While Metal Insider was sailing alongside 3,000 metalheads on the 2025 voyage of 70000 Tons of Metal, another “ship,” in a far more troubling sense, unfolded at the 67th Grammy Awards. While the media fixated on turning it into a spectacle of fashion and controversy, what played out on camera was something far more serious, an unsettling display of control and manipulation that should not be dismissed as mere entertainment.
Though we won’t mention names, it’s evident that Bianca Censori is in a situation that extends beyond tabloid headlines. We sincerely hope she finds the support and strength to leave. Some things should never be reduced to viral moments.
Meanwhile, back in the world of metal, or what’s left of it at the Grammys, here are a few highlights from the awards.
GOJIRA RULES:
On Sunday (2nd), the 67th Annual Grammy Awards were held at the Crypto.com Arena. However, the pre-telecast ceremony is where metal gets its recognition. During this time, Gojira were honored with a Grammy in the Best Metal Performance category for their historical 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony performance of “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!), alongside opera singer Marina Viotti. While the Grammys continue to prove how far-removed they are from the metal world, Gojira not only made mainstream recognition, but they’ve also turned heads and are well-deserved winners for this awareness. Gojira were up against Judas Priset for “Crown of Horns,” Metallica – “Screaming Suicide,” Knocked Loose featuring Poppy – “Suffocate,” and Spiritbox – “Cellar Door.”
All metal-rock-related winners:
Here’s a list of all metal, rock, and alternative-related winners. Go to this location for the complete list of the 67th annual Grammy Award winners.
Best Metal Performance
WINNER: Gojira, Marina Viotta & Victor Le Masne – “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ca Ira!)”
Judas Priest – “Crown of Horns”
Knocked Loose featuring Poppy – “Suffocate”
Metallica – “Screaming Suicide”
Spiritbox – “Cellar Door”
Best Rock Performance
WINNER: The Beatles – “Now and Then”
The Black Keys – “Beautiful People (Stay High)”
Green Day – “The American Dream Is Killing Me”
Idles – “Gift Horse”
Pearl Jam – “Dark Matter”
St. Vincent – “Broken Man”
Best Rock Song
“Beautiful People (Stay High)” — Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Beck Hansen & Daniel Nakamura, songwriters (The Black Keys)
WINNER: “Broken Man” — Annie Clark, songwriter (St. Vincent)
“Dark Matter” — Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Pearl Jam)
“Dilemma” — Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool & Mike Dirnt, songwriters (Green Day)
“Gift Horse” — Jon Beavis, Mark Bowen, Adam Devonshire, Lee Kiernan & Joe Talbot, songwriters (IDLES)
Best Rock Album
The Black Crowes – Happiness Bastards
Fontaines D.C. – Romance
Green Day – Saviors
IDLES – Tangk
Pearl Jam – Dark Matter
WINNER: The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
Jack White – No Name
Best Alternative Music Performance
Cage the Elephant – “Neon Pill”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – “Song of the Lake”
Fontaines D.C. – “Starburster”
Kim Gordon – “Bye Bye”
WINNER: St. Vincent – “Flea”
Best Alternative Music Album
Brittany Howard – What Now
Clairo – Charm
Kim Gordon – The Collective
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Wild God
WINNER: St. Vincent – All Born Screaming
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
American Fiction – Laura Karpman
Challengers – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
The Color Purple – Kris Bowers
WINNER: Dune: Part Two – Hans Zimmer
Shogun – Nick Chuba, Atticus Ross & Leopold Ross
Best Boxed or Limited Package
Half Living Things —Nick Azinas and Mike Hicks, art director (Alpha Wolf)
Hounds Of Love The Boxes Of Lost At Sea — Kate Bush & Albert McIntosh, art directors (Kate Bush)
In Utero — Doug Cunningham & Jason Noto, art directors (Nirvana)
WINNER: Mind Games — Simon Hilton & Sean Ono Lennon, art directors (John Lennon)
Unsuk Chin — Takahiro Kurashima & Marek Polewski, art directors (Unsuk Chin & Berliner Philharmoniker)
Grammys continue to snub metal, year after year:
According to Newsbreak, the Grammys In-Memorium section snubbed the following artists:
Original Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno, Great White singer Jack Russell, former Whitesnake/Thin Lizzy guitarist John Sykes, Staind drummer Jon Wysocki, Amen singer Casey Chaos and Firehouse singer CJ Snare
We’re at the point where we’d be more shocked to have the awards recognize artists than to continue to snub the metal and hard rock scene.
Best for Last: an interview highlighting the Grammys’ ongoing disregard for metal:
Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante delivered an unexpected yet brilliant performance at the 67th Grammy Awards, though not on stage. Instead, she won over metal fans by masterfully handling a case of mistaken identity on the red carpet.
As the Grammys continue to sideline the metal genre in favor of mainstream artists like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, it’s no surprise that press coverage follows suit. This year, in yet another example of metal being overlooked, an interviewer mistook LaPlante for fellow nominee Poppy. Rather than correcting them, LaPlante embraced the moment, playing with the mix-up in an epic display of amusing hilarity. The video of her response highlights the ongoing disregard for metal at the Grammys.
Watch the clip below:
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Steven Tyler returns to the stage:
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler more or less came out of retirement on Sunday (2nd) at his sixth annual Jam for Janie Grammy’s viewing party, held at the Hollywood Palladium with a six-song set.
