Beatles, Stones, Beyoncé and Charli XCX win early awards

The Beatles and the Rolling Stones have both won Grammy Awards, as the ceremony gets underway in Los Angeles.

The Fab Four picked up best rock performance for Now And Then, their “final” song, which was assembled from a demo by the late John Lennon; while the Stones won best rock album for their 2023 comeback, Hackney Diamonds.

The awards were handed out at the Grammys’ “premiere ceremony”, which precedes the main event at 5pm Los Angeles / 1am London time.

Other winners in the early stages included Sabrina Carpenter, who won best pop solo performance for her percolating summer anthem, Espresso; and British star Charli XCX, who scooped three prizes, including best dance/pop album for Brat.

The show started with an all-star rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, dedicated to the victims of the LA Wildfires.

Yolanda Adams and Angelique Kidjo were among the artists performing a raw, gospel-infused version of the 60s classic, dedicated to the first responders who risked their lives to tackle the inferno and protect the vulnerable.

Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr told the audience at the Crypto.com arena that the awards would “honour music’s great power to inspire, to heal and to unite”.

He added: “Because of the recent fires that devastated Los Angeles, we’re also going to recognise the resilience of our community and celebrate our first responders and do our very best to lift up this city that we love.”

Beyoncé is the main nominee at this year’s ceremony, with her country-adjacent album Cowboy Carter shortlisted for 11 awards.

She has already won best country performance by a duo or group, for her duet with Miley Cyrus, II Most Wanted.

However, she was beaten to best country song by Kacey Musgraves, whose song The Architect questions the existence of God after a school shooting.

Taking to the stage, Musgraves said: “There’s so much darkness in the world right now, and it just feels so good to be able to fight some of that darkness through song”.

Musgraves previously won album of the year in 2019 for Golden Hour.

The nominees for that prize this year include Billie Eilish, Beyoncé (who has never won the category, despite four previous nominations) Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan and rapper André 3000, who is nominated for his spiritual jazz flute album New Blue Sun.

Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter are also up for best album – and fans are already speculating whether their early wins increase their odds of taking the night’s biggest prize.

Neither artist was there in person to collect their initial trophies, as they are due to perform at the headline ceremony later in the evening.

However Charli’s producer, Finn Keane, accepted the award for dance/pop single (Von Dutch) on her behalf, calling her an “amazing collaborator”.

“She has been making this kind of music for 10 years, but everyone’s just caught up to it,” he added.

Her album, Brat, also won the “best packaging” award, recognising the deliberately ugly, low resolution lime green artwork that became a key part of her branding last year.

John Lennon’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, picked up the Beatles’ award, calling them “the greatest band of all time”.

“I just want to say, play the Beatles music to your kids,” he added. “I feel like the world can’t afford to forget about people like the Beatles. We need this music in the world, we need peace and love, and we need the magic of the ’60s to stay alive.”

Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar won three consecutive prizes – best rap song, best rap performance and best music video – for Not Like US, his no-holds-barred takedown of fellow musician Drake.

His producer, Mustard, accepted the awards, noting: “He performed his ass off on that song, didn’t he?”