Beyoncé wins album of the year at the 2025 Grammys for 'Cowboy Carter'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beyoncé won album of the year for “Cowboy Carter” at Sunday's Grammys, delivering her — at last — the show’s elusive top award.

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

In winning album of the year with “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé has become the first Black woman to win the top prize in the 21st century. The last was Lauryn Hill with “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” 26 years ago. Before her was Natalie Cole and Whitney Houston. That means Beyoncé is only the fourth Black woman to win album of the year at the Grammys.

Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department presented Beyoncé with the trophy, one of several times the show reflected the recent wildfires that burned thousands of homes.

“It’s been many, many years,” Beyoncé said in her speech. “I want to dedicate this to Ms. Martell,” she said, referencing Linda Martell, the performer who became the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry.

“We finally saw it happen, everyone,” host Trevor Noah said, nodding to the long overdue achievement for one of music's transcendent artists.

Kendrick Lamar won song and record of the year for his diss track “Not Like Us,” taking home two of the night's most prestigious awards.

“We're gonna dedicate this one to the city,” Lamar said before shouting out Los Angeles area neighborhoods.

It is the second hip-hop single to ever win in the category. The first was Childish Gambino’s “This Is America."

The Weeknd has mended his fractious relationship with the Grammy Awards with a surprise performance of his new single, “Cry For Me” and “Timeless” with Playboi Carti.

His decision is a direct reflection of the changes the Recording Academy has made to diversify its voting body, CEO Harvey Mason jr. said in his introduction. The Weeknd has been openly critical of the Grammys organization, dating back to 2020 when he wrote on Twitter: “The Grammys remain corrupt.”

It was just one of many pleasant surprises Sunday night. Chappell Roan was named best new artist.

She read a speech from a notebook, speaking directly to major labels and the music industry, instructing them to “offer a living wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists.” She described getting signed as a minor, getting dropped and entering the workforce during COVID-19 with no work experience and no health care. She asked them to treat artists like "valuable employees.”

“Labels, we got you," she concluded her speech. "But do you got us?"

In one of the biggest moments of the evening so far, Taylor Swift presented the award for best country album to Beyoncé. She became the first Black woman to ever win in the category.

“Genre is a cold word to keep us in our place as artists," she said in her speech. "I'm still in shock. Thank you so much for this honor."

Beyoncé entered the night as the leading nominee.

A little bit of the wild west, a little bit of West Hollywood. Roan brought a rocking version of her “Pink Pony Club” to the Grammy stage. Joined by a posse of dancing clown cowboys, she sang from atop a giant pink horse.

In incorporating the wildfires throughout the show, the Grammys put the spotlight on the city’s resiliency.

Noah's opening speech was dedicated to those affected by the fires, promising a show that not only celebrates them, but one that also celebrates "the city that brought us so much of that music.” The Grammys have also allotted ad time to be used by local businesses affected by the fires.

As the show neared its end, Noah announced that viewers had contributed $7 million to relief efforts Sunday night so far.

On a stage set up to look like the mountains of Los Angeles, the LA born-and-raised Billie Eilish and her brother/collaborator Finneas performed her hit “Birds of a Feather.” It was one of a number of ways the show seeks to salute the city. “We love you LA,” she told the crowd at the end of the set.

The show kicked off with a powerful opening performance of Randy Newman's “I Love L.A.” by Dawes — whose members were directly affected by the Eaton fire — backed by John Legend, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Brittany Howard and St. Vincent.

The first televised award went to Doechii for best rap album for “Alligator Bites Never Heal.”

The tears were immediate. “This category was introduced in 1989. Two women have won, Lauryn Hill —” she said, correcting herself. “Three women have won. Lauryn Hill, Cardi B and Doechii.”

Will Smith introduced a tribute to the late, great, legendary producer Quincy Jones. “In his 91 years, Q touched countless lives, but I have to say he changed mine forever,” he said. “You probably wouldn’t even know who Will Smith was without Quincy Jones.”

