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\n\t\u201cCan we take a minute and make some noise for the city of f\u2013king angels,\u201d the Grammys<\/a>\u2018 Premiere Ceremony host Justin Tranter<\/a> demanded while opening up the show on Sunday (Feb. 2) in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \n\tAs commanded, the crowd cheered for the Grammys\u2019 longstanding city of residence, and the duration of the show \u2014 which eventually moved from the Peacock Theater to Crypto.com Arena next door for the main telecast \u2014 gave significant love and<\/em> airtime to L.A., where wildfires decimated entire neighborhoods in early January. The disaster prompted the cancellation of many Grammy parties and related events, but the awards<\/a> show itself persevered, nodding to the disaster and corresponding relief efforts many times during the telecast while also functioning as a fundraiser and, of course, providing many non-fire related moments that emphasized music\u2019s power to thrill and uplift.<\/p>\n \n\tThe atmosphere backstage was essentially a facsimile, with artists finding a deft balance between celebrating their wins while acknowledging the awards happening in the wake of a major natural disaster. Even the commercial breaks included <\/a>stars such as Doja Cat<\/a>, Anderson .Paak<\/a> and Avril Lavigne<\/a> appearing in ads with local L.A. business owners.<\/p>\n \n\tBut of course, the Grammys also went big on what it always aims too accomplish \u2014 celebrating the year\u2019s biggest songs and artists with the awards and showcasing huge, glitzy performances from some of the world\u2019s biggest stars. Even back in the press room, journalists were cheering as artists such as Doechii and Benson Boone electrified the stage.<\/p>\n \n\tThroughout the busy, jubilant and occasionally tear-jerking night, Billboard<\/em>\u00a0was positioned on the red carpet, backstage and in the audience to report on all things behind the scenes. Read on for everything you didn\u2019t see on TV.<\/p>\n \n\t2:32 p.m. PT:<\/strong> \u201cNever get into a rap battle with Kendrick Lamar,\u201d says Sean Lennon, offering a word of advice to the Premiere Ceremony audience and livestream viewers while accepting the award for best boxed or special limited edition package for his work art directing Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection)<\/em>, the 1973 album by his late father, John Lennon. (Even at this early hour Lamar\u2019s \u201cNot Like Us\u201d has already won Grammys for best rap performance, best rap song and best music video.)<\/p>\n \n\t2:50 p.m. PT:<\/strong> Lennon then accepts the best rock performance award on behalf of The Beatles<\/a>, who won the award for \u201cNow and Then,\u201d with Lennon acknowledging the band and making a request. \u201cIt\u2019s really incredible if you think about it, man,\u201d he told the Premiere Ceremony crowd. \u201cThe Beatles have done so much incredible work and they\u2019re still in the culture \u2026 and as far as I\u2019m concerned, its the greatest band of all time. \u2026 Play The Beatles to your kids. The world can\u2019t afford to forget about people like The Beatles. We need the peace and love of the \u201960s and we need the magic to stay alive.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t3:00 p.m. PT: <\/strong>Backstage in the press room, Norah Jones reflects on her best traditional pop vocal album win for Visions<\/em>, which comes 22 years after her album Come Away With Me <\/em>swept the 2003 Grammys, winning for album of the year, record of the year, best female pop vocal performance, best pop vocal album and Jones winning best new artist. \u201cI\u2019m really grateful that I still have a job,\u201d Jones says while reflecting on this accomplishment backstage. \u201cThis business is crazy, so I\u2019m just really happy to make music that I love and that people listen to still. It\u2019s special. [Winning those early awards] was exciting, it was crazy though, and I was so young. I really, definitely, probably appreciate this even more.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t3:12 p.m. PT: <\/strong>Backstage, Anderson .Paak reflects on playing<\/a> the massive FireAid benefit concert that took place two nights ago to raise money victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. \u201cIt was awesome to be a part of an epic lineup and to unite the city and provide some much needed aid for the people who need it,\u201d the son of SoCal says. \u201cI loved playing in the Forum. I was able to bring out the big homie Dr. Dre<\/a>, the big homie Sheila E<\/a>. and with my band The Free Nationals \u2014 it was one of the greatest nights for sure in L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t3:17 p.m. PT:<\/strong> Jason Carter, the grandson of late President Jimmy Carter, reflects on his grandfather\u2019s posthumous win for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for his\u00a0<\/strong>Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration<\/em>. The project features recordings from President Carter\u2019s\u00a0final Sunday\u00a0School lessons delivered at Maranatha Baptist Church, in his hometown of Plains, Ga.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe was such an enormous music fan,\u201d Jason Carter said backstage in the Grammys press room after accepting the award on behalf of his grandfather, who died in December at age 100. \u201cHe loves the creative aspect of music, it\u2019s an important part of his political life and an important part of his personal life. He was an artist in many ways himself. He was an author, he was a painter \u2026 so he really appreciates the aspect of the Grammys that recognizes creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t3:35 p.m. PT: <\/strong>St. Vincent cradles the three Grammy awards she\u2019s won during the Premiere Ceremony. When asked how she plans to celebrate, she says, \u201cMy sister is in town and we\u2019re going to make the night ours, and probably be in bed by 10, if all goes well.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tShe\u2019s then asked about the representation of LGBTQ+ people at the Grammys, to which she responds: \u201cThere have always been queer people in the history of the world and especially in music, so I think there\u2019s a bunch of queer people being celebrated this year especially. Of course it\u2019s great. Empathy and humanity, let\u2019s go.