Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department presented her with the award and were given a standing ovation as they took to the stage.
Beyonce was joined by her 13-year-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter to accept the prize for her chart-topping album Cowboy Carter, saying said she felt “honoured” to receive the prize, adding: “It’s been many, many years and I just want to thank the Grammys, every songwriter, every collaborator, every producer, all the hard work.”
It was tough competition this year, with female stars including Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift in the mix. Andre 3000 and Jacob Collier were also in the running.
More on Beyonce
Related Topics:
Earlier in the night, a stunned Beyonce told the audience she was “still in shock” after winning best Country album – becoming the first black female artist to take the prize.
After being handed the award by Taylor Swift, the Texas-born star said: “Wow, I really was not expecting this. I want to thank God that I’m able to do what I love after so many years.”
She went on: “Genre is a code word to keep us in place as artists, and I just want to encourage us to do what we’re passionate about.”
Image: Beyonce takes best country album – the first black woman to ever do so. Pic: Reuters
Beyonce has previously been vocal about the lack of wins in the big Grammy categories for artists of colour, who she said were largely relegated to the genre categories.
Last year her husband, rap star Jay-Z, addressed the oversight, telling the audience: “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year. So, even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work.”
Beyonce had already made history earlier in the night, winning best country duo/group performance for II Most Wanted featuring Miley Cyrus, but was pipped at the post by Kacey Musgraves, who took best Country song for The Architect.
Ahead of the ceremony, Beyonce announced on social media that she would be taking Cowboy Carter on tour.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:34
Kendrick Lamar wins Grammy and dedicates award to LA
Diss track triumph for Lamar
Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar also dominated the night, taking both song and record of the year for his much-talked-about diss track, Not Like Us.
He dedicated his record of the year win “to the city,” and later said he was “starstruck” to be handed his best song award by Diana Ross.
The California-born star had already won three awards earlier in the night.
The first award of the main ceremony, best rap album, went to Doechii for Alligator Bites Never Heal, who became tearful on stage as she became only the third woman ever to take the prize. She later gave a jaw-dropping, high-energy performance.
Her award was presented by Cardi B, one of those past winners, who told the audience: “Rap helped me find my voice, rap helped me find my story, but most of all rap changed my life.”
Image: Sabrina Carpenter said she was ‘going to cry’ after winning her first Grammy. Pic: Reuters
Thanks mum!
Best pop vocal album went to Sabrina Carpenter for Short N’ Sweet, she said she “might cry” for her first Grammy win, thanking her mum for “driving me to every voice lesson,” before going on to apologise for saying “Hell” three times during her acceptance speech.
Carpenter’s gong was presented by Red Hot Chilli Peppers band members Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith, who sang a burst of their 1991 hit Under The Bridge, in tribute to the City Of Angles – LA.
The evening had a very different tone to previous shows following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. Black was a common theme on the red carpet and the evening kicked off by highlighting the city’s resilience.
Host Trevor Noah’s opening speech spoke of the “entire communities burned to the ground”, going on, “it’s often said in the darkest time the best of humanity shines through…tonight we’re not only celebrating our favourite music but celebrating the city that brought us our favourite music”.
Raising money for those affected by the disaster, Noah said advertising space had also been given to local LA businesses affected by fire.
The first performance of the night celebrated first responders. I Love LA by Dawes, whose members were directly affected by the Eaton fire, were backed by John Legend, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Brittany Howard and St Vincent.
Image: Chappell Roan accepts the award for best new artist. Pic: AP
Chappell Roan calls out the labels
Best newcomer went to Chappell Roan, who wore a giant cone hat with a veil spouting from the top to accept her award, which threatened to fall as she accepted her gong.
The 26-year-old singer gave an empassioned speech as she accepted her first Grammy saying: “I told myself if I ever won a Grammy and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a liveable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists.”
She went on to describe the strain of being signed young, and then dropped by her label, struggling to afford health insurance.
She said “It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and so dehumanised… And if my label would have prioritised artists’ health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to.
