Los Angeles wildfires lead to fundraising focus at the Grammy Awards

The 2025 Grammys will focus on fundraising for wildfire victims, with events scaled back to support relief efforts
Los Angeles wildfires lead to fundraising focus at the Grammy Awards
A row of classrooms is left charred inside Palisades High School in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los AngelesCarolyn Kaster
Published on
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2 min read

The Grammy Awards this year will be significantly different as the music industry unites to aid those affected by the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles area.

Grammy week, traditionally, a lively period filled with numerous events hosted by the Recording Academy and various record labels to celebrate the music industry's achievements, has been impacted by recent fires that have ravaged neighbourhoods like Pacific Palisades and Altadena. As a result, many companies like Universal Music Group, Sony, Spotify, BMG, and Warner Music Group have cancelled their plans. These organisations are now redirecting their resources to assist those affected by the wildfires.

While the Grammy Awards will still take place on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the focus will now shift to aiding wildfire victims. The Recording Academy and its affiliated charity, MusiCares, quickly launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort with an initial $1 million donation. Within days, they had distributed $2 million in emergency aid.

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. explained that the decision to condense Grammy week activities into just four key events with a fundraising element was made after extensive consultations with various stakeholders. “We reached out to state officials, the governor’s office, the mayor’s office, the fire department, and hotel managers to understand the situation better,” Mason said.

The restructured Grammy week includes:

On Friday, MusiCares, will hold its annual Persons of the Year benefit gala, celebrating the Grateful Dead.

On Saturday, the Special Merit Awards Ceremony and Grammy nominees' reception, followed by Clive Davis' pre-Grammy fundraising event.

Then the Grammy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday.

Certain events like the pre-Grammy Black Music Collective event and the Grammy advocacy brunch have been cancelled. “We thought consolidating the events would allow us to have more impact,” Mason noted. “And we just don’t feel it was the right time to have social gatherings... We wanted our events to be purposeful and impactful.”

Mason emphasised that while the Grammy show will still feature award presentations and performances, its primary aim is to raise awareness and funds for those in need. “We needed to raise money. We needed to show unity and come together around music. We need to support the city of L.A.,” he said.

Reflecting on previous experiences like the COVID-19 pandemic, where MusiCares contributed over $40 million to those in need, Mason assured that the infrastructure to provide assistance quickly is in place. However, he admitted that this is an unusual situation for the Grammys, making this year's event particularly challenging.

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