Almost a month after Los Angeles was devastated by historic wildfires, the 67th annual Grammy Awards took place on Sunday evening and felt like the party the city needed.
Everyone in attendance at the ceremony hosted by Trevor Noah was in good spirits with high energy. There were jaw-dropping performances, touching odes to the city, Grammy debuts, and headline-making red carpet style. There were satisfying sweeps, mega-historic wins, hilarious reactions, and poignant acceptance speeches.
Shaboozey and Doechii both made their Grammys stage debut with performances, along with other newcomers. Jaden Smith arrived wearing a literal castle on his head while his sister, Willow Smith, sported a decadent grill and pristine afro. Meanwhile, Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori reportedly did an Irish Goodbye and left after walking the red carpet, her nearly naked and him in all black.
During the ceremony, the iconic Diana Ross surprised everyone when she appeared on stage to present Kendrick Lamar with Record of the Year for “Not Like Us.” She was dressed like an ethereal angel and, rightfully, elicited bows from Lamar when he joined her on stage to collect his award.
Last night, so much happened, particularly for Black music icons. Below, we have gathered the top Black moments from the 2025 Grammys we’re still talking about.
Doechii’s big night
Doechii made history when she took home the award for Best Rap Album for “Alligator Bites Don’t Heal,” becoming just the third woman to do so in the history of the award. She follows Lauryn Hill, who won in 1997, and Cardi B, who won in 2019.
During her acceptance speech, the rapper moved many fans when she implored Black women to never give up on their dreams.
“I know there’s some Black girl—so many Black women—watching me right now. And I wanna tell you, you can do it,” she said through tears. “Anything is possible. Don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you that tell you that you can’t be here, that you’re too dark, or that you’re not smart enough or that you’re too dramatic or you’re too loud. You are exactly who you need to be to be right where you are.”
Related: Why everyone’s talking about Doechii: Inside her viral Tiny Desk concert and rise as rap’s it-girl
Follow us on MSN to see more exclusive content.
Alicia Keys tells the world D.E.I. is not a threat
While accepting the Global Impact Award, Alicia Keys highlighted women producers and offered a poignant defense of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices we’ve seen on this stage,” she said. “Talented, hard-working people from different backgrounds, with different points of view.”
She added that it “changes the game” before noting frankly, “D.E.I. is not a threat; it is a gift.”
“The more voices, the more powerful the sound,” she continued. “When destructive forces try to burn us down, we rise from the ashes like a phoenix.”
Related: Alicia Keys inspired musical ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ ‘Stereophonic’ lead Tony nominations
Follow us on MSN to see more exclusive content.
Quincy Jones was tributed by Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Will Smith, Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monáe, and more
The 67th annual Grammy Awards included a moving star-studded tribute to the late legendary producer and composer Quincy Jones, who died November 3, 2024. The tribute featured Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Will Smith, Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monáe and more. Erivo kicked the tribute off with a performance of “Fly Me to the Moon,” as Hancock lent his talents on the piano. Stevie played the harmonica and led a performance of “We Are The World” that included two Los Angeles high school choirs who lost their schools in the wildfires.
Smith, who saw Jones as a father figure, shared an anecdote from his time on the Jones’ executive produced “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Smith said Jones taught him how to treat people on his set and ultimately how to treat people, something he said Jones did very well.
The tribute ended with a lively performance of “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” by Monáe, who tore the stage up with her electrifying performance featuring her signature black and white tux aesthetic, only Michael Jackson-ified, moonwalking and a moment where she ripped open her shirt to reveal a t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase “I heart QJ.”
Related: Quincy Jones escaped death at least twice in his life
Follow us on MSN to see more exclusive content.
Kendrick Lamar’s Grammys sweep
By the time Kendrick Lamar and producer and DJ Mustard had graced the stage to collect “Record of the Year,” Lamar’s fifth win of the night, Mustard stated the obvious: “Somebody get a broom!”
Lamar’s smash hit “Not Like Us” absolutely swept the Grammys, winning every category it was nominated for, including Best Music Video, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year.
Related: Culturally and optically, Drake called the cops on Kendrick Lamar
Follow us on MSN to see more exclusive content.
Beyoncé’s winning night
Did hell freeze over? Are pigs flying? After eight studio albums and five nominations, Beyoncé finally took home the Grammy’s largest award, Album of the Year for “Cowboy Carter.” But not before she took home two additional awards, including Best Country Duo for the song “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus and Best Country Album.
Both of the awards mark historic wins for Beyoncé, who is the first Black artist in the award’s history to win Best Country Album and the first Black woman to win Best Country Duo since the Pointer Sisters in 1975.
Related: Yeehaw! Beyoncé announces cities, dates, and tickets for ‘Cowboy Carter Tour’
Follow us on MSN to see more exclusive content.
!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“has-featured-video”,”true”)})}(); ( () => { ( ( cb ) => { window.tpd = window.tpd || {}; if ( true === tpd.cmpReady ) { console.log( ‘[TPD][Brid] CMP was already ready, running player.’ ); cb(); return; } let tpdCmpReadyListener = () => { console.log( ‘[TPD][Brid] CMP ready event fired, running player.’ ); window.removeEventListener( ‘tpd:cmpCb’, tpdCmpReadyListener ); cb(); }; window.addEventListener( ‘tpd:cmpCb’, tpdCmpReadyListener ); } )( () => { let s = document.createElement( ‘script’ ); s.src = ‘https://player.target-video.com/player/build/targetvideo.min.js’; s.async = true; let target = document.getElementById( ‘Brid_21951’ ); target.parentElement.insertBefore( s, target ); window._bp = window._bp || []; window._bp.push( {“div”:”Brid_21951″,”obj”:{“id”:”41122″,”width”:”1280″,”height”:”720″,”stickyDirection”:”below”,”playlist”:”21951″}} ); } ); } )();
More must-reads:
