Beyonce Sets a New Record With 2025 Grammy Nominations
Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar also nabbed numerous noms.
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Beyoncé led the 2025 Grammy Award nominations, with 11 nods, a new one-year record for a woman artist. Bey had previously shared the record with Lauryn Hill, who received 10 nods at the 1999 ceremony. Bey had 10 nods at the 2010 ceremony. This is the fifth time that Bey has been the outright leader for most Grammy nods. In two other years, she shared the lead. These 11 nods bring Beyoncé’s career total to a record 99 nods. She had previously shared the record with her husband, Jay-Z, with 88 nods each.
Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone were tied for second place with seven nods. Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift were tied for third place with six nods.
These and other artists celebrated milestone achievements when the 67th annual Grammy Awards nominations were unveiled on Friday Nov. 8.
Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department was nominated for album of the year, enabling her to break out of a tie with Barbra Streisand and stand alone as the woman with the most nods in this category.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter was nominated in that same category, making her the Black artist with the most album of the year nods as a lead artist. She was formerly tied for that distinction with Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.
Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was nominated for record and song of the year, enabling him to tie Jay-Z for the most nods in each of those categories by a rapper. “Not Like Us” has transcended its origins in the year’s most bitter rap feud. Even if someone didn’t know the backstory, it’s simply an undeniable smash.
The Beatles’ “Now and Then” was nominated for record of the year, giving the group a record 60-year span of nominations in that category. They were first nominated for the world-rattling “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at the 1965 ceremony. The Fab Four just barely noses out the old record holder for longest span of nods in the category, Tony Bennett, whose nods span 59 years, from “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (the winner in 1963) to his Lady Gaga collab “I Get a Kick Out of You” (a nominee at the 2022 ceremony).
(John Lennon, who died in 1980, and George Harrison, who died in 2001, are not considered nominees for this record. While the majority of the track qualifies as newly-recorded, the parts of the work from decades ago (the Lennon and Harrison contributions to the recording) do not meet the definition of newly-recorded and thus are not Grammy-eligible.)
Roan and Carpenter are both nominated in each of the Big Four categories – album, record and song of the year plus best new artist. This is only the third time in Grammy history that two artists have achieved that feat in the same year. Billie Eilish and Lizzo both did it five years ago. Olivia Rodrigo and FINNEAS both did it three years ago.
Women did very well in the nominations. Women lead artists took six of the eight spots for both album of the year and record of the year. Women songwriters took four of the five spots in the songwriter of the year, non-classical category. Jessi Alexander, Amy Allen, Jessie Jo Dillon and RAYE are competing in that category with Edgar Barrera.
And a woman producer was nominated for producer of the year, non-classical for the first time in six years. Alissia, who produced tracks by Jamila Woods, Rae Khalil, BJ the Chicago Kid and Lion Babe, is competing in that category with Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Ian Fitchuk, Mustard and Daniel Nigro. Alissia is the ninth woman to be nominated in the category; the first since Linda Perry at the 2019 ceremony.
It was a similar story in genre categories. All five of the nominees for both best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance are women. Women artists took four of the five slots for best R&B performance and best alternative music album. Women artists took five of the six slots for best Americana performance, though David Rawling is co-credited with Gillian Welch on one of the six recordings.
Diving deeper into the Big Four categories, Beyoncé landed her ninth record of the year nomination in this category with “Texas Hold ’Em,” which extends her record for the most nods in the history of the category. (She surpassed the former record-holder, Frank Sinatra, two years ago.) Bey has never won in this category. Fun Fact: “Texas Hold ’Em” isn’t the first poker-themed hit to land a record of the year nod. Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” was nominated at the awards in 1980.
Swift and Malone received their sixth and fourth record of the year nominations, respectively, with “Fortnight,” which won video of the year at the MTV VMAs on Sept. 11.
Eilish received her fifth record of the year nomination in the category with “Birds of a Feather,” which was released in July and quickly eclipsed her previous release “Lunch.” Eilish is the first artist in Grammy history to amass five record of the year nods before turning 23. She will reach that birthday on Dec. 18.
Swift received her record-extending eighth song of the year nomination for co-writing “Fortnight.” As with Beyoncé in record of the year, Swift has yet to win in the category. Swift co-wrote “Fortnight” with Jack Antonoff (his fifth nod in the category) and Post Malone (his second).
Beyoncé and Mars each landed their sixth song of the year nominations – Bey with “Texas Hold ’Em” and Mars with “Die With a Smile.” For those keeping score, that puts them in a tie with Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie for second place on the Grammy song of the year nominations leaderboard. All five co-writers of “Die With a Smile” are past song of the year nominees. Lady Gaga and Dernst Emile II (D’Mile) have each been nominated four times in the category. James Fauntleroy and Andrew Watt have each been nominated twice.
Eilish and Finneas received their fifth song of the year nods for “Birds of a Feather.” They have won twice, for “Bad Guy” and their Barbie ballad “What Was I Made For?”
Three best new artist nominees won new artist prizes at other top award shows. RAYE won best new artist at the Brit Awards on March 2. Roan won best new artist at the MTV VMAs on Sept. 11. Doechii won the rising star award at Billboard Women in Music event in 2023. Doechii is the seventh best new artist nominee who won the rising star award at Billboard Women in Music, following Jazmine Sullivan, Nicki Minaj, Kelsea Ballerini, Rosalía, Chloe x Halle, and Victoria Monét.
One fun note: Two of the best new artist nominees, Benson Boone and Sabrina Carpenter, share a surname with past winners in this category. Debby Boone won in 1978. Karen and Richard Carpenter won in 1971.
After four years of being one of the best-selling recording artists in any genre, Morgan Wallen finally landed his first Grammy nominations – best country duo/group performance and best country song for his featured role on Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” which he also co-wrote.
Jazz great Chick Corea, who died in 2021 at age 79, received three nominations, upping his career total to 75. Corea has won 27 Grammys, a total equaled or bettered by only four musicians in Grammy history – Beyoncé (32), Sir Georg Solti (31), Quincy Jones (28) and Alison Krauss (also 27).
Classical producer David Frost, who has won 25 Grammys, received two more nods this year. Audio engineer and mixer Serban Ghenea, who has won 21 Grammys, has five more nods this year.
The Greatest Night in Pop, which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy this year for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special, is nominated for best music film. The film recounts the recording session that produced “We Are the World,” which won four Grammys in 1986 – record and song of the year, best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal and best music video, short form.
Dolly Parton received her 55th Grammy nomination – best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording for Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. More impressive than her total number of nods is the fact that the country queen has been nominated in at least one category in 37 of the Grammys’ first 67 years, a remarkable show of sustained voter appeal. The other nominees in the category are former President Jimmy Carter, Barbra Streisand, George Clinton and Guy Oldfield, the producer of All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words.
Alicia Keys and John Legend, who have won a combined total of 28 Grammys, are each nominated for the first time in key categories. Keys is nominated for best musical theater album for Hell’s Kitchen. Legend is nominated for best children’s music album for My Favorite Dream.
This year’s eligibility period encompasses recordings released between Sept. 16, 2023, and Aug. 30, 2024. The final round of Grammy voting will take place from Dec. 12 through Jan. 3. The 67th annual Grammy Awards will return to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 2. The show, which is scheduled to run 3-1/2 hours, will again be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are executive producers.
