It’s safe to say Beyoncé was genuinely shocked by her best country album win at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
The music icon, who made history as the first Black woman to win in the category for Cowboy Carter, was presented the honor by Taylor Swift, who previously won best country album in 2010 for Fearless.
After Swift read her name, the camera cut to Beyoncé, who was seemingly surprised by the win, and she made that clear during her acceptance speech.
“Wow, I really was not expecting this,” she says after hugging Swift on the stage. “Wow, I wanna thank God — Oh my God! — that I’m able to still do what I love after so many years Oh my God!”
She continues, “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 what they’re passionate about, and to stay persistent. Wow, I’d like to thank my beautiful family, all of the artists that were collaborators… thank you! This wouldn’t have been this album without you. I’d like to thank God again and my fans, and I still am in shock. So thank you so much for this honor.”
Cowboy Carter, which was released in March 2024, was not only a historic effort for the singer, but it also put a spotlight on other Black artists in the country music space. A genre that Beyoncé has been open about not feeling “welcomed” in after facing criticisms when she initially tried to enter the country music scene years prior.
Swift and Beyoncé have shared a number of key moments together, from the 2009 VMAs, where Beyoncé let Swift finish her acceptance speech after Kanye West interrupted it earlier, to the superstars attending the premieres of each other’s concert films.
“I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without Beyoncé’s influence,” Swift wrote after Beyoncé showed up to the premiere of her Eras Tour film. “The way she’s taught me and every artist out here to break rules and defy industry norms. Her generosity of spirit. Her resilience and versatility. She’s been a guiding light throughout my career and the fact that she showed up tonight was like an actual fairytale.”
On Sunday, Beyoncé beat out other nominees Post Malone with F-1 Trillion, Kacey Musgraves with Deeper Well, Chris Stapleton with Higher and Lainey Wilson with Whirlwind.
The 2025 Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, aired live on Sunday from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Find the full list of winners here and check out all the red carpet arrivals here.
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