The 2025 Grammy nominations have been announced and many have been left wondering: Who will win in the big four categories? Who will sweep? Who will be snubbed? With categories stacked with artists of immense talent and popularity, here are my best guesses as to who will win and who should win in the biggest categories.
Starting with a highly anticipated category, Best New Artist, the following artists are nominated: Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, RAYE, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, and Teddy Swims. Sabrina Carpenter will likely win this category, because of her recent rise to worldwide stardom fueled by singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”. The fact that Carpenter is even nominated for Best New Artist, despite the fact that she’s been making music for nearly ten years, shows that the Grammys are preparing to hand her the award. However, another artist may deserve to win this category more than Carpenter. Chappell Roan’s rapid rise to superstar status following her 2024 Coachella performance and her October 2023 album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, along with the clever songwriting and instrumentation of songs like “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Red Wine Supernova” have earned her the title of the Best New Artist of the past year.
Next, in the category of Best Pop Solo Performance, Beyoncé, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, and Chappell Roan are nominated for the following songs, respectively: “BODYGUARD”, “Espresso”, “Apple”, “Birds of a Feather”, and “Good Luck, Babe!”. “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter is the obvious winner in this category. The song was a hit from day one. Many, including Grayslake North senior Sofia Conejo, believe that it injected fun back into the pop music world this past spring. “Espresso” came to be accepted as the song of the summer and it has been one of the largest hits of the past year, and for good reason. The song incorporates bass-heavy instrumentation and clever songwriting that gets stuck in your head for hours. Despite “Espresso” deserving the award, I am predicting that Billie Eilish will end up taking home the Grammy for this category at the end of the day. “Birds of a Feather” is an objectively good song and the Grammy voters seem to have an affinity for Eilish and her music. In past Grammys, she has won in categories that many expected others to win in. So, Sabrina Carpenter should win the category of Best Pop Solo Performance for “Espresso”, but Billie Eilish will likely be taking the award home for “Birds of a Feather”.
Moving on to the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, the following collaborators are nominated: Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift; Beyoncé and Post Malone; Charli XCX and Billie Eilish; Ariana Grande and Brandy & Monica; and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. Although I’m not completely ruling out a win for “Die with a Smile”, I predict that Charli XCX and Billie Eilish will win the award for “Guess”. Again, the Grammy voters adore Eilish so having her featured on the song already increases the odds of winning. Besides that, the song also exploded in popularity over the summer due to its fun, unapologetic lyrics and loud electronic instrumentation. It has become one of the most well-recognized songs off of Charli XCX’s influential album BRAT and has pushed boundaries in the pop scene.
Record of the year is the next of the big four categories. For Record of the Year, the following songs are nominated: “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Now and Then” by The Beatles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé, “360” by Charli XCX, “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan, and “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift and Post Malone. With the category packed full of so many artists of incredible talent, it’s difficult to choose a winner, but I do believe that, since this category is awarded for best song production, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter should and will win Record of the Year. Its production is simply on another level compared to other songs nominated for this award, and for that reason “Espresso” will rightfully win Record of the Year at the Grammys this year.
Moving on to the next of the big four categories, the following artists are nominated for Song of the Year, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars for “Die with a Smile”, Taylor Swift and Post Malone for “Fortnight”, and Shaboozey. All of these artists – except Shaboozey – are extremely talented and deserving of recognition, but only one can walk away with this award in hand. The top two contenders for Song of the Year are “Please Please Please” and “Birds of a Feather”. I believe that the song that will come out on top, winning the award for Song of the Year, will be “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish. “Birds of a Feather” is a wonderfully written and beautifully performed song, so it is entirely deserving of the award.
And now, onto the most coveted award of the year: Album of the Year. This is another category that is going to come down to a photo finish. The top three contenders for Album of the Year are BRAT, Short ‘n’ Sweet, and Cowboy Carter. Short ‘n’ Sweet was no doubt the most popular album of the past year. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and it produced multiple top-five singles. On the other hand, there is no question that Charli XCX’s album was also very impactful. Not only did Charli XCX have her finger on the pulse this past summer, but her album, BRAT, was the pulse itself. Summer of 2024 will long be remembered as “brat summer”. The album popularized the hyperpop genre and it has pushed Charli XCX back into the mainstream. There is no doubt that BRAT is the 2024 Album of the Year. However, I am not ruling out a win for Cowboy Carter. It would only be awarded to Beyoncé to make up for her husband, Jay-Z, calling out the academy last year for never awarding her Album of the Year, despite being the most awarded artist in Grammys history.. BRAT by Charli XCX certainly deserves to take home the Album of the Year award, but Short ‘n’ Sweet or Cowboy Carter could eke out a win.
The 67th Grammy Awards will air on CBS and Paramount+ at 7 PM on Sunday, February 2, 2025.
