GRAMMY Nominations: Snubs and Surprises
This past Friday, the Recording Academy announced their GRAMMY nominations, with the ceremony set to take place on February 2nd, 2025. The nominees featured a host of GRAMMY darlings such as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Billie Eilish, each of whom racked up nominations in the big four categories (Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year). On the flip side, artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, both of whom recently rose to stardom, received their first set of nominations. Numerous snubs and surprises caused a stir on social media, particularly X (formerly known as Twitter).
The most notable snub was Ariana Grande, who was shut out in all four of the major categories. Grande was still able to rack up three nominations in the Pop categories; however, fans were displeased that her album Eternal Sunshine was not recognized further. One angry X user stated “I hate the scammys justice for Ariana! We can’t be friends and will forever be iconic!” Grande’s song “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, causing many to ponder how she could have been excluded from the Song of the Year and Record of the Year categories.
Many were pleasantly surprised with the inclusion of Charli XCX’s album Brat which received seven nominations including Album and Record of the Year. Brat became incredibly popular this summer across all social media platforms, leading many to declare that they were having a “Brat Summer.” These are the first nominations Charli XCX has received in a decade, with many dubbing this the peak of her career.
As alluded to previously, many artists also received their first GRAMMY nominations this year. Sabrina Carpenter, who is currently on a sold-out area tour across the United States, received noms in all four of the major categories for her album Short N’ Sweet, as well as her smash hit “Espresso,” which dominated the charts for the majority of the summer. Chappell Roan, who has risen to superstar status over the course of the past year, breaking attendance records at numerous music festivals, received her first nominations, as well. Despite recent controversies concerning her political views and criticisms of her newfound fame, Roan was still nominated in all four of the major categories and is poised to win Best New Artist at the ceremony.
The GRAMMY Awards will be held on Sunday, February 2nd, 2025 at 8 p.m ET. The award ceremony will be aired live on CBS. It will certainly be interesting if we see familiar favorites walk away with shiny hardware, or if GRAMMY voters opt to usher in a new era by rewarding up-and-coming artists.