Will Beyoncé finally win Album of the Year? Is 2025 the year Kendrick Lamar wins it all? Could Charli XCX nab her first Grammy? Here are our predictions for this weekend’s ceremony.
The 67th Grammy Awards are coming and it’s a particularly competitive year.
Beyoncé leads the 2025 nominees and looks set to make history… However, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan are all vying for their moment in the spotlight.
So, who will be victorious and take home the coveted gramophone-shaped trophies on Sunday?
It’s tough to predict, as the Grammy Awards are infamous for getting it wrong. After all, this is the awards body who chose Bob Dylan’s ‘Time Out of Mind’ over Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ in 1998; championed Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ ‘The Heist’ instead of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘good kid, m.A.A.d. city’ in 2014; and decided Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ wasn’t worth Album of the Year in 2017.
You can forgive, but forgetting is harder.
Still, any excuse to get our crystal ball out… Here are Euronews Culture’s predictions in the “big four” categories this year.
Album of the Year
Nominees:
- André 3000 – New Blue Sun
- Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
- Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet
- Charli XCX – Brat
- Jacob Collier – Djesse Vol 4
- Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft
- Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
- Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department
Queen Bey is up for 11 awards thanks to ‘Cowboy Carter‘, tying with Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ for most nominations for a single album. She’s also the most awarded artist in Grammys’ history, and if she does win Album of the Year, she’ll become the first Black woman to do so in the 21st century.
So, has the time finally come for Beyoncé to take home the top prize?
It is overdue. However, she does have some strong competition this year, which could lead the Beyhive to riot. Taylor Swift is the most prolific winner of the award, having won it four times; if she nabs it again, she’ll become the first female artist to win the prize in consecutive years… Charli XCX could continue her Brat domination… And then there’s Grammys darling Billie Eilish, who could very well end up dashing Bey’s hopes – as well as Chappell Roan’s, whose debut album ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ is a strong contender for the top prize.
All we know is that it won’t be André 3000’s flute-led album.
Will win: Beyoncé
Should win: Charli XCX
Record of the Year
Nominees:
- The Beatles – Now and Then
- Beyoncé – Texas Hold ’Em
- Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso
- Charli XCX – 360
- Billie Eilish – Birds of a Feather
- Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
- Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
- Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone – Fortnight
In case you were unsure, Grammy guidelines state that Record of the Year recognises the producers and engineers who contributed to the recording, while Song of the Year rewards the songwriters behind the track.
While there is a difference, most of the time the two go hand in hand.
While it’s tempting to give it to The Beatles for ‘Now And Then’, as the band have never won Record of the Year, the fact that the track was AI-assisted might send the wrong message.
Chappell Roan’s hit song ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ is superb and could be a worthy winner, while Sabrina Carpenter’s perfectly calibrated pop earworm ‘Espresso’ seems like a safe bet.
However, for our money, it’s between Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish for this category. Lamar’s diss track which essentially tanked Drake’s career and credibility is a glorious bop that highlights DJ Mustard’s craft, while Eilish’s mellow hit ‘Birds of a Feather’ was inescapable last year.
Considering the Grammys love Eilish to bits, we’d say it’s hers to lose.
Will win: Billie Eilish – Birds of a Feather
Should win: Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
Song of the Year
Nominees:
- Beyoncé – Texas Hold ’Em
- Billie Eilish – Birds of a Feather
- Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
- Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
- Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – Die With a Smile
- Sabrina Carpenter – Please Please Please
- Shaboozey – A Bar Song (Tipsy)
- Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone – Fortnight
This is another competitive field, but if Kendrick Lamar doesn’t go home with this one, we’ll curse the Grammy name to the high heavens.
We’re pretty sure he’s a lock for Best Rap Performance, but his game-changing track was a culturally-relevant and impactful song that will hopefully get the rewards it deserves. Plus, we’re hoping that the Grammy audience won’t be able to resist collectively singing the chorus as the GOAT accepts his award.
Will win: Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
Should win: Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
Best New Artist
Nominees:
- Benson Boone
- Sabrina Carpenter
- Doechii
- Khruangbin
- Raye
- Chappell Roan
- Shaboozey
- Teddy Swims
This one feels like it’s between Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan – which is strange, since Carpenter released her first album in 2015. Granted, it’s her sixth record ‘Short n’ Sweet’ which propelled her to superstardom, but she’s hardly ‘new’. Same goes for Roan, who has been releasing music for years now. However, ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’ was a mainstream powerhouse, and she’s likely to runaway with it.
That said, we’re hoping for an upset in the shape of Top Dawg Entertainment rapper Doechii.
Her release ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ is one of the biggest rap breakthroughs in years, and we can take some comfort in knowing that even if she doesn’t win Best New Artist, Doechii is still in the running for Best Rap Album. Granted, she’s up against Eminem – who the Grammy’s will give anything to regardless of quality releases – but she deserves to go home with at least that award. Fingers crossed.
Will win: Chappell Roan
Should win: Doechii
Oh and just because we can’t resist (and it’s an absolute tune), here’s Doechii:
The Grammy Awards take place in Los Angeles on Sunday 2 February (early Monday morning for European audiences). Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for the full breakdown of the awards on Monday morning.