Grammy Nominations
The Recording Academy has withdrawn 2025 Grammy nominations for J-Kwon (Jerrell C. Jones), Joe Kent and Mark Williams, the writers of J-Kwon’s 2004 hit “Tipsy,” which is interpolated in Shaboozey’s megahit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
The genre-bridging smash received Grammy nods for song of the year and best country song on Nov. 8. If it wins either or both awards when the 67th annual Grammy Awards are presented on Feb. 2, the writers of the original “Tipsy” will receive certificates, not Grammy trophies.
The decision was made on Dec. 12, and was announced in the Academy’s Grammy Award Update Center, which carries this legend: “Each year, the Recording Academy makes adjustments to the nominations list as-necessary after the list is first published. Common changes are often the result of updated credits and may include spelling corrections, title modifications, and the addition of nominees who were not included in the original submission, among other revisions.”
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Grammy rules state that “songs that contain samples or interpolations are eligible” for song of the year. But they also make a distinction between songwriters of the new song (who are eligible for Grammys) and “publisher & songwriter(s) of sampled or interpolated material, if applicable),” who are eligible only for certificates.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” includes the lines, “One, here comes the two to the three to the four” and “everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy,” which are borrowed from “Tipsy.” J-Kwon joined Shaboozey to perform the smash on the BET Awards on June 30. “BET, make some noise for Mr. Tipsy himself, all the way from St. Louis, J-Kwon,” Shaboozey said in introducing the rapper.
In a Q&A posted on April 26, the week the song entered the Hot 100 at No. 36, J-Kwon told Billboard’s Michael Saponara that he was very well compensated for the lift. “I got a crazy percentage… Let’s say it like this, we did that together, and I’m proud of him.”
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” logged 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which put it in a tie with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) for the longest run at No. 1 in the chart’s 66-year history. “Old Town Road” also contains borrowed elements. It features a sample of Nine Inch Nails’ “34 Ghosts IV,” which was co-written by that band’s Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. “Old Town Road” wasn’t nominated for Grammys in songwriting categories, but it was entered for song of the year. The listing did not show Reznor and Ross as co-writers, which is consistent with Grammy rules. (“Old Town Road” went on to two Grammys — best pop duo/group performance and best music video — and was nominated for record of the year.)
If the Grammy decision is a disappointment for J-Kwon and his collaborators on “Tipsy,” they may want to head for the nearest open bar to drown their troubles. They may even be able to get a good song out of it.
Each year, the Recording Academy tweaks its Grammy nominations list with changes and corrections. That’s to be expected in a list of 94 categories, which contains hundreds of entries and thousands of names. When the nominations for best compilation soundtrack for visual media were announced a week ago, the information provided was incomplete; the Academy has now filled in those credits.
Film stars Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper are among the nominees that category. (Cooper was listed as a nominee last week, but more information has been provided.) This is Reynolds’ second Grammy nomination. He was previously nominated in this category for Deadpool 2 six years ago. This is Cooper’s fourth nod. He is a two-time Grammy winner. He won in this category five years ago for A Star Is Born and also won for best pop duo/group performance for “Shallow,” his Hot 100-topping collab with Lady Gaga.
Interesting note: The directors of four of the films that are represented in this category received Grammy nods as soundtrack compilation producers. They are Blitz Bazawule (The Color Purple), Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine), Cooper (Maestro) and Emerald Fennell (Saltburn). (Lee Isaac Chung, the director of Twisters, which spawned the fifth nominee in the category, is not nominated for the soundtrack.)
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Stephen Bray is among the nominated compilation producers of The Color Purple. This is his seventh Grammy nomination; his third for this lucrative property. He was nominated for best musical theater album for the Broadway show in 2007 and won for best musical show album for a revival of the show in 2017. Fun Fact: Bray received his first Grammy nod in 1988 as a member of The Breakfast Club, nominees for best new artist.
Per long-established academy practice, names listed in parentheses are not nominees. They are shown just for identification purposes.
Here are the nominees for best compilation soundtrack for visual media.
