Awards
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Ángela Aguilar has a tangible presence — even over Zoom. It’s mid-February and the 21-year-old singer is all smiles, almost giddy, as she joins our call from Mexico City, where she’s hunkered down in a studio working on her next album. “You probably didn’t recognize me because it’s a new me,” she says, referencing the shoulder-length, soft chocolate brown style that has replaced her signature short bob. “I do miss being [The Incredibles character] Edna ‘E’ Mode,” she adds with a grin, “but I’m enjoying this new stage.”
The “new me, new stage” goes beyond the new hairstyle. Ángela, the youngest of the Aguilar dynasty — her father is música mexicana icon Pepe Aguilar, her grandparents legendary Mexican entertainers Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre — married fellow regional Mexican superstar Christian Nodal last July in an intimate ceremony in Mexico (a subject she prefers to keep private and not discuss during our interview), and for the first time, she’s producing her own music.
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“I doubted myself a lot because I had never [produced] before, but I’m figuring out what I want my sound to be,” says Ángela, whose father produced all of her previous albums, including her latest, Bolero, which was nominated for album of the year at the 2024 Latin Grammy Awards. “At the beginning I was scared, but now I know that this album is me. It’s also scary to think if it goes well, it’s because of me, but if it goes badly, it’s also because of me.
“This is the first time I’m doing everything myself,” she continues. “I’m taking care of the arrangements, choosing the songs, directing myself vocally.” And for this project, she’s especially focused on supporting other female talent. “Most of the songs on the album are written by Mexican women. It’s a full mariachi album, but it is a little bit different; it has a modern twist, some subgenres in mariachi that you are not expecting me to ever sing.”
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While this may be her first time flying solo, Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Breakthrough honoree has for a while been on a journey of self-discovery behind the scenes, carefully strategizing how she moves through a genre that has been historically dominated by men. “It’s been a process of trial and error,” she says. “I’m still figuring out who I want to be and what I want to say.”
Her father has consistently encouraged that process. “My dad is the biggest macho ever, but he’ll be like, ‘Vas mijita. You can do it.’ Or he’ll tell me, ‘You’re not singing good enough, you have to be better.’ It prepares you to take on the world.”
Pooneh Ghana
Ángela made her stage debut as a toddler when she joined Pepe at one of his concerts. Five years later, at age 8, she released her first album, a joint set with her older brother Leonardo Aguilar. The two later joined Pepe on back-to-back arena tours when he launched Jaripeo Sin Fronteras in 2018, honoring the jaripeo-style show — singing while riding horses — that their grandparents pioneered. Along the way, Ángela landed three No. 1 songs on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart and four top 10 hits on Latin Airplay, including her first No. 1 on that chart, “Por el Contrario,” with Leonardo and Becky G, last year.
“No one really asked me if I wanted to do this,” she says when reflecting on her start in music and her journey from child star to regional Mexican fixture. “It just happened and I’m happy it was that way. When you’re younger, you don’t realize how huge this is. I just thought it was fun getting to dress up and sing with my grandparents or dad and then everyone clapped for me. But when I was around 10 years old, I fell in love with performing and I thought, ‘This is what I’m here for.’ ”
With her grandmother’s vibrant falsetto and a mesmerizing, regal presence onstage, Ángela makes even the difficult skill of singing on horseback look effortless. As might be expected for someone from a family of born performers, she is extremely disciplined and has a strict routine: Besides training to sing on horseback, she sings while running or dancing to build her vocal projection and physical energy. But her diligence hasn’t stopped her talented family from giving her their opinion.
“It’s constructive criticism,” Ángela says with a smirk. “We don’t see each other as often so when we do, it’s like, whoa, they definitely catch me up on their feedback. I’m in the studio working on my new album and I showed my mom one of the songs — it was literally a demo on a voice note — and my mom was like, ‘You have to open your mouth when you sing because I don’t understand what you’re saying.’ And my dad is the same way. It really helps me. I don’t want people to tell me something is good when it isn’t. There’s a lot of yes men in the industry, so the best thing in the world is to have a whole family who is part of this artistic life.”
