The Bests, Worsts, Mosts, and Leasts of the 2025 Grammy Awards

It was a good show! For real!

Based on the performer list alone, we were looking forward to this year’s Grammy Awards, thanks to the sheer number of excellent female artists: Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Raye, Doechii, Lady Gaga, Cynthia Erivo, Lainey Wilson, and more. But they also represented on-stage with the accolades: Of the nine awards handed out during the telecast, seven went to female artists. The energy all night was simply outstanding; unlike the VMAs, which just make us feel old, the Grammys take us from full Crypt Keeper -- “Who are all these whippersnappers on the red carpet?” -- straight to feeling both up-to-date and better for having enjoyed these tributes to a full range of artistry.

The show wasn’t perfect -- The Weeknd brought us down further than anything called “the weekend” ever should. But we’re constantly banging on about how award shows are at their best when they truly love the work they’re celebrating, and aren’t afraid to show it, and last night Grammys did just that. Stevie Wonder did an entire song JUST on harmonica in honor of Quincy Jones! Janelle Monae performed an amazing Michael Jackson dance routine! Chappell Roan wore a pointy medieval hat (and nailed a joyful rendition of “Pink Pony Club”)! (Not at the same time.) Sabrina Carpenter tap-danced! Doechii proved that she could be a Broadway superstar, if she wanted! And Beyoncé finally won Album of the Year -- and got to accept her award from the LAFD. The whole thing was, by and large a real pleasure. Let’s get into the nitty gritty:

Best Red Carpet Performance: American Sign Language interpreters accompanied Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monae, Victoria Monet, Wayne Brady and Deborah Cox on the red carpet, and possibly others we didn’t see. It was a wonderful and inclusive moment made doubly special because nobody underlined it; they simply treated this as an accepted part of the telecast, which is as it should be. To be clear, while this isn’t the first time it’s happened at the Grammys, it certainly does not seem to be a regular occurrence there or anywhere — but it could and should be.

Mixed Red Carpet Performance: Wells Adams -- former Bachelorette candidate, once and possibly future bartender on Bachelor in Paradise, and Faithful from the current season of The Traitors -- handled some of the red carpet interviews for E! He clearly did his prep work with a list of stock questions to ask artists he either didn’t know, or who weren’t forthcoming with answers in general, and he had to use them a few times -- a few of his interviewees were not giving much, which is hard to rebound from when you’re not experienced. But then he got Best New Artist nominee Benson Boone and spent their entire limited time together asking how to get a sculpted chest, after which they clearly asked him and Zuri Hall to fill time by vamping, which led to a strange monologue about being worried about how Taylor Swift would juggle the Grammys and the Super Bowl, despite there being an entire week in between. So... we do not necessarily understand Wells’s presence on the red carpet, but neither do we resent it. Let’s see if they give him another shot, and what he learned.

Worst Red Carpet Performance: We get it, we get it, E! is too afraid to let any of its talking heads speak the truth. Christian Siriano said something “wasn’t for [him]” like once and they never asked him back. But Keltie Knight and Zanna Roberts Rassi were even more absurdly sycophantic than usual. Zanna clearly has the stylists on speed dial, but too often breathlessly reported “exclusive” details that we’d already seen elsewhere online, and inexplicably called Gracie Abrams’s First Communion-lite Chanel outfit “whimsical warrior.” The two of them then fawned over Willow Smith -- clad in a bra and underpants and a long overcoat -- by calling her the coolest person in the room, announcing she can do no wrong, and proclaiming the Smith family the most talented one in Hollywood. Listen, we aren’t saying they aren’t talented, but name anything besides “Whip My Hair” that either Willow or Jaden has done. It was way over the top. E! has improved its red carpet programming a lot this year, but it would be even better if the style correspondents had the latitude to be critical. It would give them more credibility, and it would probably feel more natural.

Weirdest Red Carpet Performance: Kanye West -- who was nominated as one of the writers of “Carnival,” which lost Best Rap Song to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” -- showed up for the red carpet with his fake (???) wife Bianca Censori, who was essentially naked, as she often is when they’re seen in public together. This time, we are not being hyperbolic; you can Google if you want. She was eventually seen in a coat -- whether she was asked to cover up by the Powers That Be, or just got cold, we don’t know -- and rumors soon spread that they’d been kicked out because they were not technically invited to the event. This was later proven untrue, but it does seem that the couple left, either of their own accord or with the cops, depending on whose account you read. Earlier that day, Kanye had reorganized his social media so that he was only following one person: Taylor Swift. This is both creepy and tiresome, and maybe Taylor’s security chased him out. Either way, the entire display seemed orchestrated to shock, but instead the whole thing makes us sad. There’s another universe in which Kanye West did not end up like this.

