The 67th Annual Grammy Awards, held on February 2, 2025, will go down as one of the best Grammys in history. The 2020s have been revolutionary for music, with social media catapulting the music industry into a fast-moving, ever-evolving factory for hit songs and breakout stars. The last few years have been unusual for the Grammys; the 63rd Grammys were held on March 14, 2021, during some of the peak months of the pandemic. The 2021 awards echoed the music and trends of quarantine, with TikTok trend music dominating the charts. Celebrities wore designer-made masks to match their suits and dresses. In the years that have followed, the music scene has been slowly but surely recovering from the pandemic’s impact. COVID-19 changed the music industry forever, but this year’s Grammys prove that stars are adapting and pushing themselves to create new and incredible music.
There are 94 categories at the Grammys in total, most being obscure, hyper-specific genres. These are known as the “genre-specific” categories and are mostly awarded prior to the actual ceremony. The brunt of the Grammys consists of the four major awards — known as the “big four”— given during the ceremony: Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year. Amazingly, this year’s group of nominees and winners were almost all women. Of the 32 nominees for the big four categories, only nine were men. Kendrick Lamar was the only man to win a big four award this year, winning Record of the Year and Song of the Year for his diss track “Not Like Us,” the summer 2024 hit responsible for concluding his public back-and-forth with rapper Drake. When Lamar was awarded Record of the Year, the crowd of A-list celebrities sang along to his lyrics about Drake’s sexual misconduct allegations. Somewhere, Drake was rolling in his metaphorical grave, hearing anyone who’s anyone sing, “Tryna strike a cord, and it’s probably a-minor.”
Notably, Chappell Roan took home the Best New Artist award. This was her first ever Grammys, and she was nominated in every big four category. Roan’s win is a testament to her ability to overcome the media’s backlash, after a rocky start to her career in the public eye. It also comes at a pivotal time; with anti-LGBTQ sentiments and legislature on a steady rise, Roan’s performance and win as an openly lesbian artist and proud trans rights advocate was a welcome relief for queer fans. Lady Gaga also used her speech after winning Best Pop Duo alongside Bruno Mars to defend trans rights, saying, “I just wanted to say tonight: trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up.”
After a night of incredible performances from various artists, including a stellar show by Sabrina Carpenter, who took home the Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance awards for her album Short n’ Sweet, the ceremony ended with Beyoncé winning Album Of the Year with Cowboy Carter. Beyoncé is the most nominated Grammys artist in history, with over 99 nominations, but this was her first time winning the sought-after AOTY award. “I just feel very full and very honored,” the star said in her acceptance speech. “It’s been many, many years.”
