LOS ANGELES - Music's biggest stars including Beyonce and Taylor Swift will vie for top awards at Sunday's Grammys gala, a glitzy ceremony proceeding despite devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
Many annual Grammy week functions were scrapped, including prominent parties organised by top labels and companies like Spotify.
But Harvey Mason Jr, the head of the Recording Academy behind the Grammys, said the gala would go on as planned at Crypto.com Arena "in close coordination with local authorities" -- and with an eye towards raising money for wildfire relief.
The fires have lent prominence to the Recording Academy's philanthropic arm MusiCares, which says it has already distributed several millions of dollars in emergency aid.
Beyonce and her groundbreaking "Cowboy Carter" album that vaunted Black cowboy culture lead this year's Grammy hopefuls, with 11 chances at a prize.
The megastar is already the most nominated and most decorated Grammy winner, but also the most conspicuously snubbed: she's never won the gala's most prestigious Album and Record of the Year trophies.
"Cowboy Carter" is her fifth studio album vying for the top prize (she also was shortlisted as a featured artist on Lady Gaga's "The Fame Monster"), with Swift -- who has won it a record four times -- among her rivals.
Though her sprawling double album "The Tortured Poets Department" left critics wanting, Swift -- who just wrapped her record-setting Eras Tour -- enters the night with six chances at Grammys gold.

Billie Eilish, another perennial contender, has seven nominations, while a buzzy group of artists including pop sensations Charli XCX (eight nods), Sabrina Carpenter (six) and Chappell Roan (six) are all in the running for major prizes.
Hip-hop laureate Kendrick Lamar -- whose dig-heavy rap battle with Drake spawned "Now Like Us," one of the year's most viral songs -- scored seven nods, and the shapeshifter Post Malone, who recently worked with both Beyonce and Swift, scored eight. Both are featured in the top categories.
The closely watched Best New Artist contest features favorites Carpenter and Roan, who both skyrocketed into the mainstream over the past year.
Also in contention is Shaboozey, whose hit "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" topped the US hot songs chart for weeks and is up for the top Grammy honoring songwriting.
A tiny fraction of the 94 Grammys are handed out in the marquee televised portion of the gala, with most of the space carved out for performance.
Artists including Eilish, Roan, Charli XCX and Carpenter are due to take the stage, along with several more Best New Artist contenders like Doechii, Raye, Teddy Swims and Benson Boone.
Legends Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and John Legend will also appear during the gala, which will pay tribute to legendary late producer Quincy Jones.