The 2025 Grammy nominations are a far-reaching reflection of the artists who’ve shaped the past year, with Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Post Malone, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter leading the nominees and a galaxy of other artists represented in the dozens of categories.
But as always, there were surprises both happy — Andre 3000’s flute opus up for album of the year! Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter both nominated in the top four categories! — and less so. Eyes below…
SURPRISE: Album of the year pits Taylor, Beyoncé and Sabrina against… André 3000? Not a knock on André 3000’s instrumental flute album at all, but Grammy enthusiasts may be shocked to see his latest “New Blue Sun” contending in the top album category against Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Billie Eilish. If the Grammys are a popularity contest, then “New Blue Sun” is the zen anti-commercialite soaking up the vibes somewhere at a sound bath. It surely is one of the biggest surprises in the big four categories, which often skew towards acknowledging the most popular music from the eligibility period, and “New Blue Sun” was more of an if-you-know-you-know record. That said, Three Stacks’ latest got love elsewhere, with noms in best alternative jazz album and best instrumental composition, where the competition feels much more aligned (at least musically).
SURPRISE-ISH: Beyoncé reigns supreme across genre lines. The discourse surrounding Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” began the moment it was announced: Is it a country album? An Americana record? An entirely new genre? Bey’s big swing appears to have netted her not just the most nominations this year (11, in case you were wondering), but also a spread across specific genre categories. In addition to album of the year and both record and song of the year with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Bey lands in the pop, country, Americana and rap categories. Among her country and Americana nods: “16 Carriages” (best country solo performance), “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus (best country duo/group performance), “Texas Hold ‘Em” (best country song), “Ya Ya” (best Americana performance), and best country album. “Spaghettii” slots into best melodic rap performance, while “Bodyguard” ends up in best pop solo performance and “Levii’s Jeans” with Post Malone is slated for best pop duo/group performance.
It’s worth noting that Beyoncé got nearly all the nominations for which she submitted, with the exception of “Tyrant,” which was up for consideration in best R&B song. Regardless, she now has 99 total career nominations, making her the most nominated artist in Grammy history (she previously co-held the record with her husband Jay-Z at 88), and she’s also the most awarded in Grammy history. This year also marks her first to get nominations in the Country & Americana Roots music field.
SURPRISE: Chappell and Sabrina secure the big four. Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter are arguably the breakout stars of the year, and their nominations speak to that. Both are up for record, album and song of the year, plus best new artist, making them the third pair to get nominated across all four general categories this decade.
KIND OF A SNUB: Ariana Grande left out of the general fields. Amid the accelerating press blitz leading up to her role in the upcoming “Wicked” film, Ariana Grande dropped her seventh album “Eternal Sunshine,” but didn’t really promote it like a superstar release, presumably in an effort to avoid overexposure ahead of the film. Perhaps as a result, she’s entirely relegated to the pop categories, where she’s nominated for best pop duo/group performance (“The Boy Is Mine” featuring Brandy and Monica), best pop vocal album and best dance pop recording (“Yes, And?”).
SNUB: Victoria Monét and Killer Mike nowhere to be found. Both Monét — who won last year’s best new artist prize — and Mike had headline-grabbing success earlier this year when the former took home three awards and the latter swept the rap categories. This year, Monét submitted in the R&B categories with “S.O.S.,” her steamy duet with Usher, while Mike submitted with his latest “Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival, Songs for Sinners and Saints” and the song “Humble Me.” But despite both contending, they’re left off the ballot for next year’s ceremony.
NOT A SURPRISE: Zach Bryan gets no nominations. That is, of course, because Zach Bryan opted not to submit this year. Earlier this year, he secured three nods in the country categories, winning for best country duo/group performance with “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves. But for the 2025 Grammys, he chose not to submit entirely, meaning that his fifth album “The Great American Bar Scene” that dropped on July 4 will go without being recognized. In turn, Bryan joins an illustrious (and growing) group of artists who have no interest in the Grammys, as Drake and the Weeknd have famously withheld over the past few years.
SURPRISE: Kendrick is competing against himself. …as if you can really call that a surprise, because Kendrick Lamar is often in a league of his own. This year, even without an album release, he ties for second-most nominations with seven nods (alongside Billie Eilish, Charli XCX and Post Malone), with his diss-track-turned-anthem “Not Like Us” getting honored in record and song of the year, best music video, best rap performance and best rap song. But he’ll be contending with himself in the latter two categories, where his feature on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” is included.
SNUB: Jack Antonoff left out of producer of the year. Jack Antonoff has had the producer of the year (non-classical) category on lock for the past three years, sweeping the category from 2022 through this year. So it comes as a major shock that he’s been left entirely out of the nominees, which counts Mustard, Daniel Nigro, Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Alissia and Ian Fitchuk. And it’s not like it was a slow year for Antonoff, either. In addition to producing Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” which is up for album of the year, he contributed to records across the board for Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar and Gracie Abrams, the latter of whom is nominated for the song “Us.,” featuring Swift, in best pop duo/group performance (he produced that one, too). It’s unclear why he wouldn’t make the cut, but at least he’s likely to pick up an award or two for his work with others.
SURPRISE-ISH: Best new artist is a mixed bag. Everyone who you’d expect to make the cut for best new artist is here this year: Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, Benson Boone and Teddy Swims. But there are a few less anticipated inclusions, namely Khruangbin, Doechii and Raye, the latter of whom is the first new-artist nominee in Grammy history also to be honored in the songwriter of the year category for her solo work and contributions to other artists’ records.
SNUB: Wherefore art thou Hozier, Tyla and Doja Cat? A few artists who seemed like shoo-ins come up empty-handed this year. It’s a bit perplexing that Hozier, who staged a remarkable chart comeback this year with his single “Too Sweet,” has zero nominations for the 2025 Grammys. Tyla took home the Grammy for “Water” in the inaugural best African music performance category earlier this year, but none of her subsequent singles are anywhere to be found. And Doja Cat put out her last album “Scarlet” inside the eligibility period, though she also gets zilch.
SNUB: Missed opportunity for diversity in pop categories. Not surprisingly, Latin music remains largely limited to its genre-specific categories. This is with the exception of another consecutive nomination for songwriter Edgar Barrera in the songwriter’s category (non-classical), in addition to artists of Latin descent in categories not a part of the main telecast (Gustavo Dudamel gets his sixth nod in orchestral performance). This is odd considering the flood of culture-blending Spanish-language pop music released this year. Although the two most eligible (and widely submitted) pop efforts — Shakira’s “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” and Kali Uchis’ “Orquídeas” — do appear in a stacked lineup for the Latin pop album category, there could have been the acknowledgment of Uchis and Peso Pluma’s bilingual massive pop hit “Igual Que Un Ángel” in the pop duo-group performance category. It’s an obvious snub but not at a surprise: the only Spanish-language songs to have been nominated are “Despacito” (Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber) in 2017 and “Un Día (One Day)” (J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy) in 2021.
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