The Color Purple
(Various Artists)
Nick Baxter, Blitz Bazawule, and Stephen Bray, compilation producers
Jordan Carroll and Morgan Rhodes, music supervisors
Deadpool & Wolverine
(Various Artists)
Dave Jordan, Shawn Levy & Ryan Reynolds, compilation producers
Dave Jordan, music supervisor
Maestro: Music By Leonard Bernstein
Bradley Cooper, Yannick Nezet-Seguin (London Symphony Orchestra), artists
Bradley Cooper, Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Jason Ruder, compilation producers
Steven Gizicki, music supervisor
Saltburn
(Various Artists)
Emerald Fennell, compilation producer
Kirsten Lane, music supervisor
Twisters: The Album
(Various Artists)
Ian Cripps, Brandon Davis, Joe Khoury & Kevin Weaver, compilation producers
Mike Knobloch & Rachel Levy, music supervisors
11/12/2024
They’re no doubt grateful for the nominations they received, but also probably surprised and maybe even stung by the ones that eluded them.
11/12/2024
Tears have been happily flowing from RAYE ever since she found out she scored her first three Grammy nominations on Friday morning (Nov. 8). The English singer-songwriter earned nods for best new artist, songwriter of the year, non-classical and best engineered album, non-classical for her work on Lucky Daye‘s album Algorithm. This marks the first […]
In recent years, the Grammys have served up several decisive sweeps (and head scratching omissions) that have dominated the conversation and led to some record labels celebrating huge wins in the Big Four categories of record of the year, song of the year, album of the year and best new artist. Within the past decade, Interscope Records emerged victorious in all four categories when Billie Eilish swept the top honors in 2020, while Atlantic’s Bruno Mars took three of the four in 2018, Columbia’s Adele did the same in 2017 and Capitol, through Beck (AOTY) and Sam Smith (BNA, ROTY and SOTY), swept them all in 2015.
What makes the full Big Four sweep particularly difficult is the best new artist aspect, in that rarely does an artist make such an impact with their initial breakthrough that they can win, or even get nominated in, the record, song and album of the year categories. It’s not unheard of — Eilish, Smith, Lizzo, Olivia Rodrigo, Amy Winehouse and Norah Jones have all been nominated in the Big Four categories in a single year this century, with Eilish and Jones sweeping the wins — but it’s not exactly common, either.
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Which makes this year particularly notable: Both Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan received nominations in each of the Big Four categories for the 2025 Grammy Awards, marking just the second time that two artists have achieved that in the same year. (Eilish and Lizzo both received them in 2020.) Even more, they’re both signed to Island Records, a historic achievement for a historic label.
With those eight nods — for Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” (record and song); Roan’s The Rise & Fall of a Midwest Princess (album); Carpenter’s Short N Sweet (album); Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” (song); Carpenter’s “Espresso” (record); and BNA for both — Island leads all labels in Big Four nominations, a huge moment for a label that had not been at that table at all in years.
Following Island is Interscope, which racked up seven Big Four nominations through a combination of Kendrick Lamar (record and song for “Not Like Us”), Billie Eilish (record and song for “Birds of a Feather,” album for Hit Me Hard And Soft), Jacob Collier (Interscope distributes his Hajanga label, which put out his album of the year-nominated Djesse Vol. 4), and Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga’s “Die With a Smile” (song), which came out on Interscope (Mars’ label Atlantic did play a role, but Interscope is the credited label).
Beyond Island and Interscope, many of the rest of the nominations were spread out among several labels. Receiving three nods apiece were Republic (album, record and song for Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department and “Fortnite”) and Columbia (album, record and song for Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER and “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”). Elsewhere, EMPIRE (best new artist for Shaboozey and song for Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”) received two, as did Warner (best new artist for both Benson Boone and Teddy Swims), Atlantic (album for Charli XCX’s BRAT and record for Charli’s “360”) and Capitol (best new artist for Doechii and record of the year for the Beatles’ AI-assisted “Now and Then”). Lastly, Epic (album for Andre 3000’s New Blue Sun), dead oceans (best new artist for Khruangbin) and Human Re Sources (best new artist for RAYE) all received one nomination each.
Among the label groups, that means that the Universal Music Group — home to Island, Interscope, Republic and Capitol — racked up 20 of those Big Four nominations, far and away leading the sector. (Given UMG’s recent reorganization, the REPUBLIC Corps Collective claimed 11 nominations, while the Interscope Capitol Labels Group had nine.) Finally, Sony Music had five, Warner Music landed four, while the indie sector claimed three.
