Los Angeles • Beyoncé took album of the year at the Grammy Awards with “Cowboy Carter,” her high-concept, multigenre album, breaking her drought after four losses in the category and becoming the first Black woman to win the award in 26 years.
“I hope we just keep pushing forward, opening doors,” she said when accepting the prize.
Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” a vicious takedown of a rival rapper that became a No. 1 hit, won both record and song of the year, a notable double victory for any song but a rare win for rap in the Grammys’ two most prestigious song categories.
Lamar’s song, directed at Drake — and which called him a pedophile — also became the center of a lawsuit when Drake sued the record label the two men share for defamation.
“At the end of the day, nothing more powerful than rap music,” Lamar said after winning song of the year at a ceremony that sought to celebrate the year in music and pay tribute to Los Angeles as it works to recover from devastating wildfires.
Chappell Roan, the Missouri-born singer who broke out last year with subversive, catchy dance pop, won best new artist, cementing her rise as a major new star.
Beyoncé also became the first Black artist to win best country album for “Cowboy Carter,” which received a cool reception in Nashville.
“I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists,” Beyoncé said when accepting the award, which was presented by Taylor Swift. “And I want to encourage people to do whatever they’re passionate about, and stay persistent.”
The 67th annual Grammy Awards opened at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles with an ensemble performance of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” Trevor Noah, the show’s host, asked viewers to donate money to fire relief, and Billie Eilish and her band performed “Birds of a Feather,” staged to look like they were performing in the type of California landscape that had been scorched by fires.
“I love you, L.A.,” she said.
Other awards included:
• The Weeknd, the chart-topping star who four years ago prominently announced he was boycotting the Grammys as an act of protest against its opaque voting process, returned to perform. He was introduced by Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, who trumpeted changes he had made to the organization to make it more transparent and welcome a diverse new crop of voters.
• Florida rapper Doechii won best rap album with “Alligator Bites Never Heal.” In her acceptance speech, she noted that she was only the third woman to win in the category since it was created in 1989, following Cardi B, who presented the Grammy, and Lauryn Hill. Sabrina Carpenter performed a medley of her hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” and then won best pop vocal album for “Short n’ Sweet.”
• Roan, who has quickly become one of the most outspoken artists in the business, used her acceptance speech to demand that record labels provide “a livable wage and health care” to artists. “Labels, we got you,” she said. “But do you got us?”
• A tribute to Quincy Jones, which was introduced by Will Smith, featured performances by Cynthia Erivo, Stevie Wonder, Janelle Monáe, Herbie Hancock and Lainey Wilson.
• Kendrick Lamar won three early awards for “Not Like Us,” the breakout track from his war of words with Drake. He notched the early wins during a ceremony before the telecast, where most of the night’s awards were given out.
• Charli XCX, the English pop singer-songwriter, won her first three Grammys ever, taking best dance pop recording (“Von Dutch”) and electronic/dance album (“Brat”). She also won best recording package as an art director of her album “Brat.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.