Most Fun Detail We Learned: When you Google “Shaboozey,” the search results tilt as if you, too, are a little bit boozy. Or, in the parlance of his hit song, everybody in the browser gettin’ tipsy. Sometimes tech can be fun!!

Best Use of Vintage: Olivia Rodrigo wore Versace and Chappell Roan wore Gaultier, both from the archives. The sleek black gown on Olivia looked born for her body; Chappell’s looked like a Renaissance painting and, paired with her usual elaborate makeup, fit her vibe so perfectly that it managed not to look costumey. Three cheers for continuing the trend of honoring fashion history, and in ways that felt organic to music’s future.

Worst Use of Custom Clothes: Jaden Smith paired a simple Louis Vuitton suit with a custom lid called VAMPIRE HOUSE that is, indeed, an actual house. It may live rent-free in your head, but it will live forever ON his:

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The designer says they hail from Transylvania, which tracks, but is wearing an ash-colored mansion on your head REALLY the play in a city with two ruined, charred neighborhoods that were VERY MUCH the focus of the night? We are certain he meant no harm, but… could this have waited, sir?

Best Cameo: As soon as Taylor Swift got up to present Best Country Album, we had an inkling Beyoncé was gonna take it -- because you KNOW the Grammys wanted a shot of Taylor and Beyoncé on-stage together, the two queens of the stage in 2023. To Taylor’s credit, she did nothing to play into that other than literally hand Beyoncé the statue; it was ENTIRELY Beyoncé’s moment, just as it should have been.

Second Best Cameo: The arrivals tent at the Crypt always seems narrow and crowded -- it regularly feels like we’re watching people arrive through a set-up that was hastily concocted to address a surprise rainstorm. But this means that everyone has to do their interviews with Zuri Hall (pleasantly assured and competent as usual) with their PR people and handlers standing right behind them. It’s highly entertaining to watch every single one of these people text frantically throughout. We say this with empathy! This is a busy night for them! They NEED to be texting! It’s just fun to see them do it live. Sleep in tomorrow, guys!

Best Overall Speech: Chappell Roan took home Best New Artist, and nervously used her speech time to implore the industry to treat its emerging artists with care and respect, advocating for full health benefits and a wage structure that makes it possible to break through without a huge stroke of luck (or a rich and/or legacy parent). It took real guts to call out the machinery the way she did, especially because she’s still new to the kind of platform where she can do it and not fear career suicide. Nominees Benson Boone and Sabrina Carpenter were in tears listening to her and she got several ovations. The kids, as they say, are all right.

Biggest Extra Credit: There were actually a lot of genuine and thoughtful statements on stage last night. Lady Gaga deserves props for extending a tearful and heartfelt moment of support to the trans community (at the end of a speech where she said she didn’t understand music without Bruno Mars, which is also nice but definitely untrue). Shakira dedicated her Best Latin Pop Album win to her “immigrant brothers and sisters.” Alicia Keys wisely said in her own beautiful speech, “DEI isn’t a threat, it’s a gift.” And it was wonderful to see everyone in the room extending support -- emotional and financial -- to the people of Los Angeles who’ve lost everything in our recent devastating fires. It felt good to hear people voicing empathy.

Best Single Line: Beyonce seemed truly, genuinely astonished to win Best Country Album -- perhaps because the country music establishment itself declined even to nominate Cowboy Carter. Well, eat it, CMAs; it won that AND Album of the Year, and it earned it. Her speech was slightly flustered, but she busted out this tremendous line: “I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists.” Amen to that, and to her for not allowing it.

Best Motherfucker: We suppose this could refer to a lot of people, but we are actually referring to the line in Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” -- which played when she walked up to accept her Grammy -- that CBS didn’t mute on the live broadcast. The full line is, “I beg you, don’t embarrass me, motherfucker,” which ironically probably resulted in at least one person being extremely embarrassed. We like to see it, though. The world is burning. Let’s not be so fucking precious about swearing, and radio edits, especially one that swaps in “little sucker” as if THAT isn’t ALSO embarrassing.

Highest High: All the Best New Artist nominees killed it, but we particularly enjoyed the gauntlet that stacked several of the performances next to each other: Benson Boone, Doechii, Teddy Swims, Shaboozey, and Raye (with Sabrina and Chappell having gone earlier). It underscored what an excellent year in music it’s been, and gave the rookies a chance to show off their robust talents.