Jones died in November at age 91. Kicked off by Cynthia Erivo, accompanied by Herbie Hancock on piano, the “Wicked” star sang Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon.” Then came Lainey Wilson and Jacob Collier with “Let the Good Times Roll,” followed by Stevie Wonder and Hancock busting out “Bluesette” and “We Are The World.” For the latter, they were joined by student singers from two schools that were lost in the LA-area fires.

Then, Janelle Monae with an inspired rendition of “Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough," channeling Michael Jackson in a sparkly tuxedo and an effortless moonwalk.

The Beatles’ “Now and Then,” which used AI technology, took home best rock performance. Sean Lennon accepted the award on behalf of his father John Lennon. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best band of all time,” he said of the Beatles.

First time winners were abundant. They included Carpenter, Roan, Doechii, Charli xcx, songwriter Amy Allen, Música Mexicana star Carin León, French metal band Gojira and country folk artist Sierra Ferrell.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith led the crowd in a short singalong of their hit “Under the Bridge,” reminding the crowd to “support their friends and neighbors as they rebuild their lives,” said Kiedis. Then they presented the best pop vocal album award to Carpenter for “Short n' Sweet.”

“I really wasn’t expecting this,” she said. “This is, woo, my first Grammy so I’m going to cry.” (She’s now won two, but the earlier award was handed out a pre-telecast ceremony that many artists don’t attend.) She also performed.

Shakira won Latin pop album for “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” and gave a powerful, short speech. “I want to dedicate this award to all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country,” she said.

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars teamed up for a cover of “California Dreamin’.” Later, SZA presented them with the award for best pop duo/group performance for “Die With A Smile.”

“Trans people are not invisible. ... The queer community deserves to be lifted up,” Gaga said in her speech.

Alicia Keys was awarded the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award “DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift,” she said in her speech, referencing diversity, equity and inclusion programs that have been scrapped recently by the U.S. government and several major corporations.

For more coverage of this year’s Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/GrammyAwards

Beyonce accepts the award for album of the year for "COWBOY CARTER during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. Blue Ivy Carter looks on from right.(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Beyonce accepts the award for album of the year for "COWBOY CARTER during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. Blue Ivy Carter looks on from right.(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Beyonce accepts the award for best country album for "COWBOY CARTER" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Kendrick Lamar, left, accepts the record of the year award for "Not Like Us during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. Mustard looks on from right. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Kendrick Lamar, left, accepts the record of the year award for "Not Like Us during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. Mustard looks on from right. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

The Weeknd performs a medley during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Taylor Swift, left, presents the award for best country album to Beyonce for "COWBOY CARTER" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Taylor Swift arrives at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Taylor Swift arrives at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Finneas O'Connell, left, and Billie Eilish perform "Birds of a Feather" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Finneas O'Connell, left, and Billie Eilish perform "Birds of a Feather" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sabrina Carpenter performs a medley during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Finneas O'Connell, left, and Billie Eilish perform "Birds of a Feather" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sabrina Carpenter performs a medley during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Doechii, center, accepts the award for best rap album for "Alligator Bites Never Heal" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. Celesia Moore looks on from left(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Mike Dirnt, from left, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Tre Cool of 'Green Day' arrive at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Kacey Musgraves arrives at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Kacey Musgraves accepts the award for best country song for "The Architect" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Amy Allen accepts the award for songwriter of the year, non-classical during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Wayne Brady, left, and Angelique Kidjo perform "Bridge Over Trouble Water" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sierra Ferrell accepts the award for best americana performance for "American Dreaming" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Justin Tranter speaks during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sierra Ferrell arrives at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

A general view of atmosphere is seen during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Yolanda Adams, from left, Deborah Cox, Scott Hoying, Wayne Brady, and Angelique Kidjo perform "Bridge Over Trouble Water" during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

FILE - Beyonce appears at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston, on Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after the audacious U.S. military operation in Venezuela, President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his calls for an American takeover of the Danish territory of Greenland for the sake of U.S. security interests, while his top diplomat declared the communist government in Cuba is “in a lot of trouble.”

The comments from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the ouster of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro underscore that the U.S. administration is serious about taking a more expansive role in the Western Hemisphere.