Pooneh Ghana
Her mother, Aneliz Aguilar, is also her manager, and has been pivotal in helping Ángela navigate the industry. “Having her by my side has saved me,” Ángela says. “She has taken care of me in this industry that is so difficult for young women, so difficult to have your voice heard. She’ll also ask how I’m feeling or if I’m emotionally prepared for something. I mean, she’s my mommy, I love to have her with me. From the dresses she would make for me when I was little to now showing me how to be a woman, I’ve learned so much from her.”
Mid-conversation, another important family member enters the screen. “Look at Gordo,” she says, picking up the family’s Instagram-famous 4-year-old pug. “He’s going to be a dad — my [other] doggie is pregnant, and she will have pugsitos with Gordo. I’m going to be a grandma.” (A couple of weeks after our interview, five adorable pugsitos arrive.) Then she adds with a shrug, “Actually, it’s weird because my dad says Gordo is my brother but he’s having babies with my dog, who is my daughter. I’m not sure what that makes me.”
But for now, figuring out this family tree will have to wait: Ángela is headed back to the studio to keep working on her new album. “I’m getting out of my comfort zone but still honoring my roots and traditions. I just turned 21, so it’s kind of like exploring where I want my career to take me.”
Pooneh Ghana
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Memphis-bred rap star GloRilla knows a thing or two about staging a comeback.
In 2022, she exploded into the mainstream with the Grammy Award-nominated, summer-dominating “F.N.F.” — and quickly followed it up with the Cardi B-assisted “Tomorrow 2,” which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her first top 10 hit on the chart.
But 2023 proved to be a far cry from her triumphant rookie year. She kicked it off with the Moneybagg Yo collaboration “On What U On,” which stalled at No. 56 on the Hot 100 — and was her only release that year to even reach the chart. Everything she dropped bricked, whether it was the radio-ready “Lick or Sum” or her direct response to detractors, “Internet Trolls.” And that March, tragedy struck when three people died in a fatal crowd surge at her concert with Finesse2tymes in Rochester, N.Y. With her commercial pull waning, everyone on the internet (trolls and otherwise) seemed to agree: Big Glo had fallen off.
“2023 was an eye-opener for me,” the 25-year-old says. “I realized that I can’t take my foot off the gas. I didn’t know I was doing that, but I did. It was a reality check when I would drop music and people would hate it. Getting closer to God was one of the key things that helped me.”
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Born Gloria Hallelujah Woods, the eighth of 10 children, GloRilla grew up in the church. She sang in the choir and her mother only allowed gospel music in the house; as her taste evolved and she found a home in hip-hop, gospel music and its encouraging messages remained present in her raps — from 2022’s “Blessed” to “Rain Down on Me,” a gospel-rap track from Glorious, her 2024 debut studio album.
GloRilla also looked to Yo Gotti, the rap superstar and fellow Memphian who’s now her label head, as a mentor. Since Gotti signed Glo to his CMG Records imprint in 2022, the two have worked closely to hone her sound and image, taking her from viral breakout to presidential campaign surrogate (she performed at a Wisconsin rally for former Vice President Kamala Harris last fall). “Even with all the success and accolades, she’s still the same authentic and ambitious hustler that I met back in 2022,” Gotti says of Glo.
With the help of her CMG team, renowned choreographer Sean Bankhead and creative director Coco Gilbert, GloRilla spent late 2023 plotting the perfect road map to recapture her momentum. The plan worked: With her first release of 2024, the anthemic “Yeah Glo!,” GloRilla came out swinging. Arriving in February, the motivational anthem took over nightclubs, cookouts and locker room celebrations. The song topped Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay for two weeks and reached No. 28 on the Hot 100, then her highest peak for a solo single.
“To have that little break, come back with ‘Yeah Glo!’ and have it start going up on the first day [of release] — that was personal,” GloRilla tells Billboard in between rehearsals for her forthcoming Glorious tour.
