

CELEBRATING LA

The Grammy festivities were revamped to be part awards show and part fundraiser for people affected by the wildfires, which were contained on Friday after killing 29 people and displacing thousands including many musicians.

Broadcast live on CBS, the show opened with an all-star rendition "I Love LA" featuring Altadena-based band Dawes backed by John Legend, Brad Paisley, St. Vincent and Brittany Howard.

"Tonight, we decided we are not just celebrating our favorite music. We are also celebrating the city that brought us so much of that music," said host Trevor Noah, who directed viewers to donation options. At least $7 million was raised during the broadcast, Noah said.

In other tributes to Los Angeles, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars sang "California Dreamin'." Firefighters handed out the album prize and received a standing ovation. In between awards, the show wove in vignettes about a florist, a skate shop and other small businesses working to recover from the fires.

The Grammys also remembered influential music producer Quincy Jones, who died in November. Stevie Wonder led the crowd in singing the famine relief anthem "We Are the World" with a choir of students from schools destroyed in the wildfires, and Janelle Monae performed Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough."

Canadian singer The Weeknd ended his boycott of the Grammys, showing up midway for a surprise performance. He had criticized Grammy voters for what he called a lack of transparency and a failure to properly recognize hip-hop and R&B artists.

"We have listened, we have acted and we have changed," Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said on stage. The Grammys voting body is now younger and 40% are people of color, he said.

Grammy winners are chosen by the 13,000 singers, songwriters, producers, engineers and others who make up the Recording Academy.

© Thomson Reuters 2025.

©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.


9 Comments
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But it's NOT Country. It IS Country-themed pop. Calling it Country is like calling Adele Classical.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

Hervé L'EisaToday  01:25 pm JST

But it's NOT Country. It IS Country-themed pop. Calling it Country is like calling Adele Classical.

I'm sorry but autotune does not add musicality either. Either you have it in you or you don't.

Ya know, there was a time when the Grammys and American Music Awards were really fun, and you got to see some real talent on the TV. They meant something and were a subject matter to discuss the next day.

I was a teenager then a young adult during those days. That time was last century.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I'm sorry but autotune does not add musicality either. Either you have it in you or you don't.

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

Star punk, I agree with you about AutoTune. And that applies to pitch correction software.

There's not a thing Country about Beyonce's "music".

I wonder how much JayZ paid for the trophy?

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

But it's NOT Country. It IS Country-themed pop. Calling it Country is like calling Adele Classical.

100% correct. Nothing says "country music" like an Uber "Progressive" marketing team putting URBAN elites in cowboy hats. Meanwhile, actual country artists are out there pouring their souls into music, only to get sidelined because the Grammy committee would rather virtue signal than actually honor the genre. Pathetic.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

“Everybody’s welcome in country music, and that’s what I love about it. So, in our era, if you want to go back to where we were at, Kenny Rogers came over from pop, if you remember, right? He became one of the biggest country artists ever”

Garth Brooks on Beyoncé’s country music success.

Isn’t he one of the biggest selling country artists in history? The biggest?

Maybe worth taking seriously.

But it's NOT Country. It IS Country-themed pop

Okay. It’s country-themed pop. Nothing wrong with that.

Then:

There's not a thing Country about Beyonce's "music".

?

Apart from the country theme?

Do you like ‘the old Fleetwood Mac’?

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Benson Boone not only won the Grammy show, he already won 2025.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

JayFeb. 3  06:08 pm JST

But it's NOT Country. It IS Country-themed pop. Calling it Country is like calling Adele Classical.

100% correct. Nothing says "country music" like an Uber "Progressive" marketing team putting URBAN elites in cowboy hats. Meanwhile, actual country artists are out there pouring their souls into music, only to get sidelined because the Grammy committee would rather virtue signal than actually honor the genre. Pathetic.

The closest thing to actual country today is the rock genre 'Americana'. It's devoted to the 'old traditionals' such as Cash, Hank, etc. but with a modern 'alt' twist. Check out the bands like Wilco, Bottle Rockets, all those bands that John Hoosier Mellencamp inspired.

Putting on a cowboy/cowgirl hat does not make you 'country'. Barf Brooks is a yuppy star and Shania Twain is a QT in leather pants and that's it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Beyonce scored the top prize at music's Grammy Awards on Sunday, 

Of course.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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