Once again, it’s Queen Bey’s world, we’re just living in it.Beyoncé made history on Friday (Nov. 8) when she landed 11 2025 Grammy Award nominations, setting a one-year record for nods for a woman artist. The Cowboy Carter star had previously shared the title with Lauryn Hill, who earned 10 noms in 1999; Bey got 10 as well in 2010.
She wasn’t alone in racking up multiple nominations, with Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone tied for second place with seven nods and Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift tied for third place with six nominations.
Records fell all over the place, with Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department marking her seventh album of the year nomination, helping her break a tie with Barbra Streisand for the woman with the most AOTY nods. Beyoncé also made history when Cowboy Carter got an AOTY bid, elevating the singer to the pole position on the list of Black artists with the most AOTY nominations as a lead artist; she was formerly tied with Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar on that list.
Bey has been up for the night’s top prize four other times, but to date has never won the award. In addition, Cowboy Carter has officially become the most Grammy-nominated album of all time, surpassing previous record-holders Michael Jackson’s Thriller and husband Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3, which both earned 10 noms; her earlier albums Renaissance and Lemonade both earned nine AOTY nominations.
Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” snagged record and song of the year nominations, putting the Compton MC in a tie with Jay-Z for the most noms in each of those categories by a rapper. Roan and Carpenter both racked up nominations in each of the Big Four categories – album, record and song of the year and best new artist – marking the third time in Grammy history that two artists have achieved that quadfecta in the same year.
Eilish ran up her fifth record of the year nomination for “Birds of a Feather,” making the singer the first artist in Grammy history to roll up five record of the year nods before turning 23; Eilish will turn that age on Dec. 18. Grammy darling Swift got her record-extending eighth song of the year nomination for co-writing the Tortured Poets single “Fortnight,” a category she has yet to win in. Swift co-wrote “Fortnight” with Jack Antonoff and Post Malone, whose nomination marks his second in that category.
“Fortnight” is also up for record of the year, with Posty scoring additional attention in best pop duo/group performance for his Cowboy Carter duet with Bey on “Levii’s Jeans,” as well as best country duo/group performance for his smash single “I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen, which also got a nod for best country song.
Charli XCX might celebrate her Brat summer next year thanks to a record of the year nomination for her single “360,” as well as AOTY notices for Brat and best pop solo performance for “Apple,” among other noms.
For the full list of this year’s nominees, click here. The 67th annual Grammy Awards will take place on Feb. 2 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Below, find the artists who have the most 2025 Grammy nominations.
The Recording Academy recently announced that 66% of its voting members have joined since 2019, when the academy adopted a peer-reviewed membership model. Harvey Mason Jr., the academy’s CEO, says the change in the membership can be seen in this year’s nominations.
Album of the year nominees include three albums from genres that are not in regular rotation in this top category – André 3000’s New Blue Sun, which is also nominated for best alternative jazz album; Charli XCX’s Brat, which is also nominated for best dance/electronic album; and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, which is also nominated for best country album.
Mason took time on the eve of the nominations reveal to talk to Billboard about the nominations. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
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In a press release, you were quoted saying “These nominations reflect the work of a voting body that is more representative of the music community than ever before.” Can you point to a specific nomination that illustrates that point?
I would start by looking at the General Field [which includes the Big Four categories – record, album and song of the year plus best new artist]. The reach of genres in those categories – country, rap, alternative jazz – is a direct reflection of the diversity of our membership.
66% of this year’s voters are new [since 2019]. More than 3,000 women voters have joined. People of color are now almost 40%. That is a stark difference from where we were about four or five years ago. Definitely, the tastes, the ears, the outcomes are going to change.
Back in July, I sent a very direct message to our voters. I asked them to please vote with purpose; vote with intention; vote with your ears. And I’m really, really pleased. It seems like they definitely did that.
I was a little surprised by The Beatles being nominated for record of the year for “Now and Then.”
You can never be surprised by The Beatles popping up. When I was nominated many moons ago [for Dreamgirls, nominated for best pop compilation soundtrack album for motion picture, television or other visual media], I thought I had that sucker won, and then The Beatles came along and snatched it [for Love, featuring music remixed for the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name].
To me, the AI is kind of the interesting part [of ‘Now and Then’]. It’s a great example of how AI definitely enhanced some creativity as opposed to creating a fake voice. This was a cool use of AI that I felt made a lot of sense and I’m pleased it’s been nominated.