“Yeah Glo!” was meant to introduce GloRilla’s debut album, but its runaway success significantly shifted those plans. “I felt like I had to build my momentum back, so that’s where the mixtape kicked in,” she explains. “We made that decision around the time ‘Yeah Glo!’ came out.” Ehhthang Ehhthang arrived in April and yielded another hit single, the Megan Thee Stallion-assisted “Wanna Be,” which later received a Cardi B remix and peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100. The week before, Megan had announced Glo as the special guest for her arena-conquering Hot Girl Summer Tour. Between Ehhthang Ehhthang and successful guest appearances on BossMan Dlow’s “Finesse” and Big Boogie’s “Bop,” GloRilla had become inescapable — and she hadn’t even launched her official album campaign yet.
While opening the Hot Girl Summer Tour in June, GloRilla released “TGIF,” which kicked her 2024 into an even higher gear. Within a week of the song’s release, Rihanna shared an instantly viral clip of herself adorably dancing and singing along to it. By February 2025, GloRilla became the first artist to simultaneously become a face of all four of Rihanna’s Fenty brands.
With Riri begging for an album in her DMs and Beyoncé posting pictures with her on Instagram, GloRilla had undoubtedly became the hottest woman MC in the game. As “TGIF” cemented her pop appeal, GloRilla kept her core audience fed — and reinforced her sound — with her feature on Real Boston Richey’s “Get in There.”
“Me and my team figured out the difference between a mixtape and album song: You just got to hear it,” she says. “My core sound is how [gritty] the mixtape sounded. When I went into album mode, I already had a lot of those songs before the mixtape — but I knew they weren’t mixtape songs.”
After months of recapturing and multiplying her momentum, GloRilla finally released Glorious in October. With collaborators ranging from Sexyy Red to Maverick City Music, Glo’s studio debut was a capstone on her massive year, earning the highest opening week total for an album by a female rapper in 2024 (69,000 units) for a No. 5 debut on the Billboard 200. Five of its songs landed on the Hot 100, including “Whatchu Kno About Me” (No. 17), which Taylor Swift later used to soundtrack an Eras Tour TikTok. “I was real excited about that,” Glo recalls. “Everybody was sending it to me — I was feeling like ‘that girl’ when she posted that.”
Now, after scoring three Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay No. 1 hits in under a year and being named Billboard’s Hottest Female Rapper of 2024, Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Powerhouse is determined to deliver an impeccable show on her tour, which commenced March 5 in Oklahoma City and will play arenas and music halls throughout the United States.
“Even though I’m not as good at dancing, I’m getting better and I learn fast,” she says, noting that her tour prep playlist includes gospel classics like Yolanda Adams’ “Open My Heart.” “I learn about two new routines a day. I like helping out with choreography because I get to do what I’m comfortable with and showcase my vision.”
Still, GloRilla isn’t as concerned with being the best rapper alive as she is with her own consistent personal growth. “I have the desire to be the best me I can be,” she proclaims.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
Country music stardom wasn’t in Megan Moroney’s plans. Though she wrote her first song at age 19, Moroney studied marketing and accounting at the University of Georgia. But in the end, that turned out to be just the preparation she needed for a career in Nashville.
“I guess because I grew up thinking I was going to be an accountant, I didn’t know much about the industry and what rules I should even be following,” Moroney, 27, says today. “There is definitely a bit of, ‘I’m going to do whatever I want to do.’ ”
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So just two months after the Georgia native released her debut EP, Pistol Made of Roses, independently in July 2022, she chose to put out another song not on the EP: “Tennessee Orange,” a ballad of a star-crossed romance between fans of two rival SEC football teams.
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At first, Moroney doubted her decision. “You spent every dollar that you have making this EP. Why would you release another song that’s going to take away from these songs?” she recalls thinking. But when Spotify offered to add a new song by Moroney to its Fresh Finds playlist — provided that she gave them one — the timing seemed perfect. “They are a huge platform, and that’s free marketing. Football season’s coming and I’ve got this football song. It made sense.”
That “football song” soared into the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and on the strength of that success, Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records signed Moroney in November 2022. With the labels’ help working it to country radio, “Tennessee Orange” reached the top five of the Country Airplay chart and has now been certified triple-platinum by the RIAA.