She finished by saying: “So record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a liveable wage and health insurance and protection. Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
Image: Chappell Roan atop a giant pink pony during her performance. Pic: AP
Earlier, her rocking Pink Pony Club performance had featured a giant pony and host of cowboy clowns.
During the show, Billie Eilish performed on an LA hillside set, and Sabrina Carpenter giving it some old-school Hollywood glamour, with a bit of tap dance thrown in for good measure.
Other performances included Bensoon Boone who used the piano to assist a backflip, British star Raye giving a soulful performance of Oscar Winning Tears, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars who sang California Dreamin’, and a belly-dance inspired performance from Hips Don’t Lie star Shakira.
The Weeknd also returned to the Grammys after several years of boycot in protest at what he saw as a flawed voting system after his 2020 album After Hours failed to receive a single nomination.
Image: The Weeknd back on the Grammy stage. Pic: Reuters
Other notable early wins of the night included some nostalgic British acts – The Beatles, who took best rock performance for Now And Then, and The Rolling Stones who won best rock album for Hackney Diamonds.
Charli XCX scored her first Grammys for best dance/electronic album and best dance/pop recording, following her culture-shaping Brat album, which was the talk of the summer. She later worked her way through the arena in a performance, which featured Julie Fox and a large haul of knickers, and which Charlie joked might be so racy “it might not make the edit”.
Image: Doechii gave a high-energy performance and won best rap album – only the third woman to ever do so. Pic: Reuters
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:32
Doechii wins best rap album at Grammys
Politics amid the music
Jennifer Lopez presented best Latin pop album, which went to Shakira for Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. Shakira hugged her two sons as she went to collect her prize, dedicating it to “all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country – you’re loved, you’re worth it, and I will always fight with you.”
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars won best pop duo/group performance for Die With A Smile, paying their respects to one anothers career achievements in their acceptance speech.
Gaga also spoke out for trans rights, saying, “Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love.”
Image: Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars performing California Dreamin’
Alicia Keys – who is now an 18-times Grammy-winning artist – was also awarded the Dr Dre Global Impact Award by rapper and singer Queen Latifah. Taking one of her children on stage to accept her award, she paid tribute to a host of female artists who she said had “opened the doors” before her.
In a nod to politics, she went on to say DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) was “not a threat, but a gift” adding, “When destructive forces try to burn us down, we burn like a phoenix”.
In the US, the Trump administration is currently calling for the rollback of DEI programs.
Image: Herbie Hancock, left, and Stevie Wonder perform during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Remembering those who are gone
Stars including Will Smith, Cynthia Erivo, Stevie Wonder and Janelle Monae headlined a tribute to the late, legendary producer Quincy Jones, featuring jazz musician Herbie Hancock on the piano, and rendidtions of We Are The World and Thriller.
Led by Coldplayer frontman Chris Martin, the In Memoriam section began by remembering Liam Payne who died in October aged 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina. It also included actress and singer Marianne Faithful, who passed away over the weekend.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Salt Path author Raynor Winn has said claims she lied about her story are “highly misleading” and called suggestions her husband made up his illness “utterly vile”.
A report in The Observer disputed key aspects of the hit book, billed as an “inspiring and life-affirming true story” about a couple’s coastal trek.
Winn released a lengthy statement denying the paper’s claims and shared medical letters apparently sent to her husband, Moth, that appear to support a diagnosis for a rare neurological condition, Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).
One letter mentions his prior “CBS [Corticobasal Syndrome] diagnosis”, while another concludes he has “an atypical form” of CBD.
The author said accusations he lied about having CBD/CBS are false and have “emotionally devastated” him.
Image: Raynor and husband Moth (centre) with actors Jason Isaacs (L) and Gillian Anderson (R). Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
“I have charted Moth’s condition with such a level of honesty, that this is the most unbearable of the allegations,” Winn wrote on her website.
The Observer claimed to have spoken to experts who were “sceptical” about elements of his story, such as a “lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them”.
PSPA, a charity that supports people with CBD, ended their relationship with the family following The Observer’s claims.
