The Latest: Music stars arrive on red carpet ahead of tonight’s Grammy Awards show

The 68th annual Grammy Awards are just about here, airing live from Los Angeles on CBS and Paramount+ on Sunday night.

Kendrick Lamar’s dominance continues at the Grammys, where he leads the nominations with nine this year. He’s followed closely by Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut, who boast seven nominations each.

Comedian Trevor Noah returns to host the show for his sixth consecutive time — and his last.

The Latest:

Michelle Williams isn’t done yet

At 46, Michelle Williams is done proving herself to others, but she still has things to prove to herself.

“I have this sign in my dressing room back in New York that says, ‘Beautiful girl, you can do hard things,’” the singer and actor said. “And so I know what those hard things are: continue being consistent, putting in the work.”

“I know people don’t want to hear that today, but that’s really the key to success,” she said.

Though she rose to fame as part of R&B girl group Destiny’s Child, Williams is nominated this year for best musical theater album as one of the main vocalists for “Death Becomes Her.”

The album covers that inspired ... the album cover nominees

▶ Read more about the best album cover category, and this year’s nominees

New country categories confound

Country albums have been split in two this year, but it might be hard to tell the difference between the two sets of nominees.

A best traditional country album has been added, while the existing category has been renamed best contemporary country album. The traditional nominees include Willie Nelson’s “Oh What A Beautiful World,” his son Lukas Nelson’s “American Romance,”Charley Crockett’s “Dollar A Day,” Margo Price’s “Hard Headed Woman” and Zach Top’s “Ain’t In It For My Health.”

The contemporary entries are Kelsea Ballerini’s “Patterns,” Tyler Childers’ “Snipe Hunter,” Eric Church’s “Evangeline vs. The Machine,” Jelly Roll’s “Beautifully Broken” and Miranda Lambert’s “Postcards from Texas.”

Some think the split was brought on by Beyoncé winning best country album last year for “Cowboy Carter.” The Recording Academy president says the changes had been in the works, though.

How many performances can we expect to see?

Nineteen or so, telecast producers told the AP. In addition to all the best new artist nominees, performers include Bruno Mars, Rosé, Tyler, the Creator, Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Clipse and Pharrell Williams.

Kehlani calls out ICE onstage

Accepting her Grammy for best R&B performance, Kehlani wore an “ICE OUT” pin and ended her speech with, “F--- ICE.” The previous award recipient, non-classical songwriter of the year Amy Allen, also wore a pin.

Anti-ICE apparel emerges on the red carpet

Celebrities — including Jason Isbell, Margo Price and Kehlani — are drawing attention to the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. Organizers have spent the week pressing stars to don black-and-white “BE GOOD” and “ICE OUT” pins in opposition to the heightened presence of federal agents in cities such as Minneapolis.

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon said he is wearing a whistle to honor legal observers, or everyday people trying to ensure agents uphold people’s rights as they carry out the immigration crackdown.

“I think there’s a reason that music exists and it’s to to heal and to bring people together,” Vernon said. “But the real work are those observers on the on the ground in Minneapolis. We just want to want to shout them out.”

Yungblud reme

mbers Ozzy Osbourne

“The last time I saw Ozzy Osbourne, he asked me if there was anything he could do for me,” Yungblud recounted, standing next to Sharon Osbourne onstage and accepting the best rock performance award. Yungblud’s response? The music was enough. The singer is part of a tribute tonight to the late rock star

Mariah Carey’s secret grunge album was part of her MusiCares tribute

Mariah Carey has blended pop, R&B, gospel and hip-hop into hit songs over five decades. But it was hearing a couple of cuts off her 1990s secret grunge album that had the superstar on her feet clapping.

Foo Fighters blasted through “Someone’s Ugly Daughter” with Taylor Momsen on lead vocals. They followed up with “Love is a Scam” as Carey sang along from her front table.

Carey was honored for her musical achievements and philanthropic efforts as MusiCares Person of the Year on Friday night, two days before the Grammy Awards. The award is given in the week ahead of the Grammys by MusiCares, a charity that supports musicians in need.

“She is one of one,” longtime collaborator Babyface said. “Mariah, you are every songwriter and producer’s dream. You strike a lot of gold. You are a blueprint of a great songwriter.”

▶ Read more from our dispatch from the event

Spielberg gets a Grammy

Steven Spielberg has a Grammy to go with his three Oscars. He won best music film as a producer of “Music by John Williams.”

