The 67th Grammy Awards surprised everyone with unexpected decisions. But how did artists like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Billie Eilish, who released some of the most talked-about projects of the year, walk away empty-handed? Let’s dive into what the Grammys are and discuss this year’s winners.
Since 1957, the Grammys, formerly known as the Gramophone Awards, have been the most prestigious awards in the music industry. The awards are distributed by approximately 13,000 voting members of the Recording Academy, whose identities remain confidential. While Beyoncé holds the record for the most Grammy wins and nominations, industry-shaping artists like Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, and Lana Del Rey have never won a Grammy. Each year, trust in the Grammys continues to decline due to suspicions of bias, claims that artists buy awards, and speculation that some artists are blacklisted.
2025 GRAMMY AWARDS
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: COWBOY CARTER – BEYONCÉ
Before 2025, Beyoncé had been nominated for Album of the Year four times but lost to Taylor Swift, Adele, Harry Styles, and Beck. After her husband, Jay-Z, criticized the Grammys on stage in 2023, questioning “how the most Grammy-winning artist of all time had never won Album of the Year”, and considering the couple’s extensive industry network, Beyoncé’s win this year seemed inevitable.
2025 album of the year nominees:
COWBOY CARTER– Beyoncé
New Blue Sun – André 3000
Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter
BRAT – Charli XCX
Djesse Vol. 4 – Jacob Collier
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT – Billie Eilish
Chappel Roan The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT – Taylor Swift
In my opinion, Billie Eilish deserved this award the most. With only two songwriters on her album compared to Beyoncé’s 51, Billie dominated the year with her music. Despite having 27 songs, Cowboy Carter only accumulated 1.6 billion streams and was only talked about for a single day, whereas Billie’s “Birds of a Feather” alone surpassed the album by 300 million streams. Interestingly, the Grammys usually display the names of the winning album’s songwriters and producers on screen, but they chose not to do so this year.
While most expected the competition to be between Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Charli XCX, Beyoncé managed to take home Album of the Year. Congratulations to her!
RECORD OF THE YEAR AND SONG OF THE YEAR: NOT LIKE US – KENDRICK LAMAR
Before discussing the nominees and winners, let’s clarify the difference between these two awards:
Record of the Year honors the performance and recording of a song, recognizing the artist, producers, mixing engineers, and mastering engineers. Song of the Year focuses on songwriting and is awarded to the songwriters.
2025 song of the year nominees:
A Bar Song (Tipsy) – Shaboozey
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish
Die With a Smile – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
Fortnight – Taylor Swift & Post Malone
Good Luck, Babe! – Chappell Roan
Not Like Us – Kendrick Lamar
Please Please Please – Sabrina Carpenter
TEXAS HOLD ‘EM – Beyoncé
Both Record of the Year and Song of the Year went to Kendrick Lamar’s diss track against Drake, Not Like Us. As someone with a personal bias against rap music, I can admit my objectivity may be lacking, but it was disappointing to see Kendrick win these awards when 2025 was dominated by female pop artists. I truly expected Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, or Chappell Roan to win.
BEST NEW ARTIST: CHAPPELL ROAN
2025 best new artist nominees:
Benson Boone
Sabrina Carpenter
Doechii
Khruangbin
Raye
Chappell Roan
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
This was one of the most competitive categories. Would it go to Raye, one of the best vocalists of the new generation? Benson Boone, who had the most-streamed song of 2024? Sabrina Carpenter, who had three hit singles in 2025? Or Doechii, who stood out in the male-dominated rap scene? The answer was none of the above. Instead, the award went to Chappell Roan, who, in my opinion, deserved it the most. She gave an emotional speech highlighting the struggles of artists in an industry where even basic health insurance is hard to come by.
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL: DANIEL NIGRO
2025 producer of the year nominees:
Alissia
Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II
Ian Fitchuk
Mustard
Daniel Nigro
Daniel Nigro, known for producing albums for Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, and Conan Gray, took home this award. He was behind The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and Good Luck, Babe! for Chappell Roan, as well as Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR and GUTS. He’s like the new Max Martin—everything he touches turns into a hit.
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL: AMY ALLEN
2025 songwriter of the year nominees:
Jessi Alexander
Amy Allen
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillon
RAYE
Amy Allen, known for writing hits like Selena Gomez’s Back to You and Halsey’s Without Me, won this category. She gained even more recognition this year for her work on Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, which won Best Pop Vocal Album. Raye, another nominee, is also a fantastic songwriter and vocalist, and I believe she will win this award in the future.
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE: ESPRESSO – SABRINA CARPENTER
2025 best pop solo performance nominees:
BODYGUARD– Beyoncé
Espresso – Sabrina Carpenter
Apple – Charli XCX
BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish
Good Luck, Babe! – Chappell Roan
This award rightfully went to Espresso, one of 2024’s biggest songs. Any nominee except Beyoncé would have made me happy, but I was especially pleased to see Sabrina win.
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM: SHORT N’ SWEET – SABRINA CARPENTER
2025 best pop vocal album nominees:
Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT – Billie Eilish
eternal sunshine – Ariana Grande
Chappell Roan The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT – Taylor Swift
This was one of the toughest categories. 2024 was dominated by female artists, and this was reflected in the nominations. One disappointment was Ariana Grande. Her best album yet, Eternal Sunshine, received only three nominations and no wins. I think that We can’t be friends (waiting for love) deserved all the praising. Still, Sabrina winning her first two Grammys was a huge achievement.
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE: DIE WITH A SMILE – LADY GAGA & BRUNO MARS
2025 best pop duo/group performance nominees:
Us – Gracie Abrams (feat. Taylor Swift)
LEVII’S JEANS – Beyoncé (feat. Post Malone)
Guess – Charli XCX & Billie Eilish
the boy is mine – Ariana Grande, Brandy & Monica
Die With a Smile – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
In this category, I believed there were two likely winners. It was clear that either Guess or Die With A Smile would take home the award, but I was especially happy to see the duo of Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars win. However, this wasn’t Lady Gaga’s only major moment at the Grammys. During a commercial break, she announced her new single “Abracadabra”, and released both the song and its music video just 15 minutes later. The track, reminiscent of her Bad Romance, Telephone, and Alejandro era, has maintained consistently high streaming numbers since its release. Even though her upcoming album “Mayhem” hasn’t been released yet, it has already surpassed 2 billion streams, with just three singles generating 18 million daily streams.
BEST DANCE POP RECORDING: VON DUTCH – CHARLI XCX
2025 best dance pop recording nominees:
Make You Mine — Madison Beer
Von dutch — Charli xcx
L’AMOUR DE MA VIE [OVER NOW EXTENDED EDIT] — Billie Eilish
yes, and? — Ariana Grande
Got Me Started — Troye Sivan
It was inevitable that Charli xcx, who dominated the summer of 2024, would win this category. This marks her first-ever Grammy win, and she walked away with a total of three awards that night. I believe she deserved it, though I would have also been happy to see Troye Sivan win, given that he competed in this category for two years in a row with Rush and Got Me Started.
BEST DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM: BRAT – CHARLI XCX
2025 best dance/electronic album nominees:
BRAT — Charli xcx
Three — Four Tet
Hyperdrama — Justice
TIMELESS — KAYTRANADA
Telos — Zedd
It was no surprise that Charli won this category as well. Having waited years for her career to truly take off, she has now created one of the best dance records of all time. I want to congratulate her on this well-earned success.
These were all the categories I closely followed and felt knowledgeable about. You can find the full list of nominees, winners, and more details on the official Grammy website. Thank you for reading, and have a great day!