Los Angeles is famous for its wonderful warm weather, but a few hours into the 2024 GRAMMYs on Feb. 4, phones buzzed with a message from the National Weather Service: a flash flood warning.
But not even a flash flood could prevent attendees from traveling to the Recording Academy’s Official GRAMMYs After-Party.
Held immediately after the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards, the after-party celebrated the winners and nominees of Music’s Biggest Night, taking the fun past midnight. This year, three-time GRAMMY winner NE-YO headlined the private, ticketed event. Ben Backson DJed, alongside performances from GRAMMY nominees Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter in the GRAMMY Celebration Jazz Lounge.
Ben Bakson┃ Maury Phillips/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Through torrents of rain and wind, members of the music community in their finest suits and evening gowns dashed to the Los Angeles Convention Center, right next door to the Crypto.com Arena where the 2024 GRAMMYs were held this year.
"As an Academy committed to serving, uplifting and advancing the music community, we look forward to the GRAMMY Celebration each year — a momentous occasion where our shared passion for music is celebrated and meaningful connections are made," said Branden Chapman, Chief Operating Officer for the Recording Academy.
Inside the safety of LACC, event attendees exchanged sopping umbrellas and plastic ponchos for tall drinks and delicious bites. Event sponsors included Celsius; FIJI Water, the Official Water Partner of the GRAMMY Awards and the exclusive water brand across GRAMMY Week events, which hydrated music's biggest talent, executives and fans; Frontera Wines, which this year returned as the Official Wine Partner of the GRAMMY Awards and showcased their selection at various GRAMMY Week events; and Smirnoff, the Official Spirits Partner of the GRAMMY Awards, which offered premium cocktail serves and samples of its new Smirnoff SMASH vodka soda flavors to attending guests. With all this, attendees soon forgot about the weather, getting lost in the lights and colors of the spectacular 2024 GRAMMY Celebration — a fabulous night of delight, connection, and (of course) lots of dancing lay ahead.
The exclusive after-party went above and beyond expectations, with the main room enveloped in loud, bold, and bright circusy aesthetic. Acrobats whirled through the air on hoops to Backson’s DJing, and spotlights of light hypnotically created mesmerizing spirals on the dancefloor. Glowing neon cubes became makeshift chairs and tables, and people on stilts guided funky inflated figures through the venue while attendees wandered around with drinks and food.
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
The special chef-curated menu was presented this year by Levy, the hospitality partner at the LACC. Beyond the stocked bar, the after-party offered a diverse spread of treats for hungry attendees — potstickers, spicy hand-pulled noodles, tacos, brisket mac and cheese, vegetable skewers, potato chips, vegan sliders, and so much more to munch on.
This year, the Recording Academy partnered with the charity Musically Fed to repurpose leftover food to feed local community members in need. By working with artists, their teams, and venues, the charitable organization aims to mobilize the music industry in the fight against hunger on a national level. In support of houseless and food insecure people, Musically Fed will repurpose unused backstage food from not just the 2024 GRAMMY Celebration, but also the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards and MusiCares’ Person of the Year Gala.
As people finished up their food and drink lines grew increasingly longer, GRAMMY-winning headliner NE-YO took the stage to cheers. With his signature titled hat on and joined by a group of rigorous dancers, the singer-songwriter captivated audience members who were more than ready to dance, even after hiking through rain in tight heels. Taking the crowd on a journey through his soulful hits from "So Sick" to "Closer," NE-YO succeeded in bringing the house down at the Official GRAMMYs After-Party.
Soulful fun continued in LACC with Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter, just next door in the beautiful GRAMMY Celebration Jazz Lounge. Elling and Hunter, who are both GRAMMY-nominated artists and collaborators, brightened the evening even further with a groovy jazz performance. As the musicians graced their audience, people admired the room’s flashy decorations — trees illuminated by neon lights, chandeliers of hanging flowers, colorful labyrinthine portraits.
Following the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards, the exclusive 2024 GRAMMY Celebration continued the party late into the rainy night, honoring another year of the music community’s major accomplishments — whether it be through rain or shine.