Trevor Noah paid tribute to those impacted by the fires and surprised the audience with a performance by several artists, including John Legend and rock group Dawes, to open the 2025 Grammy Awards.
“This city has just been through one of the largest natural disasters in American history. Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes. Entire neighborhoods have been erased, schools, local businesses and entire communities have burned to the ground,” Noah said as he opens the ceremony from the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles. “Thankfully, due to the heroic efforts of firefighters, the fires have now been contained, and despite all the devastation, the spirits of the city has emerged. Neighbors who had never spoken before are helping each other.”
The Los Angeles fires, which started up the morning of Jan. 7 in the Pacific Palisades. Over the course of a few weeks, the blaze ravaged through 23,338 acres, and is now at 100% containment, per NBC News.
Noah continued: “So to kick off tonight’s show in a really special way, allow me to tell you about a band that has LA in their DNA. Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith are two brothers born and raised in the city who make up the band Dawes. They, like so many others, have lost so much in these fires. Griffin’s home, their childhood home, their home music studio, and almost all of their instruments. But despite their tragic loss, doors have helped raise money for nearly 100 other families also affected by the disaster, and they truly epitomize the unique spirit that we are seeing in LA right now.”
Noah then introduced a performance of Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” by Dawes backed by Brittany Howard, St. Vincent, John Legend and Sheryl Crow.
After the performance, Noah carried on with his speech, warmly welcoming attendees with a few jokes about several celebs.
“Welcome to music’s biggest night, and when I say biggest, I mean biggest night, right? What the Super Bowl is to the NFL, what Valentine’s Day is to romance, what Father’s Day is to Nick Cannon — that’s what the Grammys is to music,” Noah said. “And if you’ve watch the Grammys before, welcome back. If this is your first time, let me tell you what the night is. We’re going to be honoring the best in music, as voted on by the 13,000 members of the Recording Academy…and 20 million illegal immigrants. No matter what happens, history will be made.”
He also gave a shout out to nominated artists Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan for their very first Grammys, and veteran singers Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.
“Some artists like Sabrina Carpenter or Chappell Roan, who I saw over there, may become first-time Grammy winners,” Noah said. “Others like Taylor Swift and Andre 3000 and Beyoncé can further cement themselves in Grammys history. And yes, Beyoncé will be here tonight, right? I hope she’ll be … If she doesn’t show up, we’ll just edit this out. It’s not live, uh, it is.”
As he closed his speech, he also announced the academy would be accepting donations to help with fire relief through the Recording Academy and MusicCares, which the organizations launched back in January.
This is Noah’s fifth time hosting the Grammys.
