Every February, Los Angeles calls music enthusiasts to celebrate the year’s best songs, albums and artists. Hosted this year by comedian Trevor Noah, the 68th Grammys were packed with extravagant performances, star-studded nominations, emotional wins and political messages.
The Grammys cover all genres of music; pop, hip hop, soundtracks, country, jazz, anything you can think of, the Grammys has a category for it. Fan favorites include Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. These categories were packed with nominations of several popular artists, including Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga.
Lamar took home Record of Year with his late 2024 hit “Luther” featuring SZA and Eilish won Song of the Year for “WILDFLOWER.” Among nominees such as Sombr, Lola Young and Alex Warren, Olivia Dean was 2025’s Best New Artist.
The biggest part of the night was Bad Bunny’s Album of the Year win for “DeBÍ TiRAR MÁS FOTos,” winning over albums such as “GNX,” “Chromakopia” and “Man’s Best Friend.” In his acceptance speech, Bad Bunny took a stand against U.S. immigration enforcement and said “ICE out.” He also won Best Música Urbana Album. All winners can be found at Grammy.com.
No Grammys is complete without spectacular performances, and this year included sets from Bruno Mars, Carpenter, Tyler the Creator and Lauryn Hill with the Fugees.
Mars had two performances, one with Rosé and their song “APT,” and the other with his new song, “I Just Might.” “I Just Might” debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 100 and is the hit single off of his upcoming album, set to come out on Feb. 27.
Carpenter also brought her summer hit “Manchild” to the stage. She performed in her signature style, and her performance was retro-airline themed. Some fans believe that the backdrop of her stage hinted at an upcoming venue list for a potential “Man’s Best Friend” Tour.
We also saw performances of Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” Dean’s “Man I Need” and Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” which were all nominees. Tyler the Creator went above and beyond and created a three act performance, featuring his songs “Like Him,” “Thought I was Dead” and “Sugar on My Tongue.” He somehow worked a speeding sports car, a stick of dynamite and hip hop into a great Grammys performance. All performances can be found on YouTube or a ranking on Billboard.com.
The great thing about music is that it is subjective, and everyone can have their own opinion.
Abby Martin, a junior music major, loved every second of the Grammys. Martin’s favorite part was, “the new artist performances, having each artist who was nominated for Best New Artist [allowed] the audience to see who the artist was.”
The radio this year was filled with new artists and their new songs, and it’s important for the world to put a name to the face. One of the hardest parts of being a new artist is promoting yourself and your music, a point Chappell Roan brought up last year. Martin also enjoyed Tyler the Creator’s mashup performance and seeing her favorite artists up for Album of the Year.
Brandon Hwalek, a freshman music major, also enjoyed the Grammys, especially the performances. Hwalek also liked seeing Bad Bunny win Album of the Year, and said that “this is a very historic moment.”
The 68th Grammys gave us concert level performances, live music videos, cultural icons looking their best for the red carpet and music giants going up against one another for Grammy glory. The Grammys were groundbreaking this year, proving that different music can take home big wins. If 2026 is anything like 2025, we are in for some classics this year.