The 2025 Grammys didn’t just mention the Los Angeles fires that devastated the city over most of January — the awards ceremony made fire relief central to the show as it broadcast various performances and handed out dozens of awards to today’s top music artists.

As the ceremony broadcast from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, the show’s producers and A-list musicians, actors and celebrities honored Angelenos and those impacted by the fires, starting with host Trevor Noah celebrating the spirit of L.A. in his opening monologue and the folk-rock band Dawes opening the ceremony with an all-star version of Randy Newman’s classic, “I Love L.A.” The band more than doubled in size as they were joined by Grammy-winning artists Brad Paisley, Brittany Howard, John Legend, Sheryl Crow and St. Vincent backing them up during the biggest performance of the band’s career yet. 

Dawes, a native to L.A., has had various members and incarnations over the past 15 years but the outfit now consists of brothers Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith. Combined they lost their home, home studio and much of the band’s musical equipment in the L.A. fires last month. The Eaton Fire took Griffin’s home in Altadena, the area of the city most severely impacted by that deadly and historic blaze. Taylor is husband to actress-singer Mandy Moore.

“One thing that’s hard to convey to anyone who isn’t there is the level of destruction and how total it is in Altadena,” Griffin told the press, including The Hollywood Reporter, backstage at the Grammys. “It’s immense and it’s hard to tell just from the pictures we’re seeing online of how massive the toll is.”

The band’s star-studded and crowd-pleasing performance was just the top of the Grammys, which landed with an urgent purpose this year after the massive fires ate 57,000 acres of land and destroyed over 10,000 structures. This year, the awards are raising funds to support Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts, and taking moments to look at and reflect upon the bravery and dedication of L.A.’s first responders who risked their lives against incredible odds to quell the multiple figures that began on Jan. 7 and are finally contained.

Throughout the show, the Palisades and Altadena communities devastated by the fires were consistently mentioned in speeches, while the city of L.A. was honored in performances, and shuttered or impacted local businesses were featured in ads each commercial break. Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan ended their performances early in the night by professing their love for L.A., while Kendrick Lamar dedicated his later win for record of the year to the neighborhoods of L.A.

Grammys organizers had said Wednesday that Sunday night would include a salute to the late Quincy Jones and moments “celebrating the spirit of the city of Los Angeles” in the wake of the wildfires. While honoring the legendary producer, who died in November, living legends Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock were joined by students impacted by the fires when the Pasadena Waldorf School and Palisades Charter High School choirs appeared on stage with the soul and jazz heroes. The firestorm Eaton impacted five schools in the Pasadena Unified School District.

After Noah discussed the fires in his opening segment and showed a clip reel of the devastation, he launched an accompanying QR code onscreen and urged those in the room and watching at home to donate. The QR code reappeared throughout the show, with Noah calling out some of the companies making donations.

The Recording Academy and MusiCares have distributed over $4 million in emergency aid to nearly 3,000 music professionals affected by the wildfires, according to a release sent to THR on Sunday. This has been done in partnership with Direct Relief, the California Community Foundation and the Pasadena Community Foundation to support the city of Los Angeles.

Over the past week, many of the events that traditionally lead up to the Grammys have been canceled or reformatted to help Angelenos in need of help after the massive fires tore through parts of the city. 

More to come.