Here’s my colleague Benjamin Lee’s nice wrap of the evening:

Obligatory post on infamously enthusiastic attendee Taylor Swift’s award show: trying brat and catching Janelle Monae’s jacket.

In case you missed it, here’s a snippet from Charli xcx’s performance of Guess, once again answering the question “what is Brat?”

Most of the awards weren’t televised tonight – only nine made the broadcast – so my colleague Benjamin Lee helpfully compiled a full list of winners:

Here’s Beyoncé’s brief yet poignant acceptance speech for album of the year, with Blue Ivy in tow. As Trevor Noah said: finally!

There’s one final, poignant tribute for the evening, as dozens of Los Angeles firefighters present the award for album of the year.

Fire chief Anthony Marrone thanked first responders “who came from near and far” to battle the flames. “Their selfless acts of courage and commitment were nothing short of inspiring,” he said. “I am confident that we will recover and rebuild together, because we are LA strong.” He got the longest standing ovation of the evening, of course.

Brat was the dominant music story of the year, the ultimate album cycle and meme of 2024, and Charli xcx was rewarded with the final performance of the night at the Grammys. It’s a very Charli performance – a car, sunglasses, strutting, underwear, a shout out to Julia Fox (it’s apparently her birthday). Von Dutch and Guess (with Billie Eilish, though not on stage here) go hard at the club, and it sort of translates here.

We’re reaching the end of the night, but not before the Dr Dre Global Impact award, presented by Queen Latifah to Alicia Keys for her work as a singer, musician, producer, Keep a Child Alive charity and efforts to expand opportunities for women in music.

Keys “is a constant inspiration, through her voice, her talent, but most importantly through her heart”, said Latifah of the 17-time Grammy winner, including today for musical theater album.

Keys was especially excited to be acknowledged as a producer. “I always had to fight for a certain level of respect as a songwriter and composer and especially as a producer,” she said. “Female producers have always powered the industry.

“This is for all the ladies that know the magic that they bring to the room,” she added before a shout out to diversity. “DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift,” she said to cheers. “And the more voices, the more powerful the sound.

“When destructive forces try to burn us down, we rise from the ashes like a phoenix and as you’ve seen tonight, music is the universal language that connects us all,” she added. “Let’s keep showing up with compassion, empathy … the dream of the world as it ought to be, as the great Toni Morrison said.”

As introduced by Gloria Estefan (!!), Shakira reminds us why she’s been at this for nearly 30 years. With a lengthy, tour de force performance of bellydancing, choreography and songs from her Grammy-winning album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, she makes the case for being a living Latin legend.

In case you missed it, here’s Chappell Roan’s full speech, probably the most powerful and pointed of the evening so far. Music executives take note.

We’ve made it to the in memoriam segment, led by Coldplay’s Chris Martin. It’s always stirring, with nods this year to Kris Kristofferson, Marianne Faithfull, Phil Lesh and more, but I have to say – kicking off the tribute with footage of One Direction’s Liam Payne, who died in October at just 31, especially got to me.

For those also confused by the Mastercard commercial that was maybe also Lady Gaga’s return to pop form – it was indeed the music video for her new single Abracadabra. The whole thing, in service of hew upcoming album Mayhem, just dropped on Youtube:

We’re still tributing Jones, with country artist Lainey Wilson and musician Jacob Collier providing a slightly less smooth follow-up to Cynthia Erivo, before passing the baton to Stevie Wonder, back at the piano bench with Hancock.

“Quincy was always there to help,” he said, remembering how Jones organized the recording session for 1985 aid anthem We Are the World, which Wonder performed with singers from Pasadena Waldorf school and Palisades Charter high school, two schools lost to the fires.

And then Smith returns to tell a story about how Jones, the executive producer of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, once scolded him for not providing better food for the TV show crew. Jones’s mantra was, according to Smith: “It is your job to take care of these people. And I’ve done everything I can throughout my career to live up to Quincy’s demand.”

“Quincy Jones always took care of people. And that’s how he fed the world,” he added, before passing to the final leg of the tribute: Janelle Monae energetically riffing on arguably Jones’s most famous production work – Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Cue Taylor Swift dancing.

We’re on to the tributes section of the evening, with a whole segment dedicated to the late Quincy Jones, who died in November 2024 at age 91.

