Coming off of a great year of music, the 67th Grammy Awards were a very anticipated event. 2024 was a year full of diverse music such as pop, country, R&B, and electronic music.

Country music was especially popular due to Beyoncé and Post Malone stepping out of their comfort zones and releasing country albums. Many new artists from Gen Z pathed their way to stardom. The Grammys left many shocked as they reflected on the outcomes of the night.

The award ceremony took place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 2nd. Every year, this event attracts hundreds of celebrities from around the country and brings them all together for one of the biggest nights in the music industry every year.

Many anticipated artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, and Travis Scott to take home most of the night’s awards. The night included performances from Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, and a dozen others. 

Billboard alloted the top 3 performances of the night to Doechii, Charli XCX, and Chappell Roan. Chappell Roan sang her song “Pink Pony Club” with a life-sized pink pony in the center of the stage and showed all of America “ that she was born to be a star”.

Charli XCX performed following a successful 2024 year with her album Brat which brought a new wave of electropop. She gave the crowd a true brat experience, and was “unhinged, euphoric and secretly brilliant.”

The best performance of the night came from Doechii who performed just after winning the Best Rap Album of the Year. She was the third woman in history to win this and showed the audience exactly why through her performance. She had an electrifying performance and used elements such as “dueling clones, twitchy choreography, ripped-away clothing, and sliding floors”, to show that it was just the beginning of her career. 

The night’s biggest winners included Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar. Beyoncé won big and it was about time. She hadn’t won the last four times she was nominated. But this year, she proved everyone wrong.

She had 11 nominations for this year’s Grammys, and 99 nominations in total becoming the most nominated artist in Grammy history. She also made history as the first black female artist to ever win the Best Country album.  She also won the Best Country Duo/Group performance. 

Kendrick Lamar swept all five categories he was nominated for which was no surprise after his hit record and diss track “Not Like Us.” He won Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Following his domination of the music charts in 2024, he just performed in the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime show. He expressed that he is taking a “creative approach” and performed with SZA. Lamar got so much attention this year that many were more excited for the halftime show than the game itself. 

Along with many unique performances came many activism-focused speeches. Chappell Roan began by explaining the struggles minor artists face, and the need for decent wages and healthcare. This set the tone for many more artists to bring important issues to light during their acceptance speeches.

Alicia Keys won the Global Impact Award and spoke about the importance of DEI efforts. Lady Gaga won the Best Pop Duo with Bruno Mars and advocated for the rights of transgender individuals. Shakira won the best Latin pop album and claimed that she would fight with the immigrants in this country.

The theme for the night was “We Love L.A.” in honor of the lives and land lost by the historic fires that burned through Los Angeles. Many special performances took place to honor LA. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars sang California Dreamin’, while the Red Hot Chilli Peppers sang their song “Under the Bridge” which was written about LA. 

The LA firefighters took the stage to award Beyoncé with Album of the Year. They were able to raise around 125 million dollars with the FireAid benefit concerts to donate to relief efforts. 

The biggest upset of the night seemed to be Beyoncé winning Best Country Album. Her winning Album of the Year was inevitable, but winning Best Country Album while being so new to the genre shocked the country genre. Many country music followers took opinions that she doesn’t even sing real country, and the idea that her album is nothing compared to Chris Stapleton’s album “Higher.”

Senior Maddie Moeller loves listening to country music and was “surprised because I couldn’t name one song on Beyoncé’s album and I don’t think a lot of other country fans could either.” Many even noticed that Kacey Musgraves and Laney Wilson, fellow nominees, seemed shocked and disappointed upon hearing Beyoncé’s name called. Even Beyoncé herself seemed very surprised as she got up from her seat. Her album “Cowboy Carter” had been ignored by Nashville, but not by the Academy.

A new era of pop stardom was shown in the 2025 Grammys and was dominated by Gen Z. Young artists like Benson Boone, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Doechii, Teddy Swims, and Shaboozey became the spotlight of the night and were recognized for their rise in the music industry. They took bold stances of activism and demanded change in the industry.

Even with Beyoncé winning Album of the Year, it felt like this was the end of an era where artists like her and Taylor Swift dominated the pop genre. These Grammys made us wonder if Gen Z will overtake the Millenials and challenge them to claim the industry, or if the big faces of the industry will stay on top.