British star Charli XCX among early winners at Grammy Awards 2025
The awards were handed out at the Grammys premiere ceremony on Sunday.
British star Charli XCX is among the early Grammy winners as the biggest night in music gets underway in Los Angeles.
The singer’s first Grammy wins include best dance/electronic album for her culture-shaping sixth record Brat and best dance pop recording for its lead single Von Dutch.
The awards were handed out at the Grammys premiere ceremony on Sunday which precedes the main event being held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Australian singer Troye Sivan, who was nominated for best dance pop recording for his song Got Me Started, praised Charli XCX for picking up the prize, describing her as an “incredible” artist.
Sivan, who features on a remix of the British singer’s Talk Talk, said on the Grammy red carpet: “We’re sitting together tonight. I mean this from the bottom of my heart, tonight, for me, is about her.
“I’m just so, so, so excited for her and I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last year with her, celebrating her, and seeing the rest of the world catch up to just how incredible she is.
“And so I feel like this is her big night, so it’s very exciting, it’s beautiful.”
The hashtag #BRATSWEEP has been gaining traction on social media off the back of the album Brat, which inspired a summer trend, already securing a number of prizes.
Leading nominee Beyonce has picked up her first award of the night for her song featuring Miley Cyrus, titled II Most Wanted, winning the country duo/group performance gong.
The US superstar leads the nominations with 11 nods for her chart-topping country album Cowboy Carter, which marked the follow-up to act one of the trilogy, Renaissance.
It could make Grammy history on Sunday as the most decorated album, a title currently held by Santana’s Supernatural which received nine awards in 2000.
She currently holds the title of most Grammy wins in a lifetime after the singer made history when she picked up her 32nd gong in 2023.
However, the star has never won the prestigious album of the year prize and she will be hoping to rectify that this year as Cowboy Carter is up for the coveted award.
She will face tough competition for the prize from Charli XCX’s Brat, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft, Chappell Roan’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess and Taylor Swift’s eleventh record The Tortured Poets Department.
Speaking ahead of the ceremony, Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, and is nominated for best pop duo/group performance and song of the year for Die With A Smile, her duet with Bruno Mars, paid tribute to those impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.
The 38-year-old said: “I just love the world, I love people so much.
“To be a songwriter and a singer, and to be able to sing for people during this time, and just send as much love as I can into the world.
“I feel so heavy in my heart for people that lost everything, for people that didn’t make it through. So I’m just thinking of everyone tonight.
“Bruno and I have something special planned, so I’m excited to be here, and so happy to be just feeling blessed.”
The singer went on to speak about her upcoming album Mayhem, adding: “I’m so excited, my record comes out on March 7.
“I love my fans so much, little monsters (her nickname for her fans) I love you.
“I worked really hard on this record, I spent a lot of time in the studio, like honing in on all the sounds, writing song after song, and just making something that I feel truly proud of, and get ready to dance.”
Rapper Andre 3000 is also nominated for his jazz flute album New Blue Sun alongside Jacob Collier’s Djesse Vol 4.
Despite her early success, Beyonce was beaten to best country song by Kacey Musgraves for her song The Architect with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne.
Pop star Sabrina Carpenter was the first winner of the night, securing the best pop solo performance award for her summer hit Espresso which marks her first Grammy win.
The US singer is among those due to perform at the main ceremony, with Charli XCX, Bird Of A Feather singer Eilish and Good Luck, Babe! singer Roan also set to dazzle the audience with a rendition of one of their hits.
US rapper Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us has also picked up a slew of early prizes including best music video, best rap performance and best rap song.
The premiere ceremony opened with a soulful rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water by a host of singers including Yolanda Adams, Wayne Brady, Deborah Cox, Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying, Angelique Kidjo and Taj Mahal.
This year’s show is being dedicated to wildfire relief after wind-driven blazes swept through parts of Los Angeles last month, destroying neighbourhoods and killing at least 28 people.
The 2025 award show will be hosted by South African comedian Trevor Noah for the fifth year in a row with 94 awards set to be handed out across the premiere and main ceremony.