Will Smith (in his first major awards appearance since … you know) remembered Jones as “one of the most groundbreaking and influential figures of our times”. A producer, arranger, film & television composer, recording artist and conductor, among other roles, Jones “made so many music greats across multiple genres sound even greater, bringing the best out in legends” from Ray Charles to Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra.

On that note, Cynthia Erivo delivers a gorgeous rendition of Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon. Accompanied on piano by the legendary Herbie Hancock and a full jazz orchestra, she even gets Beyoncé grooving along.

We’re about two-thirds of the way through – I know, it’s hard to tell when there’s only been five awards – and so far, this seems like another big night for the women of music. Female artists – Doechii, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Shakira and Beyoncé – have won all of the televised awards so far, a year after Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and SZA dominated the Grammys telecast. Remember when former academy president Neil Portnow said female artists needed to “step up”? Well. It’s nice to see the Grammys come around.

The recording academy is very delighted that the Weeknd decided to perform, settling his public criticism of the Grammys, at least for now. I admittedly didn’t recognize these songs on first listen, as they’re from his new album Hurry Up Tomorrow, the final edition of his After Hours trilogy released this weekend.

We’re a little over halfway through the show, and Harvey Mason Jr, the CEO of the recording academy, is here to giveeveryone a vibe check.

Mason, who took over the academy during the tumult of 2020, said he “wanted the organization to change and modernize so we could be better and serve this dynamic and global music community”. But he faced some challenges, such as when the Weeknd blasted the Grammys for lack of transparency over their nominations process.

Mason may have been stung, but “I heard him. I felt his conviction,” he said, because “what we all want is an organization dedicated to the wellbeing of all music makers”.

This is the part of the show where the recording academy touts itself, but Mason does note some real changes: new advocacy groups for Black, LGBTQ+ and female artists, as well as a younger and more diverse voting base, with 66% new membership. Enough change that even the Weeknd decided to grace the Grammys with his presence again.

Including that video interlude and the Lady Gaga – Bruno Mars tribute, the Grammys have mostly made good on their promise to prioritize wildfire relief and celebrate LA’s resilience. Some commercial breaks have contained segments dedicated to local businesses impacted by the fires, such as a local floral shop destroyed by the Altadena fire near Pasadena which is already rebuilding. And a QR code has frequently appeared on screen linking to a site for wildfire relief donations.

“I thought what Chappell said there was absolutely beautiful,” said Trevor Noah, transitioning to a very, very serious note on the wildfires. Noah reminded the audience to remember what happened, then introduced a video showing it – charred homes, lost possessions, many tears. Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga follow up with a … very committed rendition of The Mamas & the Papas’ California Dreamin’.

And South London artist Raye brings this new artist medley home with a jazz-inflected, classically showstopping performance. The successful songwriter – who has penned tracks for Charli xcx, John Legend, Rita Ora, Jennifer Lopez, Little Mix, Beyoncé and more – has seemingly cemented her status as a singer in her own right, with a lengthy standing ovation and a nod by Trevor Noah.

Continuing this genre tour of best new artist nominees, Teddy Swims delivers a soulful rendition of his hit Lose Control before passing the baton to Shaboozey and his country smash Bar Song (Tipsy). The (admittedly loose) interpolation J-Kwon’s 2004 banger Tipsy, which was inescapable last summer, brings everyone including Jennifer Lopez to their feet.

Next up is Doechii, with a school girl-themed performance of Denial is a River. The newly minted best rap album winner demonstrated some virtuosic rapping – enough to earn a standing ovation from Jay Z, a visible “oh my god!” from Billie Eilish and an enthusiastic cheer from SZA.

We’re onto a showcase for the best new artist category – first up is Benson Boone, the 22-year-old singer of Beautiful Things who seems to be making an appeal to women a few decades older, as Heidi Klum and Nikki Glaser assisted his costume reveal. His octave-spanning performance did draw a standing ovation from J Lo …

Olivia Rodrigo introduces tonight’s third best new artist frontrunner (along with Sabrina Carpenter and Doechii): Chappell Roan, whom Rodrigo knew when Roan was still a struggling artist working at a donut shop in LA’s Highland Park.

With a rodeo clown-themed performance that involved, naturally, a jumbo pink pony, the Willard, Missouri, native sang Pink Pony Club – a song she recorded and released in 2021 before getting dropped by her label and working at said donut shop. The song, as she said in a pre-recorded segment, is a “love letter to LA”, a place that “gave me the courage to be myself”.