Winn said she had never suggested walking was “some sort of miracle cure” and that there can be “symptoms for many years before they finally reach a diagnosis”.
“Even then, many sufferers’ symptoms present in an atypical way,” she wrote.
“They might not present with the same symptoms, occurring in the same order, or with the same severity.”
Image: The memoir was turned into a film, released. Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
Winn also posted the letters on Instagram and said they are grateful Moth’s condition is slow-progressing.
She clarified it is now commonly referred to by specialists as CBS, “which describes the symptoms observed during life”.
The bestselling book was also recently released as a film, starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson, charting the couple’s 630-mile trek along the Cornish, Devon, and Dorset coast – a journey sparked by the devastation of losing their house.
The Observer claimed the portrayal of a failed investment in a friend’s business wasn’t true, rather they lost their home after Raynor Winn embezzled money from her employer, Martin Hemming, and had to borrow to pay it back and avoid police action.
Winn’s statement said the dispute with Mr Hemmings wasn’t the reason they lost their home – but admitted she may have made “mistakes” while in the job.
“For me it was a pressured time,” she wrote. “It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.”
She admitted being questioned by police but said she wasn’t charged.
Winn added: “I reached a settlement with Martin Hemmings because I did not have the evidence required to support what happened. The terms of the settlement were willingly agreed by both parties.”
The author reiterated the book’s version of events: that the loss of their home in Wales stemmed from an investment in a friend’s property portfolio that went sour.
Her statement goes into legal detail about how it transpired and admits – as The Observer suggested – that the couple at one point tried to raffle the house.
However, the author said they “quickly realised it was a mistake as it clearly wasn’t going to work. We cancelled it and refunded the few participants.”
The 63-year-old also denied having any outstanding debts and said it was “blatantly untrue” the couple were hiding behind pseudonyms after The Observer quoted people who said they knew them by the surname Walker.
“Winn is my maiden name and like most women who have married I’ve used both my maiden name, Winn, and married name, Walker,” said the statement.
She also explained she preferred the first name Raynor, rather than her birth name Sally Ann, so took that as her pen name; while Moth is an abbreviation of her husband’s name, Timothy.
“The legal names we use on our bank records, our utility bills etc. Our friends and neighbours use Sal and Tim interchangeably with Ray and Moth – there is nothing hiding in our names,” she said.
Sky News has contacted The Observer for a response to Winn’s statement.
Raynor Winn had been scheduled to make numerous appearances over the summer, performing with Saltlines, her collaboration with Gigspanner Big Band.
However, the band has since announced on social media that she will no longer be taking part in the tour.
She was also scheduled to take part in various Q&As, conversations, writing courses and festivals.
Actor Michael Madsen, who starred in Reservoir Dogs and Thelma & Louise, died from heart failure, his cardiologist has said.
The 67-year-old was found unresponsive in his home in Malibu, California, last Thursday and pronounced dead.
His doctor said heart disease and alcoholism will be listed as factors which contributed to the star’s death, reported NBC Los Angeles.
With no suspicious circumstances and the death listed as being from natural causes, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department considers the case closed.
In a career spanning more than 40 years, Madsen’s film credits include Free Willy, Donnie Brasco and Sin City.
He was also known for his collaborations with director Quentin Tarantino, including in Kill Bill: Vol. 2, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
The Chicago-born actor also linked up with Tarantino when he played Mr Blonde in 1992’s Reservoir Dogs.
More from Ents & Arts
Image: Madsen played numerous roles, including Mr Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. Pic: THA/Shutterstock
His sister, Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, paid tribute to her brother in a statement to Variety.
She wrote: “My brother Michael has left the stage.
“He was thunder and velvet. Mischief wrapped in tenderness. A poet disguised as an outlaw. A father, a son, a brother – etched in contradiction, tempered by love that left its mark.”
Madsen was preparing to release a new book called Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts And Poems.
A statement by managers Susan Ferris and Smith, and publicist Liz Rodriguez, said the book by “one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors” was currently being edited.