Selkie top, Nadri jewelry.
Tracy Allison
For the relatable songs on her debut album, 2023’s Lucky, and its follow-up, 2024’s Am I Okay? (which debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200), the self-described “emo cowgirl” drew on influences like John Prine and Emmylou Harris — but filtered them through the lens of a 20-something navigating life and love, such as on the mean-girl takedown “I’m Not Pretty” and the introspective “No Caller ID.” And Moroney’s marketing background keeps coming in handy: She’s connected with a wide audience thanks in large part to her innate branding acumen — using different colors to signify each new album era, for instance — and off-the-cuff use of social media.
“I like to create worlds around albums,” Moroney says. “I feel like my fans would be very upset if I didn’t continue that. I’ve been writing a lot, and I have a couple of colors in mind [for upcoming music].”
Last year, Moroney toured with Kenny Chesney and won two coveted industry honors: the Country MusicAssociation’s new artist of the year and the Academy of Country Music’s new female artist of the year trophies. And as she continues to amass commercial wins (her catalog has registered 2.1 billion official on-demand streams in the United States through Feb. 20, according to Luminate) and begins work on her next album, Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music Rulebreaker is still fearlessly following her creative impulses.
“I’m sure the next album will have a few emo cowgirl songs, but overall, I’ve been shocked at myself,” she says. “I’m still in the creative process, but it’s been happier than I thought.”
Dolce & Gabbana dress, Camila Cabello necklace, Nadri earrings and rings.
Tracy Allison
You have built a relationship with your fans through social media from the get-go. Why was that so important to you?
I think social media and the direct me-to-fan interactions is how it’s all blown up so quickly. I recently teased a song I had literally just written while I was in the islands. I was like, “I’m in the middle of the ocean and this song is such a vibe. I’m just going to post it.” Because I can share so much of my life and share songs quickly and react to what they like, I know what they like, so then I can put it out. And sometimes my life is just straight up boring, and I’m like, “Sorry, guys!”
How else have you broken rules in your career?
I’m definitely not putting myself in any kind of box. I love country music, and all the instrumentation [on my songs] is country, but I’m not just thinking about being in a field with trucks. With branding “Tennessee Orange,” I made the cover [art] on my phone. I have control of my social media. There is no “You should do this or you should wear this.”
Who, to you, has been a rule-breaker?
Artists that are true to themselves. Dolly [Parton] did her own thing. Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves — especially when Kacey was coming up, her songwriting opened the door for conversational, universal lyrics in country music. For me, that was the first artist where I’m like, “Can you say that in a country song? OK, cool. If she can say it, I can probably say it.”
Megan Moroney photographed on February 25, 2024 at The Paper House in Nashville. Selkie top and bloomer, Malie shoes and Nadri jewelry.
Tracy Allison
Last year, you performed with Tate McRae in Nashville. Do you feel a kinship with women pop artists?
The pop girls, I love their music. Tate and Olivia [Rodrigo] are amazing. I was so surprised, honestly, when I sang with Tate how much crossover our fans [have]. I was a little nervous to go out in front of Tate’s crowd. Even though it’s Nashville, I was like, “These people are going to be like, ‘Who is this girl?’ ” But fortunately, everyone freaked out, and so that made me happy.
For other artists who want to break rules, what advice do you have?
Trust your gut and make decisions based off you and your career alone. Don’t bring another artist’s success into how you think you should operate. It’s OK to take risks, too.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
When Jennie posted the long-awaited trailer announcing her debut solo album, Ruby, she was on a plane heading to London. “It’s hard for me to stay longer than a week in one city,” she confesses — while in the car en route to yet another flight (this time from Los Angeles back home to Seoul).
Jennie chose the commanding “Zen” to soundtrack the album’s January trailer, particularly highlighting the lyric “In the dark I grew,” a sentiment that echoes throughout Ruby. “To me, that song is the core of this album,” she says. “So it only felt right to begin this journey with it.”