With thinly veiled threats, Trump is rattling hemispheric friends and foes alike, spurring a pointed question around the globe: Who's next?

“It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington from his home in Florida. "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Asked during an interview with The Atlantic earlier on Sunday what the U.S.-military action in Venezuela could portend for Greenland, Trump replied: “They are going to have to view it themselves. I really don’t know.”

Trump, in his administration's National Security Strategy published last month, laid out restoring “American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” as a central guidepost for his second go-around in the White House.

Trump has also pointed to the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which rejects European colonialism, as well as the Roosevelt Corollary — a justification invoked by the U.S. in supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which helped secure the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S. — as he's made his case for an assertive approach to American neighbors and beyond.

Trump has even quipped that some now refer to the fifth U.S. president's foundational document as the “Don-roe Doctrine.”

Saturday's dead-of-night operation by U.S. forces in Caracas and Trump’s comments on Sunday heightened concerns in Denmark, which has jurisdiction over the vast mineral-rich island of Greenland.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a statement that Trump has "no right to annex" the territory. She also reminded Trump that Denmark already provides the United States, a fellow member of NATO, broad access to Greenland through existing security agreements.

“I would therefore strongly urge the U.S. to stop threatening a historically close ally and another country and people who have made it very clear that they are not for sale,” Frederiksen said.

Denmark on Sunday also signed onto a European Union statement underscoring that “the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their future must be respected” as Trump has vowed to “run” Venezuela and pressed the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, to get in line.

Trump on Sunday mocked Denmark’s efforts at boosting Greenland’s national security posture, saying the Danes have added “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s arsenal.

Greenlanders and Danes were further rankled by a social media post following the raid by a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, Katie Miller. The post shows an illustrated map of Greenland in the colors of the Stars and Stripes accompanied by the caption: “SOON."

“And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Amb. Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark's chief envoy to Washington, said in a post responding to Miller, who is married to Trump's influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

During his presidential transition and in the early months of his return to the White House, Trump repeatedly called for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has pointedly not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island that belongs to an ally.

The issue had largely drifted out of the headlines in recent months. Then Trump put the spotlight back on Greenland less than two weeks ago when he said he would appoint Republican Gov. Jeff Landry as his special envoy to Greenland.

The Louisiana governor said in his volunteer position he would help Trump “make Greenland a part of the U.S.”

Meanwhile, concern simmered in Cuba, one of Venezuela’s most important allies and trading partners, as Rubio issued a new stern warning to the Cuban government. U.S.-Cuba relations have been hostile since the 1959 Cuban revolution.

Rubio, in an appearance on NBC's “Meet the Press,” said Cuban officials were with Maduro in Venezuela ahead of his capture.

“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” Rubio said. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards.” The secretary of state added that Cuban bodyguards were also in charge of “internal intelligence” in Maduro’s government, including “who spies on who inside, to make sure there are no traitors.”

Trump said that “a lot” of Cuban guards tasked with protecting Maduro were killed in the operation. The Cuban government said in a statement read on state television on Sunday evening that 32 officers were killed in the U.S. military operation.

Trump also said that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, is in tatters and will slide further now with the ouster of Maduro, who provided the Caribbean island subsidized oil.

“It's going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It's going down for the count.”

Cuban authorities called a rally in support of Venezuela’s government and railed against the U.S. military operation, writing in a statement: “All the nations of the region must remain alert, because the threat hangs over all of us.”

Rubio, a former Florida senator and son of Cuban immigrants, has long maintained Cuba is a dictatorship repressing its people.

“This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live — and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States," Rubio said.

Cubans like 55-year-old biochemical laboratory worker Bárbara Rodríguez were following developments in Venezuela. She said she worried about what she described as an “aggression against a sovereign state.”

“It can happen in any country, it can happen right here. We have always been in the crosshairs,” Rodríguez said.

AP writers Andrea Rodriguez in Havana, Cuba, and Darlene Superville traveling aboard Air Force One contributed reporting.

In this photo released by the White House, President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Molly Riley/The White House via AP)