The red carpet was laid out, and the lights shone on the Crypto.com Arena as the 68th annual Grammy Awards kicked into gear. Regarded as one of the biggest nights for the music industry, the Grammy Awards took place on Sunday, February 2nd, live on CBS. The live taping was hosted by comedian Trevor Noah for his sixth and final year. The live telecast ran for over two and a half hours. The night was filled with award presentations and performances by talented artists and nominees.
The ceremony opened with artists ROSÉ & Bruno Mars taking the stage and performing their hit song, APT. The song itself was nominated for several awards this night, such as Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Other incredibly memorable performances were those from artists, Sabrina Carpenter with her single, Manchild and Tyler the Creator’s medley of his songs, Thought I Was Dead and Sugar on My Tongue. These performances managed to bring a level of theatricality and visual flair that easily captivated the audience.
Possibly one of the greatest moments of the night was the loving and moving tributes given in the Grammys in memoriam segment. The segment honored the various figures in the music industry who sadly passed away in 2025. Starting with Reba McEntire giving a heartfelt rendition of her song Trailblazer. This was later followed by a tribute to the late Black Sabbath member, Ozzy Osbourne, with artist Post Malone, covering the song War Pigs. This was finally capped off with singer Lauryn Hill honoring artists Roberta Flack and D’Angelo. Hill also brought out other famous musicians, such as Chaka Khan and John Legend, to perform on stage as well.
However, the night could not end without the presentation of the various awards during the event. The Grammys have a whopping number of 95 awards that are given throughout the night. However, only nine of these were presented during the actual live broadcast. One of the biggest awards given out was for Best New Artist. All eight nominees performed their hit singles before last year’s winner, Chappel Roan, presented the award to this year’s winner, Olivia Dean. This year’s ceremony also made history as rapper and producer Kendrick Lamar won five Grammys this year. This marked Lamar as the most awarded rapper with 27 Grammy wins over his career.
The Grammys ended this year with the presentation of the final and biggest award of the night, Best New Album. The award was presented by musician Harry Styles, who had won the same award back in 2023 for his album Harry’s House. Of the eight nominees, artist Bad Bunny took home his third award of the night for his album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. This win also marks the first time a Spanish-speaking album has won the award for Best New Album. Bad Bunny, during his various acceptance speeches throughout the night, made sure to acknowledge and advocate for the Latino community, Puerto Ricans and denounced the government organization ICE. His success at the awards ceremony has only brought more attention and anticipation for his upcoming performance this Sunday as he headlines the Super Bowl halftime show.
The closing of this year’s ceremony also brings the end of the 2025 chapter of music. However, there is still a lot to look forward to for the upcoming releases in music for 2026. As the year goes on, people can only be left to anticipate who will be nominated and rewarded next year.