The album, which is entirely in English and arrived March 7, was preceded by singles “Mantra”; “Love Hangover,” with Dominic Fike; and “ExtraL,” with Doechii; and its other features — including genre-spanning artists such as Dua Lipa, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis — further illustrate Jennie’s wide-ranging taste and global appeal. As a jet-setting artist with a devoted worldwide fan base firmly in place thanks to her role in history-making K-pop act Blackpink, Jennie is determined to build upon that on her own. (She released Ruby on her independent label, OddAtelier, in partnership with Columbia.) “It feels like my power as a superhero,” Billboard‘s 2025 Women in Music Global Force says. “It drives me to put more great things out there and work hard.”
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You already have a global fan base thanks to Blackpink. How did that benefit you on your solo journey?
If anything, I’m reintroducing myself to the world with this album. I’m throwing myself out there as if this was the very first time — that’s the commitment that I told myself. So I don’t think it changes so much for me.
You’ve adopted the middle name of Ruby Jane. How did that inspire the album title?
I was contemplating until the very end. I didn’t name [the album] Ruby because it’s a part of my name. To me, Ruby speaks to me as the curtain call of a play, where I’m opening this new chapter of… I don’t want to say new life; life is life, but a different stage in my life and I’m welcoming everyone in. I don’t necessarily see Jennie, Ruby, Jane as three different alter egos of mine. That’s just who I am, all in one.
Annakiki dress.
Songyi Yoon
You released a lyric breakdown of “Love Hangover” in Korean. Why was that important for you to do?
I love the fact that I’m Korean, so I’m just showing my appreciation and giving back the love that [my Korean fans] give me, and I wanted them to understand my music and myself better since this is an all-English album. And I know that they want to be more interactive with me in both languages.
What lyrics on Ruby best sum up how this journey has felt for you?
There’s a song that speaks to me in that sense called “Starlight,” and I think it’s a beautifully written song about how I felt for all this time. It’s a personal song.
Dua Lipa is featured on “Handlebars.” Tell me about that friendship.
I’ve known Dua for a very long time now. I went to her first show in Korea. We’re already good friends, [but] it was our first time doing a song together. That itself was a new experience for us to see each other in a different way, and we just had a great time.
Jacquemus top, David Koma pants, AREA hat.
Songyi Yoon
Between you two, who do you think travels more?
Honestly, we both work hard.
Behind the scenes, you have a strong team of women helping run your label. Why was that important to you?
I consider it to be important to work with people that you share good energy with, and I naturally started to gravitate toward empowering women. I’m still working hard to become one of those women that I look up to myself.
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.
The Heat Latin Music Awards, commonly known as Premios Heat, will have a new venue this year in Medellin, Colombia. “IT’S OFFICIAL! Medellín, the city where everything blooms, becomes the home of the HEAT Latin Music Awards 2025. See you in this magical city where music lives and inspires us,” the organization announced early Thursday […]
Tina Knowles is the ultimate matriarch in Hollywood, and the businesswoman and beloved mom to Beyoncé and Solange Knowles will be receiving a special honor at this year’s Billboard Women in Music event. Knowles will be the first-ever Mother of the Year honoree at the event taking place live at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, […]
Sir Elton John has been named the 2025 recipient of the Glenn Gould Prize. A wide range of creative talents have won the award over the years. John is only the second to come from the (broadly defined) rock world, following the late Leonard Cohen.
The award was established in 1987 by The Glenn Gould Foundation to honor the legacy of legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, whose 1956 album Bach: Goldberg Variations is considered a classic. Gould died in 1982 at age 50. He received a posthumous lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2013.
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“After spending decades admiring the virtuosity of Glenn Gould’s work, I am awestruck and honored to receive this award,” John said in a statement. John, of course, has won countless lifetime achievement awards, including the Kennedy Center Honors, the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, a Grammy Legend Award, the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and induction into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Glenn Gould Prize is awarded biennially and includes a CDN$100,000 cash award for the Laureate, who also selects an exceptional young artist to receive the CDN$25,000 Glenn Gould Protégé Prize.
“In selecting our Laureate, Elton John, we chose to honor someone who has great artistic accomplishments, but whose life and whose art has been translated into something much greater than just performance or the consumption of music and things they’ve created,” said the Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada and this year’s jury chair for the Glenn Gould Prize.