‘Sinners’ sinks teeth into Grammys

“Sinners” won a pair of Grammys days after getting a record 16 Oscar nominations. It won best compilation soundtrack for visual media and best score soundtrack for visual media.

Why is Timothée Chalamet nominated for a Grammy?

Timothée Chalamet is a first-time Grammy nominee and his category is an odd mix of last year’s Oscar nominations and this year’s. He’s up for best compilation soundtrack for visual media — which usually just means movie soundtracks — for his singing as Bob Dylan in 2024’s “A Complete Unknown.” His competition includes Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo from “Wicked” – the first one, not “Wicked: For Good,” which was seriously snubbed at the Oscar nominations.

The category’s filled out by the soundtrack of the most Oscar-nominated movie of all time, “Sinners,” and two other freshly minted Oscar nominees, “F1” and “KPop Demon Hunters.”

And the first Grammy goes to...

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s “Defying Gravity,” which won best pop duo/group performance. Neither was on hand to accept it, as host Darren Criss revealed after a brief interlude of the band playing “Uptown Funk.”

Just how many Grammy Awards are there?

There are 95 awards at this year’s Grammys, including two new ones: best album cover and best traditional country album.

All those awards can’t fit into a three-hour telecast, so most of them — 86, to be precise — are presented at the Premiere Ceremony.

But the major awards — including album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist — are presented during the main awards ceremony.

The Premier

e Ceremony is underway

The pre-telecast awards ceremony, where the majority of the Grammys are handed out, opens with a performance of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star” performed by Israel Houghton, Lila Ike, Grace Potter, Maggie Rose and Trombone Shorty.

The ceremony is being hosted by Darren Criss. Presenters — who announce batches of awards — include Édgar Barrera, Jesse Welles, Jimmy Jam, Sierra Hull, Trombone Shorty, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Dave Koz. Performers include Zara Larsson, Spiritbox, Tasha Combs Leonard and Criss and “Maybe Happy Ending” co-star Helen J. Shen.

What is the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony?

The Grammys have nearly 100 awards to hand out. There’s simply not enough time to fit all of that, plus performances and acceptance speeches, into a three-hour, prime-time telecast. That’s where the Premiere Ceremony comes in.

The Premiere Ceremony runs for three hours, starting at 12:30 p.m. Pacific/3:30 p.m. Eastern. It’s where categories like best audiobook narration are handed out and it’s often where many stars earn their EGOT — like Viola Davis, in 2023 — or where people more famous for realms outside entertainment — like Barack Obama and Michelle Obama — pick up a Grammy. (The Obamas have two Grammys each.)

Cheat sheet: The top nominees

Kendrick Lamar leads the pack with nine nominations including nods in record, song and album of the year for “GNX.” It’s the third time he’s netted simultaneous nominations in the night’s biggest categories.

Trailing close behind are Lady Gaga and her “Mayhem,” Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut with seven nominations each.

Leon Thomas, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny and audio engineer Serban Ghenea follow with six.

What to expect from AP’s live show

Our Grammys red carpet live show, hosted by Leslie Ambriz, Gary Gerard Hamilton and Liam McEwan, is one of AP’s biggest productions in the entertainment realm, with a team of three hosts, several camera operators and more than a dozen supporting technicians, producers, editors and directors.

We’ll be switching between four cameras on our platform interview space; Recording Academy pool feeds showing attendees stepping out of their limousines and posing for fashion photographers; and a studio back in New York where we’ll get fashion analysis live from Morgan Evans.

This year, we’re also joined on the red carpet by fashion designer and YouTuber Kiana Bonollo, who will also provide fashion analysis.

Best album cover is a standalone category for the first time in 50 years

The nominees for the return of the best album cover category are Wet Leg’s “Moisturizer,” Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia,” Perfume Genius’ “Glory” and Djo’s “The Crux.” The award goes to the project’s art directors, which includes recording artists in all cases except for “Glory.”

In recent years, covers had been assessed as part of the best recording package category, which considers all physical materials and images. The package for Charli xcx’s “Brat,” with its pop culture-infiltrating green, won last year. That category lives on this year too, with a different crop of nominees.

For the creative teams, the standalone cover award amplifies what goes into building the visual worlds of music. “When a cover in a campaign hits right,” photographer Neil Krug, nominated for “The Crux,” told the AP, “it’s part of the language and the fabric of what makes a great record a great record.”

Read more about the best album cover category, and this year’s nominees.