Beyoncé leads the 2025 Grammys nominee pack, but Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Charli xcx are vying for their moment in the spotlight.
Beyoncé is up for 11 awards thanks to “Cowboy Carter,” tying Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” record for most nominations for a single album.” She’s also the most awarded artist in Grammys’ history. Is it finally her time to take home the top prize? If she wins the album of the year, she’ll become the first Black woman to do so in the 21st century.
Who else will be victorious, earning those gramophone-shaped trophies on Sunday?
These are the predictions of US LIVE
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Album of the year: Beyonce
The nominees: “New Blue Sun,” André 3000; “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé; “Short n’ Sweet,” Sabrina Carpenter; “BRAT,” Charli xcx; “Djesse Vol. 4, “Jacob Collier; “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” Billie Eilish; “Chappell Roan The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” Chappell Roan; “The Tortured Poets Department,” Taylor Swift
The album of the year category is stacked with some of the biggest pop releases in recent history. Jacob Collier feels like a long shot; in some ways, so does André 3000, though it would be great for a completely instrumental, alt-jazz album take home the top prize. He’s won before, with Outkast, for 2004’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.”
Our bet is on Beyoncé. She leads the nominations this year. And while “Cowboy Carter” is a masterclass in reclamation, a necessary work that exists in opposition to country music’s rigid power structures, it is not her best album. But her AOTY trophy is long overdue.
Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” is incredible and well-deserving of a win here. But Beyoncé didn’t just make history by becoming the first Black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 80 years, she owned this high risk, high reward opportunity.
If this doesn’t lead to Beyonce’s first album of the year win, then voters clearly missed the memo.
Record of the year: Billie Eilish
Nominees: “Now and Then,” the Beatles; “Texas Hold ’Em,” Beyoncé; “Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter; “360,” Charli xcx; “Birds of a Feather,” Billie Eilish; “Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar; “Good Luck, Babe!”, Chappell Roan; “Fortnight,” Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone
Beyoncé has never won in this category, but we think her big win will be for album of the year. Lamar deserves to win, but we all know the Grammys love Eilish…
The Grammys love handing out trophies to Eilish and Lamar — 17 for him, nine for her. Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” is an infectious, breezy melody, no doubt. But “Not Like Us” should win. Why? This was a game-changing track where Lamar delivered the final knockout blow during an epic rap beef to Drake, following a string of power punches from hits like “Like That,” “Euphoria,” and “6:16 in LA.”
Song of the year: Kendrick Lamar
Nominees_ “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”; “Birds of a Feather”; “Die with a Smile”; “Fortnight”; “Good Luck, Babe!”; “Not Like Us”; “Please Please Please”; “Texas Hold ’Em.” See the full list of songwriters here.
This might happen tonight: the presenter opens the envelope and announces, “‘Not Like Us’ by Kendrick Lamar,” as the crowd erupts in cheers. They can’t resist reciting the chorus: “They not like us, they not like us, they not us!”
It’s not far-fetched to imagine this happening. Lamar’s pen was as lethal as ever on this track. Just ask Drake. With Lamar as the track’s sole songwriter, this feels like the perfect moment for him to finally snag his first win in this category.
It is about time Lamar earns a trophy in a top four category.
Best new artist: Sabrina Carpenter
Nominees: Benson Boone; Sabrina Carpenter; Doechii; Khruangbin; RAYE; Chappell Roan; Shaboozey; Teddy Swims
There’s no shortage of deserving talent this year, but I think it will come down to Carpenter and Roan. Shaboozey is an innovator but his song eclipsed his album; Doechii’s mainstream rise to fame arrived too late in the year. Between the two pop ladies, much speaks for Roan — who feels like a breath of fresh air in music’s mainstream. However, we think it will go to Carpenter, despite the fact that she is on her sixth album.
This is Carpenter’s category to lose. But let’s be real. Crowning a best new artist who’s on their sixth album feels off. It’s like letting a sixth-year college football player compete against freshmen and sophomores. Sure, they’re technically eligible, but it doesn’t quite sit right. They should be competing in the pros.
Still, rules are rules, and here we are. Carpenter might win, but it’s hard not to question if this “new artist” title hits a little differently. Maybe it needs to be tweaked.
Best pop solo performance: Sabrina Carpenter
Nominees: “Bodyguard,” Beyoncé; “Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter; “Apple,” Charli xcx; “Birds of a Feather,” Billie Eilish; “Good Luck, Babe!”, Chappell Roan
It is exciting to see an all-woman lineup and it comes as no surprise: they’re dominating streaming growth in the U.S. Something tells us this will go to Sabrina Carpenter for her summertime-and-then-some smash, “Espresso.”
But many see Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” soaring to victory.
Best country album: Beyonce
Nominees: “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé; “F-1 Trillion,” Post Malone; “Deeper Well,” Kacey Musgraves; “Higher,” Chris Stapleton; “Whirlwind,” Lainey Wilson
Post Malone may earn his first Grammy at the 2025 award show. We believe Beyoncé will win album of the year for “Cowboy Carter.” But when it comes to the best country album category – and the names Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson are included – it’s hard to imagine they’d lose, given the Grammys’ track record.
The big question is: If Beyoncé doesn’t win best country album, how can she possibly take home album of the year?