“Elton John has used his enormous talent and his great success to change lives. He’s been courageous in taking on causes, whether AIDS, LGBTQ+ rights, addiction and all sorts of issues that were not popular when he engaged with them and he was prepared to take the wonderful success that his musical talent had given him to make a difference in the world. And from our perspective that represents the highest level of achievement for an artist and celebrates the memory of Glenn Gould in the best way.”
“Elton John embodies the spirit of artistic excellence, innovation, and profound humanity that The Glenn Gould Prize was created to celebrate,” added Brian Levine, CEO, Glenn Gould Foundation. “Glenn Gould’s vision was one of boundless creativity, fearless originality and an unshakable commitment to using music as a force for good in the world. Sir Elton has exemplified these ideals throughout his extraordinary career, not only with his incredible musical catalogue and immense talent but also championing emerging artists across genres and using his global platform to inspire transformational humanistic change. His enduring impact on music and culture makes him a truly perfect recipient of this honor.”
The announcement of The Glenn Gould Prize Laureate was made during a public event at Kings Place in London. The event featured a Q&A session with the jury and performances by South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza and 17-year-old Canadian piano prodigy Ryan Wang.
Living candidates of any nationality are eligible for The Glenn Gould Prize, with nominations coming from the public. Disciplines include but are not limited to musical creation or performance, theater, dance, choreography, writing, design, film, television, radio and broadcasting, visual art, multimedia, writing, technology/innovation, architecture and design.
The prize will be presented to John during a special gala celebration to be held in Toronto this fall.
Here’s a complete list of recipients of the Glenn Gould Prize:
1987: R. Murray Shafer
1990: Yehudi Menuhin
1993: Oscar Peterson
1996: Tōru Takemitsu
1999: Yo-Yo Ma
2002: Pierre Boulez
2005: André Previn
2008: José Antonio Abreu
2011: Leonard Cohen
2013: Robert Lepage
2015: Philip Glass
2018: Jessye Norman
2020: Alanis Obomsawin
2022: Gustavo Dudamel
2025: Sir Elton John
The Billboard Latin Women in Music special is scheduled to return for its third edition on April 24 at 9 p.m. ET via Telemundo, Billboard and Telemundo announced Thursday (March 20).
Hosted by the legendary Mexican singer and songwriter Ana Bárbara, who was among the 2024 honorees, the two-hour event will celebrate the groundbreaking women who are shaping the future of Latin music. The show will also be available to stream live on the Telemundo app and Peacock.
“We are thrilled to partner with Billboard once again to commemorate the incredible achievements of Latin women in music,” Francisco “Cisco” Suarez, Telemundo’s evp, primetime unscripted & specials, said in a press release. “At Telemundo, we are committed to empowering and uplifting voices that inspire and resonate with our audience and look forward to an unforgettable night of celebration filled with captivating performances.”
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“Billboard Latin Women in Music is a powerful platform that shines a spotlight on the extraordinary talent, resilience and impact of Latinas in the music industry,” added Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer for Latin/Español. “We are proud to continue this celebration alongside Telemundo, honoring the women who are breaking barriers, shaping culture and inspiring future generations through their artistry. This year’s show promises unforgettable performances and heartfelt moments that showcase the strength and brilliance of Latin women in music.”
This year’s honorees and performers will be announced at a later date.
Ana Bárbara, a renowned singer, songwriter, producer and actress who received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement honor for her significant contributions to music, returns this year to host the special. Throughout her career, the hitmaker behind anthems such as “Bandido” and “Loca” has been a beacon of empowerment, resilience and advocacy for female representation. She has shattered barriers and paved the way for other women in the industry, becoming an artistic inspiration and a respected figure in the Regional Mexican genre.
On the Billboard charts, she’s had hits including “Me Asusta Pero Me Gusta,” “La Trampa,” “Ya No Te Creo Nada” and “No Lloraré” reaching the top 10 of Hot Latin Songs, while albums such as Ay Amor (1996) and Yo Soy La Mujer (2014) have established her as a mainstay on Regional Mexican Albums.