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tShe also discloses that holding the three awards at once is making her biceps burn.<\/p>\n \n\t4:01 p.m. PT: <\/strong>In the press area, Sean Lennon is asked about \u201cthe burden\u201d of carrying on the legacy of his father, John Lennon. \u201cIt\u2019s not a burden,\u201d the younger Lennon responds. \u201cIt\u2019s honestly a great privilege for me. I just feel so lucky that I get to do good by my dad. It feels like a privilege as his son to be able give back. He gave the world so much, and he gave me so much and I just feel really honored to be able to do justice by him.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t4:57 p.m. PT: <\/strong>Celebrating her best R&B performance win for \u201c<\/strong>Made for Me (Live on BET),\u201d Muni Long<\/a> reflects, \u201cFor me, moments like this are just a reminder that when you do what\u2019s in your heart, you win no matter how much resistance you encounter, no matter how many opinions people might have, you have to be authentic, because that resonates with people.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t5:19 p.m. PT:<\/strong> Percussion legend Sheila E., who won an award for best global music performance for\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cBemba Color\u00e1\u201d featuring Gloria Estefan and Mimy Succar, shares about temporarily evacuating her home during the L.A. wildfires. \u201cI was one of the fortunate ones,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was very, very close to my house. I had to evacuate the night of the fires \u2026 and the first thing that I took \u2014 because I had evacuated that area before \u2014 and this time I put all my music, all my hard drives in bins so I could carry them down the stairs by myself if I had to, and I just took my music, a pair of pajamas, a pair of sweats, and I left.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t5:25 p.m. PT: <\/strong>While speaking to the press after winning for best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella, John Legend discussed the recent wildfires in Los Angeles and the broader occurrence of climate change-related disasters. \u201cWe\u2019ve had floods in this country, we\u2019ve had hurricanes in this country, and what I love to see is when all of us realize that our neighbors, our fellow countrymen and women are struggling and suffering, and we all come together and help each other out,\u201d Legend says.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cL.A.\u2019s going through it now, and folks around the country and around the world are going through it in other ways,\u201d he continues. \u201cA lot of it is due to climate and heightened disasters and the strength of these storms and winds \u2026 I think more than ever, we\u2019re going to have to come together and support each other in these times. It\u2019s L.A.\u2019s turn right now, but we\u2019re going to have to return the favor for other communities and other cities and states as they go through the same things. Hopefully, we\u2019ll be there for each other, and we\u2019ll all do the best we can to think long term about climate change and how it\u2019s affecting all of us, and we\u2019ll do the things we need to do as a society to help mitigate the damage.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t6:10 p.m. PT: <\/strong>Brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of the band Dawes step backstage to discuss their show-opening performance<\/a> of Randy Newman\u2019s 1983 anthem \u201cI Love L.A.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ve never been nominated; we\u2019ve never even been here,\u201d says Taylor, \u201cso for us this is just such a whirlwind of thinking [the Grammys] have never been a part of our journey, to going to the show and playing onstage. It\u2019s a wild thing about how our childhood dreams could meet up with an opportunity to help our communities at such a tragic moment.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t7:22 p.m. PT: <\/strong>Inside the venue, Beyonc\u00e9 \u2014 who has just won for best country album and attended the show with husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy \u2014 is escorted back to her seat just before a tribute to late genius Quincy Jones<\/a>. The medley features Cynthia Ervio<\/a> and Herbie Hancock<\/a> performing \u201cFly Me to the Moon,\u201d Lainey Wilson<\/a> and Jacob Collier<\/a> doing \u201cLet The Good Times Roll,\u201d Stevie Wonder<\/a> and Hancock performing \u201cBlusette\u201d and \u201cWe Are the World\u201d and Janelle Mon\u00e1e <\/a>singing \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Till You Get Enough.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t7:38 p.m. PT: <\/strong>After winning for best rap album and putting on a jaw-dropping performances of \u201cCatfish\u201d and \u201cDenial Is a River,\u201d Doechii arrived backstage and said the performance was one of the most difficult she\u2019s ever done. \u201cI really felt I needed to push myself harder than I ever have before,\u201d she told the journalists assembled, who\u2019d cheered when she entered the room. \u201cIt meant everything to me to prove myself tonight, to me, and so it was about Broadway and theater and art, and I think I brought that to the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t8:35 p.m. PT: <\/strong>Backstage, SZA<\/a>, whose \u201cSaturn\u201d has won for best R&B recording, is asked if she can reveal any secrets about her upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show special guest appearance<\/a> with Kendrick Lamar. \u201cMm-mm,\u201d she says, politely declining. \u201cThat\u2019s King Kendrick\u2019s performance, and all I can say is that he\u2019s working really hard on it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShe\u2019s then asked what her future plans are in terms of not being \u201cplaced in a box\u201d of R&B. \u201cI don\u2019t really think I\u2019m actually really placed in a box,\u201d she says. \u201cI think these are the parameters in which I\u2019ve been honored this evening, and I\u2019m grateful for that, and I think within all the parameters I\u2019ve been honored, regardless of the label, I\u2019m grateful to have gotten the award, the but that\u2019s not the point. The point is the reach, and the impact, and the experience I\u2019ve had creating music.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n