1 Billie Eilish robbed of winning Album of the Year
Billie Eilish was nominated in seven different categories for her album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” yet left empty-handed. In the last, and most notably important, category of the Grammys: Album of the Year, everyone had high expectations for either Billie Eilish or Taylor Swift to win as they had the most streams out of any other album in 2024. It came as a shock when Beyonce’s name was announced as the winner for her album “Cowboy Carter.” Many fans have argued that Beyonce did not deserve the Grammy as she had already won Country Album of the Year and did not have nearly the amount of streams that Billie’s album did. “Cowboy Carter” accumulated over a total of 1 billion streams on Spotify. For comparison, “Hit Me Hard and Soft” had over 5 billion.
2 The Weeknd comeback after four years
After publicly calling out the Recording Academy for its corruption back in 2021, The Weeknd performed a surprise comeback with “Cry For Me,” the title song of his new album “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” This marks his first appearance to the award show since 2017. The Recording Academy was scrutinized by various artists over the years for their lack of diversity within their judge panel. As a result, they announced at this year’s Grammys that two-thirds of the total voting body has been changed in the last five years. Moreover, around 3,000 women have been added since 2019 and the 2025 Grammys have reflected these changes with every major grammy going to a woman with the exception of Kendrick Lamar and a shared one between Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.
3 Chappell Roan wins Best New Artist
Chappell Roan performed at the Grammys with “Pink Pony Club” and later won Best New Artist for her album “Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.” Apart from her glamorous makeup and princess-like gown, her speech was what stunned audiences the most and earned her a standing ovation. She discussed her struggles with maintaining health insurance when her music label dropped her during the 2020-2021 COVID pandemic. She called out the music industry for not supporting their artists during difficult times and not providing enough money to cover their expenses after her label had dropped her from their company unexpectedly. Artists such as Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, and RAYE stood up to applaud her courage to actively speak out on a controversial topic during one of the most anticipated music award shows of the year. She finished her speech by declaring, “Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
4 Homage to the L.A. Fires
Recently, there have been raging fires blazing through California and the city of L.A, burning down hundreds of people’s homes and belongings. As the Grammys this year took place in L.A., they paid tribute to people that have lost their lives or family members that have suffered in the fires. Throughout the whole night, the show host Trevor Noah kept asking both people at home and celebrities alike to donate to the MusiCares Fire Relief initiative to help those who have lost and don’t have enough money for the repairs. More than $9 million had been raised solely by the end of the show alone, and overall $24 million had been raised in total. At some point during the night, the band Dawes played “I love L.A.” and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars sang a rendition of “California Dreamin’” together, both of these as a tribute to the city. The two brothers in Dawes had actually lost their belongings and homes in the fire and got invited to play at the Grammys as a result. Companies such as Amazon Music, Crypto.com Arena, CBS, and Mastercard were said to donate during the show.
5 Doechii is the 3rd black female artist to win rap album
Doechii is an upcoming artist who won rap album of the year with her newest release, “Alligator Bites Never Heal.” She became viral on TikTok with her hit “What It Is” in 2019 but was not satisfied with that particular style of music. She decided to trust her gut and stick to her authentic style and released her newest rap album in 2024. Songs such as, “DENIAL IS A RIVER” and “CATFISH” have become popular and have gained over 1.5 billion total streams on Spotify across all credits. Her performance at the Grammys was shocking and stirred interest as she had a drastic outfit change in the midst of rapping and dancing. With explosive backup dancers and charismatic stage presence, Doechii put on an excellent performance that attracted many new fans across all platforms.