Besides Ana Bárbara, last year’s honorees included Karol G as Woman of the Year, Gloria Estefan as Legend, La India as Pioneer, Ángela Aguilar with the Musical Dynasty Award, Camila Cabello with the Global Impact award, Kany García as Spirit of Change and Kali Uchis as Rising Star.
It’s a few days late to tie in with St. Patrick’s Day, but U2 are the first Irish songwriters to be named Ivors Academy Fellows. They are the second group to receive the honor, following Bee Gees.
Ivors Academy Fellows is the highest honor that the organization, best known for their annual Ivor Novello Awards, bestows. The award will be presented at this year’s The Ivors with Amazon Music event at Grosvenor House in London on Thursday May 22. This year’s Ivor Novello Award nominees will be announced on Wednesday April 23.
With U2’s inclusion, the total number of Fellows rises to 32. This counts U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.) as four individuals and Bees Gees (Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb) as three. Most of the honorees (see full list at the end of this story) have hailed from Britain, though the roster also includes American composer/conductor John Adams, American rock singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen and French composer/conductor Pierre Boulez.
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Formed in Dublin in 1978, U2 is one of the greatest songwriting partnerships and most influential bands of all time. The band has amassed eight No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. U2 is the only band to have a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in four consecutive decades (the 1980s through the 2010s).
U2 has won 22 Grammy Awards, far more than any other group in history. This tally includes four wins in songwriting categories: two for song of the year (for “Beautiful Day” and “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”) and two for best rock song (for “Vertigo” and “City of Blinding Lights”).
In addition, the band members have received two Oscar nominations for best original song, for “The Hands That Built America” (from Gangs of New York) and “Ordinary Love” (from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom).
U2 has won four Ivor Novello Awards – the Special Award for International Achievement in 1994, Best Song Musically and Lyrically for “Walk On” in 2002, Outstanding Song Collection in 2003 and International Hit of the Year for “Vertigo” in 2005.
Other prized songs by U2 include “I Will Follow,” “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “With or Without You” and “One.”
“To be recognised in this way by The Ivors Academy feels very special indeed,” U2’s Adam Clayton said in a statement. “The appreciation of one’s peers is a humbling honour and we are immensely grateful. We’ve been playing our songs in this country for over 45 years, thank you to all those who have not just supported us, but carried us… producers, engineers, crew, fans, management, label.”
Bandmate Larry Mullen Jr. added: “Making music collectively, as we’ve done for close to 50 years, has been an incredible experience and privilege for the four of us and I believe it’s a testament to a band that values individual creativity and independence of mind. We are grateful to each other and very grateful to The Ivors Academy for recognising us with this award.”
Tom Gray, chair of The Ivors Academy said in a statement: “With fearless poetic lyricism always centre-stage in panoramic musical vistas, the sound of U2 has redefined the fabric of popular music. Their songs are sweeping catalysts: hymnals and rallying cries. U2’s induction into Fellowship honours their seminal contributions to music through exceptional songwriting craft.”
Roberto Neri, CEO of The Ivors Academy, added: “We are proud to welcome U2 to Fellowship of The Ivors Academy as era-defining songwriters whose legacy continues to propel musical innovation and inspire social progress. As U2’s politically charged anthems have sparked global change, The Ivors Academy is committed to championing creative integrity with the same unwavering passion. At a time when AI threatens to undermine human creativity, U2’s Fellowship stands as a testament to the irreplaceable role of songwriters and composers in shaping culture and inspiring change.”
U2’s many other awards include the Kennedy Center Honors in 2022 and Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award.
Here’s a full, updated list of Fellows of the Ivors Academy. Notes: Multiple honorees in a single year are listed alphabetically. Paul McCartney’s team prefers not to list him with his Sir honorific.