Beyoncé was shut out in the nominations at the CMA Awards, a very credible show, and leads here with 11 nominations for the same album. How do you reconcile that?
I would reconcile it by saying our voters really resonated with the music. And it wasn’t just one group of voters. Because of our 10-3 rule, voters have to declare [no more than] three fields you’re going to vote in, so you’re not just wandering all over the ballot voting. Country voters voted for Beyoncé in country. Different voters voted for her in rap – she’s nominated for best melodic rap performance. It’s totally different subsets of voters. So, I think it’s really impressive.
Jack Antonoff co-produced two albums that are nominated for album of the year (Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department). He’s the only producer with two albums in that category, but he’s not nominated for producer of the year, non-classical. How do you explain that?
Yeah, that’s definitely different. I can’t speak for the voters. They each vote in their own way, but it’s something to look at.
This is the second year in a row you’ve had eight nominees in each of the Big Four categories. Before that, it was 10 for two years and before that it was eight for three years. Do you like eight?
I do because I think it gives us the opportunity to celebrate more music than five [nominees, which was the norm before 2018]; more diverse genres and to hear from a lot of different artists. I think maybe to get much higher than that, it starts to get confusing, too many to choose from for voters and maybe diluting the category. We’re trying to find the sweet spot, the right number. We’ll continue to look at it.
André 3000’s album wasn’t a big hit – it spent two weeks on the Billboard 200 last December – but it’s up for album of the year.
That’s hopefully reflective of the fact that they listened to the music and they’re not basing it on chart positions or fan reactions or streaming numbers. It’s really based on the quality of the music. You don’t know what’s going to resonate from year to year. This year, these eight albums resonated with our voters and I think they did a great job.
Cowboy Carter is the only country album up for album of the year and even Beyoncé wrote on Instagram, ‘This ain’t a Country album, it’s a Beyoncé album.’ We don’t have a Chris Stapleton or a Kacey Musgraves or a Lainey Wilson in there. It seems to me you’re perennially a little light on country. When you see the nominations every year, do you think ‘We need to work on this’?
I say that about a lot of things when I see the nominations – more so when I see our voting membership numbers. We’re always working on this. The membership team is working really hard, making adjustments to the membership so that we’re reflective of the music community. Yes, we’re working on balancing out different genres, and we’ll continue to do that work. But you’re not wrong.
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It seems Diddy will stay away from the public eye much longer than many expected. He will not be attending the 2024 Grammy Awards despite being nominated.
Digital Music News is reporting that the Bad Boy Entertainment mogul will not be in the house for the 66th edition of the ceremony that will honor the best in music. The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively confirmed this with one of Diddy’s representatives. His decision to bow out seems to stem from the multiple allegations of sexual assault made against the New York City native. While the Board of Trustees of the Recording Academy have not formally rescinded his invite, they told Radar Online on Dec. 11 that they are “taking very seriously and we are in the process of evaluating it with the time and care that it deserves.”
Diddy’s latest effort, The Love Album: Off The Grid, was nominated for Best Progressive R&B album along with SZA’s SOS, Janelle Monáe’s The Age Of Pleasure, 6LACK’s Since I Have A Lover and Nova by Terrence Martin and James Fauntleroy. This nod marks Diddy’s first Grammy Award nomination since 2004 when he won for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Shake Ya Tailfeather” with Nelly and Murphy Lee.
In the past, the Recording Academy has faced criticism for including talent facing scandal. Last year, Dave Chappelle, Dr. Luke and Louis CK were all respectively nominated for awards. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, they made it clear that the nominations do not necessarily reflect the feelings of the Academy. “Our job is to evaluate the art and the quality of the art. The thing that we can control is making sure that people that attend our events feel safe … and don’t feel threatened by anyone,” Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said.
Diddy has denied all the allegations against him.
Tyla, the 21-year old South African singer/songwriter, has exquisite timing.
She has broken big just as the Recording Academy added a new category this year, best African music performance. Her global hit “Water” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart on Oct. 21, one day after first-round voting for the 66th Grammy Awards ended. On Nov. 10, “Water” was announced as one of the nominees in that category. This week, just two weeks before final-round voting begins, that hit breaks into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Final-round voting extends from Dec. 14 to Jan. 4, 2024.)