2024 was a massive year for the pop girls, and Sabrina Carpenter reminds everyone why. The pint-sized best new artist nominee, one of the breakout stars of the year, brought her pin-up style to the Grammys for a jazzy, characteristically cheeky take on her summer smash Espresso and follow-up Please Please Please with a set inspired by – naturally – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

It’s fitting for tonight’s theme that the first nominee performance of the evening comes from local legends Billie Eilish and Finneas, the siblings from Highland Park. The duo and a band perform their inescapable hit Birds of a Feather with an LA-based background, which (unsurprisingly) gets Taylor Swift to her feet and ends with a sweet note of “I love you, LA.”

Following Doors, Noah gets right back on the mic to answer everyone’s burning question: is Beyoncé here? Not yet, but maybe soon? “Yes, Beyoncé will be here tonight,” he said. “Well, I hope she’ll be here. I can’t make her do anything.”

Roving about the crowd, particularly hovering around Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan, Noah took the lightest of digs at the night’s big stars, starting with the biggest. Beyoncé has 11 nominations and just announced her 2025 Cowboy Carter tour: “Beyoncé, there’s tariffs,” said Noah. “We can’t afford a new tour. Maple syrup is about to be $50.”

Noah joked about the “power of AI”: “maybe one day, we could get another Rihanna album” – and Swift’s Eras Tour. “She got more Americans traveling than those Turkish hair transplants,” he joked.

And he alluded to Trump’s presidency as “changes” in Washington DC. “I’m going to enjoy tonight, because this may be the last time I’m allowed to host anything in this country,” he joked. Well … oof.

Tonight will feature a starry tribute to Quincy Jones who died last November. Here’s a look back to a great tribute from Alexis Petridis:

It’s close to show time, so the A-list pop stars are finally here, led by Taylor Swift in a sparkly red mini dress reminiscent of her Eras Tour stage costumes.

Best new artist nominees making the most of their Grammy moment:

Also a banner year of country-pop crossovers, continuing on the red carpet (no Beyoncé yet!)

This video of returning host Trevor Noah getting ready for the night is less interesting for his preparation and more for the slight seating chart reveals …

A banner year for the women of pop continues on the red carpet:

Will Beyonce finally win album of the year? Who will be named best “new” artist out of Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan? Can Kendrick Lamar piss Drake off even more? Here’s the Guardian’s Ben Beaumont-Thomas having a guess:

Well, we seem to have a winner for most baffling red carpet outfit … Jaden Smith and his head/housepiece.

After teasing and then delaying a big announcement (a result of the wildfires), tonight’s most-nominated star, Beyoncé, has now officially revealed that she will be going on tour this year to support her most recent album, Cowboy Carter.

Here’s the teaser she released on Instagram:

If there’s one thing the Grammys love, it’s a controversial award choice – despite a decade-plus worth of abuse allegations outlined a recent documentary, the recording academy gave Chris Brown the award for best R&B album for 11:11. The film, Chris Brown: A History of Violence, includes testimony from a woman who sued Brown for sexual assault in 2022 and explicitly asks why he is still embraced by fans and the music industry. Brown has sued Warner Bros Discovery over the film, claiming defamation.

There will also likely be blowback over noted transphobe Dave Chappelle’s win for best comedy album, his third win in a row in that category and sixth overall.

The majority of tonight’s winners have been revealed before the official ceremony kicks off, as is the weird way of the Grammys. There’s an awful lot to burn through so perhaps it’s a relief for those of us in for the long-haul.

Here are some of the winners we have so far:

Best dance/electronic music album

Charli xcx – Brat

Best pop solo performance

Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso

Best rock performance

The Beatles – Now and Then

Best rap performance

Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us

Best country duo/group performance

Beyoncé featuring Miley Cyrus – II Most Wanted

Best dance pop recording

Charli xcx – Von Dutch

Best R&B song

SZA – Saturn

Best rock album

The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds

Best dance/electronic recording

Justice and Tame Impala – Neverender

It was a question asked by many within the industry: will the Grammys still go ahead? The Oscar nominations were delayed twice and the Critics Choice awards postponed, but the Recording Academy has stuck to the original date, hoping the night can act as a moment of coming together for an industry hugely affected by the wildfires.

Here’s a bit more about what to expect from an unusual ceremony: