The 2025 Grammy Awards

On 8 November, the Grammy nominations for 2025 were announced, sparking worldwide interest and controversy. Although receiving a Grammy is the goal itself, being a nominee is an achievement as well. New artists Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan have secured nominations in the categories considered ‘The big four’, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. The success of the two rising artists hasn’t surprised the public; both have reached up to 1 billion streams this year on their newest tracks such as Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ and Roan’s ‘Good luck, Babe!”, surpassing songs on record-breaking artists’ albums such as Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poet’s Department’ and Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter’.

Although the record-breaking artists are facing competition, both Swift and Beyonce have earned various nominations. Due to the popularity earned from ‘The Tortured Poet’s Department’ and the collaboration ‘Us’ with Gracie Abrams, Swift has accepted six nominations this year. Beyonce, who not only is the ‘most-decorated’ Grammy artist in history with a total of 32 wins but has beat the record of most nominated artist of all time with a total 99 nominations throughout her prominent career. Prior to this year’s eleven nominations for ‘Cowboy Carter’, Beyonce shared the title of most nominated artist with her husband, Jay-Z, with an impressive 88 nominations each.

Despite the current nominations showering both under-appreciated and popular artists with the recognition and celebration, they have once again caused outrage and disappointment. Commenters are stating that popstar Ariana Grande deserved more nominations for categories such as Record of the Year for ‘We Can’t be Friends’ and Album of the Year for the popular ‘Eternal Sunshine’. She did achieve nominations for Pop Vocal Album, Pop Duo/Group Performance, and Best Dance Pop Recording. The singer has also received success this year in her role as Glinda the Good Witch in the musical Wicked alongside co-star Cynthia Erivo portraying Elphaba.

Regardless of the dispute surrounding the Grammy nominations and awards, the invitation and on ongoing tradition of the Grammy Awards is widely considered the most ‘prestigious honour in the music industry and one of the greatest accomplishments in entertainment.’ Although people, like me, believe the Grammy’s distribute unfair awards and nominations from time to time, I do admit that the Grammy’s allow diversity and acknowledge a range of artists less successful, giving numerous opportunities and at the end of the day, entertaining an audience.

Lulu E, Year 9