LOS ANGELES – On Sunday, Feb. 1, The 68th Annual Recording Academy Grammy Awards celebrated music’s biggest night in a crowded Crypto.com Arena, hosted by Trevor Noah.
After 53 years airing the live award ceremony, The Grammys said goodbye to CBS honoring artists and producers both past and present by bringing out all the stars to downtown LA.
Leading the way in total nominations, Kendrick Lamar was in the spotlight as a grand total of nine nods gave way to a momentous victory lap after dropping his latest album “GNX” in late 2024. Closely followed by Lady Gaga and Jack Antonoff with seven, with Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter rounding out the lead with six nominations each.
As his last time hosting the show, Trevor Noah, who has been The Grammys’ frontman since 2021, brought a charismatically cringe performance as he took a few political jabs in between introducing several live acts and artists presenting awards.
The night kicked off with one of the year’s biggest songs, “APT” sung by artists Rosé (of Blackpink fame) and Bruno Mars, who performed an energetic rock version of the song, complete with Bruno shredding on guitar.
The live acts that followed highlighted newer artists as Sabrina Carpenter led the charge in a performance of her hit single “Manchild”. As she pranced around on stage set to the backdrop of an airport, Carpenter seemed right in her element as Hollywood’s biggest showgirl.
With the Best New Artist category being one of the first awards up for grabs, a set of all nominees played through a medley including The Marias, Addison Rae, KATSEYE, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, Lola Young and eventual winner, Olivia Dean.
Justin Bieber took The Grammys stage again, after 15 years, in a quite literal stripped down version of his song “Yukon“, performed in a pair of boxers that surely left an impression.
Many in attendance took into consideration to use their time in the spotlight to shine a light on a divisive topic in this country, with several attendees wearing pins that read “ICE OUT”. With some going as far as dedicating their speeches to speak out against the organization which has been terrorizing people in America now more than ever.
Accepting his award for Best Musica Urbana Album, Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, famously known as Bad Bunny, spoke in very direct explicit language against the organization.
“ICE OUT. We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”, he said in plain English so that all could understand his message.
Winning Best New Artist, Olivia Dean also gave a heartfelt speech in which she revealed being the grandchild of immigrants, “a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.”, she concluded.
Soon after, Billie Eilish and brother Finneas O’Connell accepted the award for Song of the Year (“Wildflower”), using their time to explicitly state, “FUCK ICE,” which CBS had to censor during the live cast. But more importantly, stating words that should resonate with anyone living in this country;
“No one is illegal on stolen land.”
In a segment honoring those that have passed, Ms. Lauryn Hill performed an emotional tribute to the late R&B legend D’angelo, as well as Grammy award winning singer Roberta Flack. Hill was joined on stage with several other recording artists including Chaka Khan, John Baptiste, Leon Thomas and many others.
“luther” won the Grammy award for Record of the Year, officially making Kendrick Lamar the most awarded rapper, surpassing Jay Z’s previous record of 25 wins. SZA, Soundwave and Jack Antonoff shared the stage as they accepted the award, paying homage to the great Luther Vandross.
This award show made Kendrick tie with Stevie Wonder as the only artists ever to win at least five Grammys in back to back years. To say Lamar had a big night would be the biggest understatement of the new year.
Closing the award ceremony, previous winner Harry Styles took the stage to present Album of the Year after announcing his own forthcoming album, “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally”.
In a stunning turn of events, you could feel Benito’s eyes water as it was announced Bad Bunny had finally won Album of the Year with 2025’s “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS“.
As he began to cry, Benito took it all in before going on stage, speaking in his native tongue at first and ending the night by dedicating the award “to all the people who had to leave their homeland to follow their dreams.”
For full coverage, visit our DtMF album review and the official list of nominations and winners.
