Taking place on February 2nd, the 2025 annual Grammys celebrated the best of music released from September 16, 2023, to August 30, 2024, and turned many heads due to the rise of newer artists. From the attention given to rap and country to the pop juggernauts competing for best album of the year, the Grammy Awards arouse different reactions every year.
One of the most popular discussion topics on the night of February 2nd was the album of the year. Beyonce ended up taking the award home, winning her first actual Album of the Year award after being nominated 4 different times. While this is a huge milestone and win for Beyonce fans, swifties are sad to hear that Taylor’s Tortured Poets Department ended up losing and she missed out on a 5th Album of the Year award. Moving away from the two older pop legends, newer artist Chappel Roan’s debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess managed to get nominated for 6 awards, an incredible feat for a first album.
Several artists performed during the night, the most notable being Billie Eilish, Chappel Roan, Lady Gaga, and Charlie XCX. “Not Like Us”, winning the Record of the Year and Song of the Year surprised no one due to the history behind the song and the internationally popular beef between Lamar and rapper Drake. Continuing with that night’s rap attention, Doechii w Rap Album of the Year over albums by hip-hop leaders such as Eminem, Future, Metro, and J. Cole. Being the third woman to ever win the award, Doechii performed her songs “Catfish” and “Denial is a River” from her album Alligator Bites Never Heal.
Turning away from pop and rap, the night at the Grammys left rockers and metalheads in a state between disappointment and relief. The Beatles, despite breaking up in 1974, were awarded the Best Rock Performance along with The Rolling Stones snagging Best Rock Album. This decision sparked confusion in the rock community, with many complaining that the choices for nominations were out of touch with the modern rock scene. Spiritbox’s Courtney La Plante was mistaken by interviewers for singer Poppy, an incident which contributed more to the claim that the Grammys were ignorant when it came to metal music. One of the moments during the night that didn’t trigger any outrage was when French groove/heavy metal band Gojira won Best Metal Performance for their song “Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!),” performed live during the 2024 Olympic Games.
Like every Grammy Award event, the night was bound to have moments that started controversy or complaints, such as the Kanye West and Bianca Censori incident. Accompanying his wife while photos were being taken, the rapper told Bianca to take off her coat, revealing an extremely thin and see-through outfit, essentially making her naked. After that moment, Ye and Bianca left the Grammys, whether by choice or by force is uncertain. The artist took to Instagram to express his feelings. “WE BEAT THE GRAMMYS,” Kanye posted on his Instagram Story. “FOR CLARITY FEBRUARY 4TH 2025 MY WIFE IS THE MOST GOOGLED PERSON ON THE PLANET CALLED EARTH.” The posts were down shortly after.
Whether it be positive or negative, the Grammys always manage to start conversation as is common with celebrity-attended events. That night the most important or focused-on moments can be completely subjective, with multiple genres gaining increased attention. Yet another year has passed, and with it, the 67th Annual Grammy Awards have too.
