Last night’s Grammys crowned what’s been a glorious year for music, and with the disaster of the LA fires still barely a memory, it’s clear that the entertainment community was ready for a much-needed morale boost.
Given that Grammy’s are, as ever, chosen by committee (rather than being the raw truth of a public vote) there’s always that whiff of the ‘school sports day’ when it comes to selecting the winners. All of the big bases need hitting and if you win big in one race then you have to let someone else have a turn elsewhere… And it seems that the night’s choices – perhaps in the interests of spreading the love as far and wide as possible – were more diplomatic and considered than ever.
Low on surprises and with everyone getting a pat on the back, this year it’s harder than ever to point a finger and cry foul or to pick a single clear winner. If the aim of the show is to have stars and a global audience walking away contented, entertained and celebrated then last night’s Grammys played a blinder.
Biggest ‘surprise’ of the night therefore was Beyoncé finally winning Album of the Year (AOTY being one of the all-important ‘big four’, of course, alongside Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year). Famously Beyoncé had – previous to last night – never bagged the top album prize being pipped to the post for such amazing efforts as 2008’s I Am … Sasha Fierce, 2013’s Beyoncé, 2016’s Lemonade, and 2022’s Renaissance.
This year’s Cowboy Carter finally ended her run of near misses (and will silence an increasing number of complainants) though it's debatable as to whether, her surprising, genre-nuking take on country music – in the face of such stellar output in the past – can ever be really be held up as her ‘best’.
“I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists,” she explained, “and I just want to encourage people to do what they’re passionate about.”
Likewise celebrating some surprises (for different reasons) was Sabrina Carpenter, who perhaps didn’t have the dynamite evening she may have been expecting. In addition to barely making it through her on-stage performance intact, and hotly tipped to clean up across the big four, she would have to content herself with a pair of wins for Best Pop Solo Performance for single Espresso and Best Pop Vocal Album for Short n’ Sweet.
And getting her allocated portion of Grammy love was Charli XCX who at one point seemed set to storm to victory with ‘breakthrough’ album Brat (actually her sixth) and singles 360, Von Dutch and Guess (with Billie Eilish) delivering the goods and finally putting her on the global map.
Instead of triumphing in the big four, XCX's success came from nominations across multiple categories, and in addition to dropping a full-scale riot/rave on stage, took a home trio of Best Pop Dance Recording for Von Dutch and Best Recording Package and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for Brat.
It was a similar story for Chappell Roan. Her Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess album has had a blinding year after a blink-and-you-missed-it 2023 release, and single Good Luck, Babe! seemed certain to triumph across the board. But, after a rousing, night-winning, on-stage performance and nominations in all the big four and more, it was the all-important career launchpad of Best New Artist where she deservedly romped to victory.
The winners and losers
So who won the show and who’ll be sacking managers and shedding a few tears?
Firstly special congratulations are due to a little known Liverpool-based combo known as The Beatles… Miraculously the fab four won an award last night – their 14th in total – for the reconstructed Now And Then single, which won Best Rock Performance.
The decision proved to be a contentious one however, given the track's use of AI to rebuild what was little more than a cassette demo by John Lennon, with many taking to social media to voice their opinions on this hot topic and 'the first Grammy winner made by AI'. This despite the fact that the 'AI' in question was simply used to isolate the Lennon vocal the track is built around, rather than being deployed in the more generative capacity that many blow-hards seemed to be railing against.
But the biggest winner on the night was doubtless Kendrick Lamar who never seemed far away from the winner's podium. It was his Not Like Us single that pulled in the prizes, winning in every category where it was nominated.
That’s Song of the Year and Record of the Year (why have two categories if the same track wins both? – go figure), Best Music Video, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance – a haul of five wins in total. And choosing to keep the beef at home, Lamar instead used his mic time to claim a victory for rap. “There is nothing more powerful than rap music,” he intoned. “I just hope you respect the art form.”
And last night’s biggest ‘losers’ – and let’s use that term VERY lightly? Perhaps they would be Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, who both walked away with naught despite multiple nominations.
These two giants clearly had off-the-scale years, so it seems that the Recording Academy’s voters wanted to give someone else a bite of the cherry this time around. On the night Eilish scored a run of near misses across multiple categories for album Hit Me Hard And Soft and single Birds of a Feather (having stormed the Grammys with a clean sweep of the big four in 2020).
Likewise Swift, whose The Tortured Poets Department album and Fortnight single (featuring Post Malone) had been hotly tipped to win in those same categories. But by currently holding the record for most Album of the Year wins ever at four (and having won last year too) perhaps someone thought she should step aside for ‘25.
Here’s that list of key winners and nominations (and head here for the complete list, classical, jazz and more included.)
Congrats and thanks to everyone on board an amazing year.
Album of the Year
Winner: Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter
Nominees:
André 3000 - New Blue Sun
Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft
Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
Charli XCX - Brat
Jacob Collier - Djesse Vol. 4
Sabrina Carpenter - Short n’ Sweet
Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department
Song of the Year
Winner: Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
Nominees:
Beyoncé - Texas Hold ’Em
Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather
Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!
Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - Die With a Smile
Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please
Shaboozey - A Bar Song (Tipsy)
Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone - Fortnight
Record of the Year
Winner: Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
Nominees:
The Beatles - Now and Then
Beyoncé - Texas Hold ’Em
Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather
Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!
Charli XCX - 360
Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso
Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone - Fortnight
Best Pop Solo Performance
Winner: Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso
Nominees:
Beyoncé - Bodyguard
Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather
Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!
Charli XCX - Apple
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Winner: Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - Die With a Smile
Nominees:
Ariana Grande, Brandy & Monica - The Boy Is Mine – Remix
Beyoncé Featuring Post Malone - Levii’s Jeans
Charli XCX & Billie Eilish - Guess Featuring Billie Eilish
Gracie Abrams Featuring Taylor Swift - Us.
Best New Artist
Winner: Chappell Roan
Nominees:
Benson Boone
Doechii
Khruangbin
Raye
Sabrina Carpenter
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
Best Pop Vocal Album
Winner: Sabrina Carpenter - Short n’ Sweet
Nominees:
Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine
Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft
Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department
Best Dance Pop Recording
Winner: Charli XCX - Von Dutch
Nominees:
Ariana Grande - Yes, And?
Billie Eilish - L’Amour de Ma Vie [Over Now Extended Edit]
Madison Beer - Make You Mine
Troye Sivan - Got Me Started
Best Dance/Electronic Recording
Winner: Justice & Tame Impala - Neverender
Nominees:
Disclosure - She’s Gone, Dance On
Four Tet - Loved
Fred Again.. & Baby Keem - Leavemealone
Kaytranada Featuring Childish Gambino - Witchy
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Winner: Peter Gabriel - I/O
Nominees:
Charlotte Day Wilson - Cyan Blue
Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well
Lucky Daye - Algorithm
Sabrina Carpenter - Short n’ Sweet
Willow - Empathogen
Best Alternative Music Album
Winner: St. Vincent - All Born Screaming
Nominees:
Brittany Howard - What Now
Clairo - Charm
Kim Gordon - The Collective
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Wild God
Best Alternative Music Performance
Winner: St. Vincent - Flea
Nominees:
Cage the Elephant - Neon Pill
Fontaines D.C. - Starburster
Kim Gordon - Bye Bye
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Song of the Lake
Best Rock Album
Winner: The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds
Nominees:
The Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards
Fontaines D.C. - Romance
Green Day - Saviors
Idles - Tangk
Jack White - No Name
Pearl Jam - Dark Matter
Best Rock Song
Winner: St. Vincent - Broken Man
Nominees:
The Black Keys - Beautiful People (Stay High)
Green Day - Dilemma
Idles - Gift Horse
Pearl Jam - Dark Matter
Best Metal Performance
Winner: Gojira, Marina Viotti & Victor le Masne - Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)
Nominees:
Judas Priest - Crown of Horns
Knocked Loose Featuring Poppy - Suffocate
Metallica - Screaming Suicide
Spiritbox - Cellar Door
Best Rock Performance
Winner: The Beatles - Now and Then
Nominees:
The Black Keys - Beautiful People (Stay High)
Green Day - The American Dream Is Killing Me
Idles - Gift Horse
Pearl Jam - Dark Matter
St. Vincent - Broken Man
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Winner: Daniel Nigro
Nominees:
Alissia
Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II
Ian Fitchuk
Mustard
Best Music Video
Winner: Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
Nominees:
A$AP Rocky - Tailor Swif
Charli XCX - 360
Eminem - Houdini
Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone - Fortnight
Best Rap Song
Winner: Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
Nominees:
Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar - Like That
Glorilla - Yeah Glo!
Rapsody & Hit-Boy - Asteroids
¥$, Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign & Rich the Kid Featuring Playboi Carti - Carnival
Best Rap Performance
Winner: Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us
Nominees:
Cardi B - Enough (Miami)
Common & Pete Rock Featuring Posdnuos - When the Sun Shines Again
Doechii - Nissan Altima
Eminem - Houdini
Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar - Like That
Glorilla - Yeah Glo!
Best R&B Album
Winner: Chris Brown - 11:11 (Deluxe)
Nominees:
Lalah Hathaway - Vantablack
Lucky Daye - Algorithm
Muni Long - Revenge
Usher - Coming Home
Best R&B Song
Winner: SZA - Saturn
Nominees:
Coco Jones - Here We Go (Uh Oh)
Kehlani - After Hours
Muni Long - Ruined Me
Tems - Burning
Best R&B Performance
Winner: Muni Long - Made for Me (Live on BET)
Nominees:
Chris Brown - Residuals
Coco Jones - Here We Go (Uh Oh)
Jhené Aiko - Guidance
SZA - Saturn
Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical
Winner: Amy Allen
Nominees:
Edgar Barrera
Jessi Alexander
Jessie Jo Dillon
Raye
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