Sometimes, it just all comes together. Maybe not in real life — particularly not in a year whose first month has already seen two major plane crashes on the East Coast, large portions of the West Coast going up in flames, and the entire country being subjected to dehumanizing new policies and legislation meant to undo generations’ worth of societal progress. But in music and culture, occasionally you are lucky enough to get moments where it feels like everything is just about where it should be, like you’re witnessing both history in real time, and possibly also the start of a better future. Sometimes it can even happen on a stage as historically contentious as that of the Grammys.
The 2025 Grammys were probably always going to be a little bit special, just given the incredibly high caliber of artists present as the biggest nominees, performers and even presenters — an everybody-in-the-pool year for Music’s Biggest Night that had the Recording Academy working with one of its biggest head starts in ages. But the combination of potentially narrative-derailing award pratfalls and (much more importantly) the real-life tragedy transpiring in its backyard had these Grammys under even more pressure than usual to Get It Right, as much as any award show ever can. And from maximizing the sky-high performance potential of the artists on the docket, to hitting most of the appropriate big and small notes in addressing the heavier concerns understandably weighing down the buoyant festivities, to picking a slate of winners that felt much more triumphant and cathartic than confusing and disappointing, the Grammys got it right this year. And the impact of that ended up being surprisingly profound.
For a ceremony that many observers both locally and nationally thought she be delayed if not canceled outright in the wake of the fires that devastated so much of California, this year’s Grammys were wise to acknowledge the catastrophic loss and…
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