Horse-drawn carriages, picturesque gardens and endless cups of tea are just some of the stereotypical tropes that have shaped America’s romanticised image of England before even stepping foot on the island.
Thanks to classical literature and a steady stream of period dramas, Lena Dunham was no exception.
“I had so many fantasies,” she tells Sky News about growing up slightly obsessed with British culture.
“I loved Jane Austen, I loved Charlotte Bronte, I love British film, I was one of those little Anglophile kids.”
The writer and director believed it would be that area of classically depicted England that would fill her time when she first moved to “jolly old London” as a teenager with her mother for a brief time.
Instead, her attention was taken by another, and possibly equally influential group of artists.
“There was a pop show about S Club 7 and all I did was just sit in the hotel and obsessively watch things relating to [the group],” she said.
“So, I didn’t go home with all this cultural British knowledge. I went home with a deep abiding love of S Club 7 and came back to school when everyone was obsessed with the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.
“For me, I was literally like, ‘Guys, you got to hear this hot track right off the presses, it’s called Reach For The Stars’.”
Image: Pic: Netflix
It wasn’t until her 30s, when the actress moved again to the city, that reality took hold and she quickly learned the difference between the imagined London and the real city.
Some stereotypes hold true, like the universal love for Paddington. Still, TV tropes like renting a flat on a single income in the city does not necessarily mean you’ll be treated to lavish rooms and a picturesque garden.
She says it was social cues she found most challenging to adjust to, as well as the different dictionaries used when speaking, technically, the same language.
“You come to a new country and even though you speak the same language, you’re totally absent from those tools,” she says.
“And I found that really striking as an adult in my 30s, trying to make friends, trying to date. I found it confusing enough to be a person in my own city of origin, so this was extra confounding.”
Too Much, her new Netflixseries, is loosely inspired by her own London chapter and follows a workaholic New Yorker in her 30s who is sent across the Atlantic to work on a new project.
The 10-episode show is produced by Working Title – the company behind Bridget Jones, Notting Hill, About A Boy and Love Actually – and stars Hacks breakout actress Megan Stalter and The White Lotus actor Will Sharpe.
Image: Pic: Netflix
Dunham says she always wanted to write about her time in the UK, but it was a conversation with Irish actor Andrew Scott that got the ball rolling.
“Actually, he’s the reason that I came to know Meg as an actor because he loved her on Hacks and he loved her videos, and he said: ‘Have you watched this woman’s work? I feel like there’s a real connection between you two’, and I started watching because of him and built a show around her.”
In a full circle moment, Scott appears in the series briefly as an arrogantly odd man who crosses paths with Megan Stalter’s character Jessica.
Image: Pic: Netflix
The Ridley actor isn’t the only famous face joining the cast in a cameo role. Dunham put a call out to most of Hollywood, and luckily lots were on board.
To name just a few, guest stars include Jessica Alba, Stephen Fry, Adwoa Aboah, Kit Harington, Rita Wilson, Rita Ora, Richard E Grant, Emily Ratajkowski, Andrew Scott, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Jennifer Saunders.
“It was one of those situations where you just reach for the stars, literally, and then you can’t believe when they appear,” says Dunham.
“It was just a non-stop parade of people that I was fascinated by, wanted to be around, completely enamoured of.”
Image: A whole host of high-profile cameos feature in Lena Dunham’s Too Much
She adds: “I remember asking Naomi Watson, thinking, there’s absolutely no way that you’re going to want to come play this slightly demented woman. And she’s so playful and she’s so joyful and she just wanted to come and engage.
“Also, Jennifer Saunders has meant so much to me for so long, I had the AbFab box set as a kid, and I just think Patsy and Edina are the ultimate kind of messy women.
“She really showed me what comedy could be and… the space that women could occupy in comedy, and so having her come and join the show was really incredible.
“That was an episode that someone else was directing, Alicia McDonald, an amazing director, so I just got to sit and watch at the monitor like I was watching a movie, and it was very surreal for me.”