By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Beyonce, pop singer Sabrina Carpenter and rapper Doechii were honored at music's Grammy Awards on Sunday at a ceremony that paid tribute to host city Los Angeles as it recovers from devastating wildfires.
Carpenter won best pop vocal album "Short n' Sweet," minutes after she performed hits "Please Please Please" and "Espresso" on the Grammys stage.
"This is my first Grammy so I'm going to cry," Carpenter said as she accepted the trophy.
Doechii became the third woman in Grammys history to win best rap album for "Alligator Bites Never Heal." As she accepted the honor, she offered words of encouragement to Black women and girls. "Anything is possible," Doechii said as she held her trophy. "Don't allow anyone to project any steroptypes on you."
Earlier, Beyonce and Miley Cyrus won the trophy for best country duo or group peformance for "II Most Wanted," a collaboration on Beyonce's album "Cowboy Carter."
This year's Grammy festivities were revamped to be part awards show and part fundraiser for people affected by the wildfires, which were contained on Friday after killing 29 people and displacing thousands including many musicians.
Broadcast live on CBS, the show opened with an all-star rendition "I Love LA" featuring Altadena-based band Dawes backed by John Legend, Brad Paisley, St. Vincent and Brittany Howard.
"Tonight, we decided we are not just celebrating our favorite music. We are also celebrating the city that brought us so much of that music," host Trevor Noah said.
Los Angeles natives and siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas followed Noah's monologue with a peformance of nominated song "Birds of a Feather." "I love you LA," Eilish said from the stage.
Beyonce was competing for the top Grammy prize of album of the year with "Cowboy Carter." The superstar singer has never won the album trophy despite winning 32 career Grammys, more than any other musician.
Also in the running for album of the year were megastar Taylor Swift for "The Tortured Poets Department" and Billie Eilish for "Hit Me Hard and Soft."
Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Benson Boone and Teddy Swims - all nominees in a competitive best new artist field - were among the night's scheduled performers.
"I think this rookie class is one of the best rookie classes ever," genre-blending artist Swims told Reuters on the Grammys red carpet. "I'm just so honored."
The major question for the awards was whether Beyonce would finally land the top prize.
At last year's Grammys, Beyonce's husband and rapper Jay-Z argued that voters had not given proper recognition to Black artists including his wife. Grammy winners are chosen by the 13,000 singers, songwriters, producers, engineers and others who make up the Recording Academy.
"Cowboy Carter" was viewed by experts and fans as a reclamation and homage to an overlooked legacy of Black Americans within country music and culture. It became the first album by a Black woman to land at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart when it was released last spring.
The Beyonce album was snubbed, however, by voters for the Country Music Awards in their nominations in September.
The "Cowboy Carter" nomination is Beyonce's fifth entry in the album of the year category. Swift has won the honor a record four times, including last year for "Midnights."
Going into the ceremony, Beyonce led all Grammy nominees this year with 11 nods, followed by Eilish, Charli XCX, Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone with seven nominations each. Swift landed six nominations and will present one of the night's awards.
Beyonce's other Grammy nods include record and song of the year for single "Texas Hold 'Em."
Competitors for song of the year, an award for songwriters, are Eilish for "Birds of a Feather," Carpenter for "Please Please Please" and Roan for "Good Luck, Babe!"
In record of the year, nominees include Carpenter's "Espresso" and Swift's duet with Post Malone, "Fortnight."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mary Milliken and Stephen Coates)