Tyla couldn’t have timed her breakthrough, and her song’s emergence as a top 10 hit, better if she had done it all specifically with Grammy deadlines in mind.
Does having a hit right as Grammy voters are making their final selections make a difference? Let’s just say it never hurt.
And Tyla isn’t alone. Here are other songs in this week’s top 40 on the Hot 100 that are nominated for Grammys this year (or are from albums that are Grammy-nominated). We also included two artists with hits in the current top 40 who are nominated for best new artist (Jelly Roll and Noah Kahan).
The numbers shown are the song’s ranking on the Hot 100 dated Dec. 2.
3. Doja Cat, “Paint the Town Red.” Best pop solo performance
5. SZA, “Snooze.” Best R&B song, album of the year and best progressive R&B album (SOS).
6. Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything.” Best country duo/group performance, best country song, best country album (Zach Bryan)
10. Tyla, “Water.” Best African music performance
14. Morgan Wallen, “Last Night.” Best country song (Note: Wallen isn’t nominated because he didn’t co-write the song.)
18. Luke Combs, “Fast Car.” Best country solo performance
21. Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor.” Best new artist
22. Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson, “Save Me.” Best new artist, best country duo/group performance
23. Olivia Rodrigo, “Vampire.” Record of the year, song of the year, best pop solo performance, album of the year and best pop vocal album (Guts)
27. Chris Stapleton, “White Horse.” Best country solo performance, best country song
30. Miley Cyrus, “Used to Be Young.” Album of the year and best pop vocal album (Endless Summer Vacation)
31. Dua Lipa, “Dance the Night.” Song of the year, best song written for visual media, best score soundtrack for visual media (Barbie: The Album)
36. Billie Eilish, “What Was I Made For.” Record of the year, song of the year, best pop solo performance, best music video, best song written for visual media, best score soundtrack for visual media (Barbie: The Album)
37. Noah Kahan, “Stick Season.” Best new artist
Last week, the Recording Academy added Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as arrangers of the classical-shaded treatment of The Rolling Stones’ rock classic “Paint It Black,” which was recorded for a memorable cello scene in the first episode of Netflix’s Wednesday. Jagger and Richards are now listed alongside Esin Aydingoz, Chris Bacon and Alana Da Fonseca, who had been listed as the arrangers of the track when the nominations for best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella were announced on Nov. 10.
Wednesday, which debuted on Netflix in November 2022, has also aired cello renditions of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and Dua Lipa’s “Physical.”
This is the first Grammy nomination as arrangers for Jagger and Richards. The rock legends have shared 15 nods over the years; Jagger has achieved two more on his own. Jagger and Richards are also nominated this year for best rock song for co-writing “Angry,” which was the lead single from Hackney Diamonds, the band’s first studio album of new material in 18 years.
The Stones’ original version of “Paint It Black” was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1966. (The title was originally shown as “Paint It, Black,” apparently due to a typo.)
This is the second time Jagger and Richards have been nominated for a Grammy on account of a new recording that borrowed from a Stones classic. At the 41st Grammy Awards in February 1999, they were nominated for best rock song for The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” which was based on a sample from a version of The Stones’ “The Last Time” by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” reached No. 12 on the Hot 100 in April 1998.
The Verve had obtained rights to use the sample of “The Last Time” from the copyright holder, Decca Records, but were denied permission from The Stones’ former manager, Allen Klein. Following a lawsuit, The Verve relinquished all royalties, and Jagger and Richards were added to the songwriting credits, alongside The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft. In 2019, a decade after Klein’s death in 2009, Jagger, Richards and Klein’s son ceded the rights to Ashcroft. The Grammy nods for Jagger and Richards (alongside Ashcroft) remain, however.
The Stones’ original versions of “The Last Time” and “Paint It Black” weren’t nominated for Grammys. In fact, The Stones weren’t nominated for a Grammy in any category until 1978, when their Billboard 200-topping album Some Girls was nominated for album of the year. How to explain the Grammys snubbing such all-time classics as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Brown Sugar”? The Grammys were resistant to rock in the 1960s, and didn’t have genre categories exclusively dedicated to rock until 1979. The Academy attempted to make amends with the band in 1986 when it presented them with a lifetime achievement award.
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