Beyoncé 'Cowboy Carter' wins album of the year in 2025 Grammys, first for artist

LOS ANGELES - FEBRUARY 2: Beyonce and Blue Ivy Carter at The 67th Annual Grammy Awards, airing live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, Sunday, Feb. 2 (8:00-11:30 PM, live ET/5:00-8:30 PM, live PT) on the CBS Television Network, and str

Beyoncé won album of the year for "Cowboy Carter" at the 2025 Grammys, delivering her — at last — the show’s elusive top award.

Beyoncé is already the most-awarded artist in Grammy history. And now, the album of the year crown is finally hers for "Cowboy Carter."

Members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department presented the final award of the night, album of the year — the easiest job they’ve done, host Trevor Noah quipped. Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said it was "a tremendous honor and privilege to be in the company of such talented music industry professionals."

The superstar, who is both the most awarded and nominated artist in Grammys history, had been nominated in the category four times before and many felt she had been snubbed by its top honors.

"I wanna dedicate this to Miss Martell, and I hope we just keep pushing forward, opening doors," the artist said, referencing Linda Martell, a pioneer for Black artists in country music.

LOS ANGELES - FEBRUARY 2: Beyoncé at The 67th Annual Grammy Awards, airing live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, Sunday, Feb. 2 (8:00-11:30 PM, live ET/5:00-8:30 PM, live PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming live and on d

It’s rare to see Beyoncé these days without Blue Ivy Carter, and vice versa.

The 13-year-old star of "Mufasa" posed with her mother on the red carpet at the film’s premiere, and then just weeks later performed alongside the superstar during Netflix’s NFL halftime show on Christmas Day. So it was fitting that Blue took the stage with Beyoncé to accept the award for the album of the year.

She stood with her hands clutched as her mother accepted the award before hugging her onstage during the emotional culmination of Beyoncé's storied Grammys career.

Beyoncé’s Grammy wins for best country album, best country duo/group performance and album of the year bring her career total to 35, exceeding the previous record, which she herself set.

She is also the first Black woman to win album of the year in 26 years, since Lauryn Hill’s "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

"Cowboy Carter" is the first country album to take the top award since Kacey Musgraves’ "Golden Hour" in 2019. The 11 nominations for "Cowboy Carter" tied Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" for the most for a single album.

Other big winners include Kendrick Lamar for both song and record of the year for his diss track "Not Like Us."  Chappell Roan nudged aside Sabrina Carpenter to win the Grammy for best new artist, and Taylor Swift presented the award for best country album to Beyoncé.

In other Grammy news:

Shakira wins best Latin pop album

Jennifer Lopez got to present the best Latin pop album award to her fellow Super Bowl headliner Shakira. The two rocked the halftime show in 2020.

"Here’s the truth in any language music’s biggest night only gets bigger and better when it brings us the whole world of music," Lopez said.

"I want to dedicate this award to all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country. You are loved, you are worth it, and I will always fight with you," said Shakira during her award speech.

Will Smith attends the Grammys

Will Smith, who has won four Grammys himself, presented a tribute during the prime-time telecast to his late mentor Quincy Jones. But don’t expect the Oscar-winning actor to show up for the Academy Awards in a month’s time. He’s still under a 10-year ban for his slap of Chris Rock during the 2022 awards show.

Chappell Roan wins best new artist

Chappell Roan used her best new artist acceptance speech to push for health care and profit sharing for young artists.

"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 livable wage, and health care especially, to developing artists," she said, reading from what looked like a diary, to loud cheers.

She talked about being dropped from her initial label deal when she was a minor and being left without job experience and health insurance.

"Labels, we got you, but do you got us?" she said.

Beyoncé wins best country album for 'Cowboy Carter'

Beyoncé sat shocked in the audience for a moment after Taylor Swift read that the superstar had won best country album for "Cowboy Carter." Once on stage, as Beyoncé thanked her family, cameras cut to Jay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter standing and beaming in the audience.

The Grammys shows Los Angeles some love after devastating wildfires

What they're saying:

After a short intro from host Trevor Noah, Dawes kicked off a tribute to Los Angeles with "I Love L.A.," along with a backing band consisting of stars John Legend, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Brittany Howard and St. Vincent.

RELATED: California fires updates: Sunday, Feb. 2

Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith lost a portion of the Altadena house he shares with his wife, actor-singer Mandy Moore, and his home recording studio and instruments were destroyed. His brother and bandmate, Griffin Goldsmith, and his pregnant wife also lost their home in the fire. Dawes also performed at the FireAid benefit concert on Thursday.

Noah replaced the usual revved-up opening to the Grammys with sober talk about the California wildfires.

Malibu Boys & Girls Club gives back amid wildfires

Malibu Foundation for Youth and Families DBA Boys & Girls Club of Malibu, is a nonprofit organization working together with state and local officials. Kasey Earnest, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu, joined LiveNOW from FOX

"Just a few weeks ago we weren’t sure tonight that this show would even happen," he said from backstage before walking out on the stage at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

"His city has just been through one of the largest natural disasters in American history."

The backstory:

The blazes that began Jan. 7 have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 25 people. The conflagrations fueled by dry Santa Ana winds have scorched at least 63 square miles of land, forcing thousands of people from their homes, stretching firefighting efforts thin, knocking out power to tens of thousands and making the water unsafe to drink in some areas. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fires.

The Source: FOX TV Digital reporting, Associated Press

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