Ariana Grande, André 3000 and more

The 2025 Grammy nominations are a far-reaching reflection of the artists who have shaped the past year, with Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Post Malone, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter leading the nominees and a galaxy of others artists represented in dozens of categories.

But as always there were surprises, both happy – Andre 3000’s flute opus is ready for the album of the year! Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter are both nominated in the top four categories! – and less. Eyes below…

SURPRISE: Album of the Year pits Taylor, Beyoncé and Sabrina against… André 3000? Not a knock on André 3000’s instrumental flute album at all, but Grammy enthusiasts may be shocked to see his latest “New Blue Sun” battling in the top album category against Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Billie Eilish. If the Grammys are a popularity contest, then “New Blue Sun” is the anti-commercial Zen that soaks up the vibe somewhere at a healthy bath. It’s certainly one of the biggest surprises in the big four categories, which often skew toward recognizing the most popular music of the eligibility period, and “New Blue Sun” was more of an if-you-know-you-know record . That said, Three Stacks’ most recent love got elsewhere, with nominations in Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Instrumental Composition where the competition feels much more closely aligned (at least musically).

SURPRISE-ISH: Beyoncé reigns across genre lines. The discourse surrounding Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” began the moment it was announced: Is it a country album? An Americana record? A whole new genre? Bey’s big swing seems to have earned her not just the most nominations this year (11, in case you were wondering), but also a spread across specific genre categories. In addition to album of the year and both record and song of the year with “Texas Hold ‘Em”, Bey lands in the pop, country, Americana and rap categories. Among her country and Americana nods: “16 Carriages” (Best Country Solo Performance), “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus (Best Country Duo/Group Performance), “Texas Hold ‘Em” (Best Country Song), “Ya Ya” ” ( best Americana performance), and best country album. “Spaghettii” goes into Best Rap Melodic Performance, while “Bodyguard” ends up in Best Pop Solo Performance, and “Levii’s Jeans” featuring Post Malone is up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

It’s worth noting that Beyoncé received almost all of the nominations she submitted, with the exception of “Tyrant,” which was up for consideration for Best R&B Song. Regardless, she now has a total of 99 career nominations, making her the most-nominated artist in Grammy history (she previously held the record with husband Jay-Z at 88), and she’s also the most awarded in Grammy history. This year is also her first to be nominated in the Country & Americana Roots music field.

SURPRISE: Chappell and Sabrina secure the big four. Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter are undoubtedly the breakout stars of the year, and their nominations speak for it. Both are up for record, album and song of the year, plus best new artist, making them the third pair to be nominated across all four general categories this decade.

KINDS OF A SNUB: Ariana Grande left out of the general fields. Amid the accelerating press blitz for her role in the upcoming “Wicked” movie, Ariana Grande dropped her seventh album, “Eternal Sunshine,” but didn’t really promote it as a superstar release, presumably in an effort to avoid overexposure ahead of the movie. Perhaps as a result, she’s relegated entirely to the pop categories, where she’s nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“The Boy Is Mine” with Brandy and Monica), Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Dance Pop Recording (“Yes, And ?”).

SNUB: Victoria Monét and Killer Mike are nowhere to be found. Both Monét – who won last year’s Best New Artist award – and Mike enjoyed headline success earlier this year, with the former winning three awards and the latter sweeping the rap categories. This year, Monét submitted the R&B categories with “SOS,” her steamy duet with Usher, while Mike submitted his latest “Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival, Songs for Sinners and Saints” and the song “Humble Me.” But despite both fighting, they are left off the ballot for next year’s ceremony.

NOT A SURPRISE: Zach Bryan gets no nominations. Of course, that’s because Zach Bryan chose not to submit this year. Earlier this year, he secured three nods in the country categories, winning for best country duo/group performance with “I Remember Everything” with Kacey Musgraves. But for the 2025 Grammys, he chose not to submit at all, meaning his fifth album “The Great American Bar Scene,” which dropped on July 4, will go unrecognized. In turn, Bryan joins a famous (and growing) group of artists who have no interest in the Grammys, which Drake and the Weeknd have famously withheld for the past few years.

SURPRISE: Kendrick competes against himself. …as if you can really call it a surprise, because Kendrick Lamar is often in a league of his own. This year, even without an album release, he earns the second-most nominations with seven nods (along with Billie Eilish, Charli XCX and Post Malone), with his diss-track-turned-anthem “Not Like Us” being honored in record and Song of the Year, best music video, best rap performance and best rap song. But he’ll contend with himself in the latter two categories, with his features on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Sådan” included.

SNUB: Jack Antonoff omitted from producer of the year. Jack Antonoff has had the producer of the year (non-classical) category on lock for the past three years, sweeping the category from 2022 through this year. So it comes as a big shock that he has been completely left out of the nominees, which include Mustard, Daniel Nigro, Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Alissia and Ian Fitchuk. And it’s not like it was a slow year for Antonoff, either. In addition to producing Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” which is up for album of the year, he contributed to records across the board for Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar and Gracie Abrams, the latter of whom is nominated for the song “Us.” with Swift, in Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (he also produced that one.) It’s unclear why he wouldn’t make it, but at least he’ll likely win an award or two for his work with others.

SURPRISE-ISH: Best New Artist is a mixed bag. Everyone you’d expect to make Best New Artist is here this year: Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, Benson Boone and Teddy Swims. But there are a few less expected inclusions, namely Khruangbin, Doechii and Raye, the latter of whom is the first nominated new artist in Grammy history to also be honored in the Songwriter of the Year category for his solo work and contributions to other artists’ records.

SNUB: Why are you Hozier, Tyla and Doja Cat? A few artists who seemed like shoo-ins are coming up empty-handed this year. It’s a little puzzling that Hozier, who made a remarkable chart comeback this year with his single “Too Sweet,” has zero nominations for the 2025 Grammys. Tyla won a Grammy for “Water” in the first category for Best African Music Performance earlier this year, but none of her subsequent singles are anywhere to be found. And Doja Cat released her last album “Scarlet” within the eligibility period, although she also goes zero.

SNUB: Missed opportunity for diversity in pop categories. Not surprisingly, Latin music remains largely confined to its genre-specific categories. This is with the exception of a second consecutive nomination for songwriter Edgar Barrera in the songwriter category (non-classical), in addition to artists of Latin descent in categories not part of the main broadcast (Gustavo Dudamel gets his sixth nod in orchestral performance). That’s odd given the stream of culturally-blending Spanish-language pop music released this year. Although the two most deserving (and widely submitted) pop efforts — Shakira’s “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” and Kali Uchis’ “Orquídeas” — appear in a stacked lineup for the Latin pop album category, there could have been recognition of Uchis and Peso Pluma’s bilingual massive pop hit “Igual Que Un Ángel” in the pop duo group category. It’s an obvious snub, but not surprising: the only Spanish-language songs nominated are 2017’s “Despacito” (Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber) and “Un Día (One Day)” (J Balvin, Dua ) Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy) in 2021.