This year’s Grammy Awards won’t just spotlight the stars and music nominated but the deadly wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles since early January.
Below, find out all you need to know about Music’s Biggest Night and what to keep an eye out for when the ceremony kicks off on Sunday.
How to watch
The Grammys will air live on CBS at 8 p.m. ET and stream around the world on Paramount+. Those who subscribe to the platform with Showtime can watch the livestream on their local CBS affiliate and, if in the U.S., through on-demand viewing. Subscribers to Paramount+ Essential will be able to watch the ceremony on-demand come Monday.
Red carpet coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET. Those wanting to catch exclusive interviews and fashion highlights can tune in live on E! or on the Grammy Awards website, as well as the Recording Academy’s YouTube, TikTok and Facebook pages.
Who’s hosting
Trevor Noah will return to Crypto.com Arena to host the Feb. 2 ceremony for a fifth consecutive year, making him the only non-musical performer to host the Grammys at least five times. The comedian’s presence has been a big win for CBS in the past few years. Nearly 17 million viewers tuned in to last year’s ceremony, marking the Grammys’ largest TV audience since 2020.
Glitzy awards show-turned-pseudo telethon
Despite other Hollywood events shifting schedules amid the L.A. wildfires, the Grammys are returning as expected, but with a “renewed sense of purpose.”
In response to the deadly blazes, this year’s ceremony will put a focus on “raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours,” CBS said in a statement.
However, the Recording Academy, which governs the Grammys, promised viewers the show “will not be a telethon.”
“You’re not going to see a [chyron with a] running total across the bottom of the screen; it’s not that type of an event,” CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told Variety.
Citing the estimated 6,500 locals employed on shows like the Grammys, producers did not heed calls to cancel or postpone the ceremony. Rather, they’ll use the platform “to raise money and awareness, but it will still have performance and awards.”
Executive producer Ben Winston added that Hollywood has already been upended multiple times in recent years, first during the height of COVID and then in 2023 with the simultaneous strikes of the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA.
“I think there is a lot of value in bringing some joy and levity and music to the world right now,” Winston told Variety, adding that some performers’ sets have changed accordingly but none have dropped out. “But we’re very aware of the devastation that’s happened in L.A. and what’s going on in the wider world, and we will reflect that.”
As a result of the current landscape, the schedule for Grammy Week will be condensed into just four events — MusiCares, the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala, the Special Merit Awards and the ceremony itself — each of which will be geared in some way toward recovery efforts.
Who’s performing
Shakira, whose hit record “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” is up for Best Latin Pop Album, is confirmed to take the stage Sunday. Album of the Year contenders Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter will also perform, as will Best New Artist nominees Benson Boone, Doechii, RAYE and Teddy Swims. Carpenter and Roan are also competing for Best New Artist.
What to keep an eye out for
Beyoncé’s 32 Grammy wins and 99 nods make her the most-awarded and most-nominated artist of all time, but the top prize of Album of the Year has continued to elude the “Cowboy Carter” star.
It’s unclear whether Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will finally make their long-awaited red carpet debut. The two-time Super Bowl champ is once again preparing for his shot at glory when the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles exactly a week after the Grammys.
Predicted winners of the Big Four
Beyoncé remains a favorite to take home at least one statue. She’s leading with 11 nominations, including her first-ever in the country genre for “Cowboy Carter,” and three of the Big Four — Album, Song and Record of the Year.
Album of the Year
Some prognosticators believe “Cowboy Carter” will come out on top, while others are afraid to once again get their hopes up by betting on Bey.
Billboard staffers are split on what will happen come Sunday, while Rolling Stone and Pitchfork believe Taylor Swift will ride the Eras Tour high straight into her fifth Album of the Year. Pitchfork and some at Billboard alike are rooting for Charli XCX’s culture-dominating “Brat” to finally secure her a win.
Record of the Year
This category is a bit of a crap shoot.
While Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” took hip-hop (and Drake’s ego) by storm last year, Pitchfork predicts the Recording Academy will choose an oldie but goodie in The Beatles’ “Now and Then.”
Andy Kropa/AP
Sabrina Carpenter performs during the Governors Ball Music Festival on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Queens borough of New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
USA Today is rooting for Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” but suspects Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” will take home the win.
Rolling Stone is meanwhile putting money on Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather,” but pulling for newcomer Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
Song of the Year
Similarly, Song of the Year is a bit of a musical Rorschach Test, even for the critics who live and breathe the industry.
While Rolling Stone predicts Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” will get its due, the outlet is rooting for Carpenter’s other summer earworm, “Please Please Please.” Pitchfork is hoping for a Roan win, but believes Eilish has an edge with “Birds of a Feather.”
Noam Galai/Getty Images
Chappell Roan performs on stage during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV)
USA Today wants Lamar’s “Not Like Us” to take Song of the Year, but ultimately thinks the Grammy will go to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ undying collab, “Die With a Smile.”
Best New Artist
Between Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, it’s up for debate whose music was more ubiquitous over the past year. But both Pitchfork and Rolling Stone agree that not only should Roan win the newcomer title, she in fact will.
While USA Today also hopes that’s the case, the outlet believes Carpenter — who only found wider fame with her sixth studio album, following her opening for the Eras Tour — will be crowned Best New Artist.
