When wildfires erupted across Los Angeles last month, the Recording Academy faced a difficult question: whether or not to move forward with tonight’s 67th Grammy Awards. Ultimately, the Academy decided canceling the ceremony would be an even bigger blow to the thousands of Los Angeles area residents who work on the event, and so they came to the conclusion that the show would go on — with a heavy emphasis on the spirit and resilience of the city it calls home.

The Academy’s mission to pay tribute to both the city itself and all of those affected by the wildfires showed up as soon as the show started with host Trevor Noah’s monologue. The band Dawes — whose members Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith lost their homes in the fires — were backed by John Legend, Sheryl Crow and Brittany Howard to perform a cover of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” Shortly after, host Trevor Noah introduced LA native Billie Eilish. Decked out in a Los Angeles Dodgers hat and assembled against a backdrop of the Southern California mountains, the 23-year-old singer and her brother Finneas infused new meaning into their haunting, borderline-creepy love song, “Birds of a Feather,” which is up for both song of the year and record of the year.

But the dedication to Los Angeles was not only limited to musical performances. In addition to fundraising efforts highlighted by Noah throughout the show, the Academy decided to incorporated short clips of small business owners who are a crucial part of the local economy, such as a floral designer who introduced her shop’s mission alongside Grammy winner Doja Cat.

In the first win of the night, Florida multihyphenate Doechii shouted out the long legacy of Black women in hip-hop and the creative prowess behind her hometown of Tampa as she accepted the Grammy for best rap album. Her mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, also earned her nominations for best new artist and best rap performance.

The latter was taken home by Kendrick Lamar during the earlier premiere ceremony, which kicked off an early sweep for his song “Not Like Us,” also winning best rap song and best music video. The diss track, which was considered the definitive mic drop in Lamar’s ongoing beef with Drake, is also up for record of the year and song of the year. Lamar’s album GNX, which he released in November, is not eligible for tonight’s Grammys.

Sabrina Carpenter, another best new artist nominee, also scored an early win for best pop vocal album. The 25-year-old performed a medley of hits from Short n’ Sweet, her sixth studio album and commercial breakthrough.

Other notable winners of the night from the earlier ceremony include Nashville darling Sierra Ferrell (best Americana album, best Americana roots song, best Americana performance and best Americana roots performance) and St. Vincent (best rock song, best alternative music performance, and best alternative music album).