Lowest Lows: We felt badly for Khruangbin, the Best New Artist nominee who was treated like a category afterthought, essentially just playing us in from an ad break with half a song (even if it was a little… zest-free). But we were also surprised by how stale The Weeknd’s performance was. Academy president Harvey Mason Jr. delivered a whole monologue about how, in the wake of The Weeknd being snubbed by the Grammys in 2021 and announcing he’d boycott them, Mason overhauled the department because he can handle criticism, and beefed up the number of female members to 3,000 (out of 13,000, sigh)… and then managed to make it seem like he did it all JUST to get The Weeknd back?!? The ensuing “celebratory” moment felt like a boring retread unworthy of the night’s other performances. We need our weekends but we might be post-Weeknd.

Strangest Philanthropy: Charli XCX’s performance involved a huge crowd of people in their undercrackers throwing other pairs of undies around the stage and stomping on them, and such. A graphic came up announcing that all unworn pants would be donated to domestic violence shelter (via the great org I SUPPORT THE GIRLS). What a lovely thought, and… well, we’re sure they’ll wash them, but maybe donating an equivalent amount is the play, and you reduce waste by letting the dancers keep as souvenirs the ones they rained all over the Grammys stage? Maybe we’re overthinking it. At the very least, we haven’t seen anything quite like that before and it’s good press for the organization.

Best Sense of Humor About Themselves: While we are sure plenty of these people are a good-spirited hoot, this one goes to non-attendee and non-nominee and general all-around Grammys non-factor Jeremy Strong. It seems Ben Affleck’s Dun-Kings ads are back this year in time for the Super Bowl, and during the Grammys, Dunkin’ ran one in which Strong makes delicious fun of himself and his Method-actor reputation by having him steep himself in coffee -- “The Bean Method,” he calls it -- in order to discover his way into the character. This dude’s colleagues have spent years poking fun at him publicly for being Too Much, and killing it with humor is both the best and classiest response.

Best Distribution: We were going to say Best Spread, but that clearly sounds like it should go to craft services, and we’re really trying to compliment the range of winners. The Grammys, like the Emmys, traditionally have a rep for feeling like one person goes up on stage 17 times, so we were pleased that Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé were the only people who collected two during the televised portion of the night. The love was spread! (Also probably Drake is at home fuming, which is also fun.)

Best Use of Ad Time: No offense to Affleck and Jeremy Strong -- that ad was great -- but it was inspired and generous of CBS to donate portions of their ad breaks to local Los Angeles businesses who lost their storefronts in the fires, each of which included a celebrity cameo. We were particularly delighted to see one for Altadena beloved Rhythms of the Village, which is an iconic community touchstone. We’re also excited to see how much the show raised for fire relief efforts; Trevor Noah seemed to be enjoying harassing major corporations to donate, and goodness knows, shame is a powerful human motivator.

Best Replacement Ben: Despite wearing a truly bizarre outfit, Jennifer Lopez seemed to be loving her Ben Affleck-less night at this event: She got to present an award to her co-Super Bowl halftime show star/friend Shakira, and she seemed delighted by her seatmate, the very youthful (and acrobatic) Benson Boone. Sure, he’s 22 and she’s 55, but plenty of people in that auditorium last night have negotiated that age difference, and God knows Jen loves a Ben. Let’s start that rumor. We all need to make our own fun these days.

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Last Call

— We will have complete coverage of the Grammys red carpet all day today at Go Fug Yourself! Come on by and get judgmental with us.

— The tragedy is fresh in Los Angeles, but not in the communities affected by Hurricane Helene, who did not benefit from the kind of national attention afforded Los Angeles as the host city for the Grammys, the Oscars, and all their ilk. Those communities are still struggling and are doing so largely in the dark now that the spotlight has shifted, so if you’re contemplating donations, we encourage everyone to remember them, too. — H

— Unrelated to the Grammys but very pertinent to other upcoming awards shows are recent developments with Karla Sofía Gascón, whose Twitter feed is (as I said on GFY on Friday) apparently a total racist cesspool, and also (less importantly) weirdly mean on various other topics, including her Emilia Perez co-star Selena Gomez. She has deleted her account and also released THREE weird/bad/defensive apologies; said she’s victim of a misinformation campaign (using… her own tweets?! I don’t know); claimed her tweets were character studies, which is a new one I’m actually surprised we haven’t heard before; given an unauthorized interview to CNN about the scandal; and basically acted like an a-hole without a PR person. The official Oscars social media has unfollowed her, which… is very unusual. She’s not going to win the Oscar now! — J

— This is a fun (solved) Blind Item from Reese Witherspoon that is actually kind of juicy — but low stakes!! I’m low-key Team Reese on this one, honestly. — J

— Reminder that we have another live chat next Sunday, for the Super Bowl! This is a perk for paid subscribers, so if you’re on the fence about that $5 a month, perhaps this will convince you. It will be fun! WE SWEAR!!!!