2000: Paul McCartney
2001: Sir Malcolm Arnold CBE, John Barry OBE
2004: John Adams, Sir Elton John
2005: David Arnold, Pierre Boulez CBE, Sir John Dankworth CBE, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies CH CBE
2006: Sir Barry Gibb CBE, Maurice Gibb CBE, Robin Gibb CBE
2007: George Fenton
2009: Don Black OBE, David Ferguson
2010: Sir Tim Rice
2012: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber
2015: Annie Lennox OBE
2020: Joan Armatrading CBE, Julian Joseph OBE
2021: Kate Bush CBE
2022: Peter Gabriel, Judith Weir CBE
2023: John Rutter CBE, Sting
2024: Sir James Macmillan, Bruce Springsteen, Errollyn Wallen
2025: Bono (Paul Hewson), Adam Clayton, The Edge (Dave Evans), Larry Mullen Jr.
Sitting in a sun-drenched room at Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton, Gracie Abrams is shaking her head “no.” She’s reflecting on a breakout 2024 — during which she scored her highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 hit to date and received her second Grammy Award nomination, for “Us,” a collaboration with none other than Taylor Swift. But Abrams still struggles to see herself as the superstar she’s become.
“It’s such a dream and a pretty wild ride to look back on the year and be able to reflect on all of these moments that I never could have imagined ever happening,” the 25-year-old says in quiet awe. When it comes to the matter of her smash hit “That’s So True,” it is true — she never saw it coming. After humming the song’s in-the-works hook and melody for months, she and her songwriting partner and roommate Audrey Hobert finished it in about 15 minutes one day after “laughing our asses off on the roof” of New York’s Electric Lady Studios.
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The catchy, stream-of-consciousness song was one of four additions to the deluxe version of Abrams’ second album, The Secret of Us (which arrived in October), but quickly surpassed the album’s previous hits, including “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “Close to You” (which peaked at Nos. 19 and 49, respectively, while “True” reached No. 6). Such wins have helped Abrams, who co-wrote and co-produced every track on The Secret of Us and its deluxe edition, earn the Billboard‘s 2025 Women in Music Songwriter of the Year honor — but, with characteristic humility, she won’t say she’s mastered the craft just yet.
“F–k no! Sorry,” she says with a laugh. “I feel very far away from having mastered anything in my life. But I will continue to attempt to get closer to that point.”
Sami Drasin
Since you released your debut album in 2023, how have you grown as a songwriter?
What I can point to specifically that has broadened my horizons is the partnership I’ve had with Audrey. She’s my oldest friend and we very much grew up together, and then to fold in this collaborative [relationship] was not something either of us ever would have anticipated. But as a songwriter, to find someone who you feel so open with, who you trust so much, who knows everything about you, who knows what your conversational language sounds like, who knows if you’re lying about a feeling… it infused so much life into our album that we made together.
What’s an example of a time she called “bulls–t” on you?
Less like “bulls–t” and more [like] in the morning if I would come downstairs and she’s like, “How are you doing?” I’m like, “I’m fine.” And she’s like, “You f–king liar.” Or like, “I’m really over that person,” [and she’s like,] “No, you’re not, you liar.” We checked each other as much in our songwriting process as we did in our day-to-day friendship.
Sami Drasin
Sami Drasin
As we speak, you’re about to head out on your European/U.K. tour [which Abrams wrapped March 12]. How did you spend your time before returning to the road?
I have just come back from being at Aaron [Dessner’s studio, Long Pond, in New York] so I feel like… I’m in the middle of something. I don’t know what it is yet… We’ve been collecting a whole lot of music over the past few months, and he and I are both very curious about all of it because I think [the songs] belong in different worlds a little bit, which excites me. I think that means there are many possibilities for what either the singular project looks like or multiple [projects].
You said you haven’t mastered songwriting yet. Do you feel close?
No. Oh, my God, no. I want to broaden my vocabulary times a thousand. I want to spend the majority of my year reading so that I can do that. I feel nowhere near that level. I have a million people I want to continue to learn from. Taylor is a great example of someone I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time around and every single time I’m like, “Tell me everything you know, please. Teach me how to be.” I want to live fully and do my best to capture what that feels like.
Gracie Abrams photographed February 1, 2025 at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
Sami Drasin
This story appears in the March 22, 2025, issue of Billboard.