This year’s Grammy Awards had a little bit of everything for everyone. Beginning with an uninvited Kanye West on the red carpet with his wife and her “outfit”, to Benson Boone having his tux ripped off and then doing a flip off a piano. The awards also included a heartwarming tribute to those devastated by the wildfires in California and some incredible music by both new and old artists.
The Grammy Awards are considered a top achievement in the music industry, yet the show had a humble beginning. When the award show first took place in 1959, only 28 awards were handed out; now there are 94. It struggled to get attention and was overshadowed by award shows like the Oscars and the Emmys. Historically, the Grammys faced a lot of backlash for being out of touch with mainstream music. However, over the last few decades, the Grammys adapted different genres of music. They started to evolve genres like hip-hop and rock which gave the show a more global influence. In 1989 The Fresh Prince (Will Smith) won the first ever Rap award. Now there are 11 rap songs nominated in the 2025 Grammys, with five main Rappers in that field.
Record of the year
The record of the year award is one of the most prestigious awards in the show. There are big names in the category, like this year’s nominees Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and Taylor Swift. All of their records have reached record breaking numbers and were very well liked. The Record of the Year winner this year was Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” hit song which alone made 15.6 million dollars this year in streaming and sales. This was one of the highest grossing songs of the year. This became Lamar’s fourth number-one song on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Album of the year
Album of the Year is another one of the most prized awards of the night. This award can be compared to the Best Picture for the Oscars. This award has been presented annually since the first Grammy’s ceremony. The nominees in this category with names like Taylor Swift with her album “The Tortured Poets Department” and Chappell Roan with “Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess” Sabrina Carpenter with “Short n’ Sweet”. Beyoncé’s album “Cowboy Carter” was a massive success for being her first ever country album with number one in several countries and broke certain chart and streaming records, and also won Country Album of the Year. This was Beyoncé’s first ever country album and she took a different approach to what country meant.
Best new artist

Every year, the Best New Artist category at the Grammys sparks excitement, debate, and sometimes even controversy. This award can jump start legends like The Beatles, Mariah Carey, and Billie Eilish. This reveals that winning this award can help out someone’s career and make a big difference. Some of the top runners for the award were Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Teddy Swims, and Shaboozey. The winner of the best new artist award went to Chappell Roan. Her journey from a small-town upbringing to the Grammys is an example of resilience and talent. As she became more popular, she had to fight through Bipolar Disorder and many other challenges that came with being a small artist. She had an incredible show-stopping horse riding live performance during the award ceremony. This was very proving she was worthy of being a Grammy award winning artist.
Best rap performance
The Best Rap Performance, this award goes to the person with the best bars, delivery, and pure energy to their music. Some past winners of this award include Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, and Megan Thee Stallion. All of these award winning artists have gone on to have very successful careers. The nominees for this award were Kendrick Lamar with “Not Like Us”, GloRilla with “Yeah Glo!” and Cardi B with “Enough (Miami)”. As the night went on Kendrick Lamar won his fifth Grammy of the night. A diss track winning five Grammys was unheard of, but Kendrick did it with his flow, delivery and voice to cement himself as one of the greats of rapping.
The Grammys have come a long way to what they are now. For example, a historical moment in the show this year was when Doechii won the award for Best Rap Album. As she gave her speech, she cried with excitement and pride exclaiming she was only the third woman to ever win the award alongside giants, Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. The Grammys have transformed into a relevant and exciting night highlighting what is great in current popular music of all genres.