Yes, Beyoncé Arrived Late to 2025 Grammys — but It Was Just in Time for Her Award, Says Exec Producer (Exclusive)

Beyoncé’s arrival at the 2025 Grammy Awards couldn’t have been timed better.

The Grammys executive producer Raj Kapoor told PEOPLE exclusively about the awards show highlights and how Beyoncé’s late arrival just before her winning category didn’t delay the run of show — and her Grammy wins.

“Sometimes we don’t know when [Beyoncé is] going to show up,” he explained. “Obviously our talent teams work and we tell everybody what the start of the showtime is and everybody knows when their nominations are going to fall within the show, but we never dictate when artists can actually show up to the show,” Kapoor said, noting that last year, protests caused traffic delays for multiple guests, including Taylor Swift.

Though Kapoor couldn’t pinpoint exactly when Beyoncé, 43, her husband Jay-Z and their daughter Blue Ivy arrived, “I know at the beginning of the show she was not there when we started,” he told PEOPLE.

“So we start the show, a whole other talent team takes over. They constantly gauge where everybody is in the building, who still has to arrive — all of that stuff,” Kapoor added. “So that’s a completely different team than the people that are putting on the show.”

The executive producer noted that there is a talent management team during the awards show that focuses on placing people where they need to be during the live Grammys broadcast.

“When we’re in show mode, there is a talent management team that just deals with that and getting people re-sat after their awards and pulling them before performances,” he said. “And it’s this huge puzzle that constantly evolves through the evening.”

Queen Bey missed the red carpet and materialized during the show right on time to accept her second Grammy of the night, this one for best country album. Beyoncé also won album of the year for Cowboy Carter along with best country duo/group performance with Miley Cyrus for “II MOST WANTED” during the pre-telecast.

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Upon winning the best country album award, Beyoncé was visibly shocked. Her daughter Blue Ivy nudged her to stand up and accept her award, presented to her by Taylor Swift.

“Wow, I want to thank God that I’m able to still do what I love after so many years,” Beyoncé said, accepting her Grammy. “Oh, my God, I’d like to thank all of the incredible country artists that accepted this album. We worked so hard on it.”

“I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists. And I just want to encourage people to do this,” she continued, adding, “Stay persistent.”

“Wow, I like to thank my beautiful family, all of the artists that were collaborators. Thank you. This wouldn’t have been this album without you. Like to thank God again and my fans. And I still am in shock, thank you so much for this honor.”

Kapoor also says that one of his favorite highlights from the evening was how the Recording Academy paid tribute to Los Angeles following the devastating wildfires.

“One of the highlights for sure was how we addressed the L.A. fires and the charitable aspect of our show,” he said. “We really shone a light on this city and the devastation that happened.”

The Recording Academy and MusiCares launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort ahead of the show, raising $24 million for charitable activities, with almost $9 million being raised on Sunday alone.

Performances by Dawes along with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars throughout the awards show also honored the city.

Source people.com