Before we launch into this Grammys 2025 edition of Snubs and Surprises, let’s answer one question that may come up right at the outset: How can we characterize Beyoncé winning album of the year as a “surprise” when we repeatedly predicted it, as many other prognosticators did? There’s an easy answer for that: Although we rightfully called it, we were very, very, very, very nervous about it. We can relax now. At least one thing has been righted in this chaotic world, so let’s take a deep breath and take the “surprise” of actual perceived justice being rendered while we can get it. Now, onward!
SNUB: Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish getting shut out.
Are there two more popular and beloved pop stars in the world right now? There are not. And that is why Recording Academy voters will sleep soundly tonight — and assume that both Taylor and Billie are getting a good night’s sleep, too — knowing that it was OK to let those fields go fallow this year and let somebody else get the love, after all the previous wins they’ve racked up.
SURPRISE: Beyoncé doing what we expected her to do…
which no one could be certain to expect her to do. As mentioned above, we had a case of nerves going into the album of the year announcement: Yes, we called it, but didn’t we call “Lemonade” back in the day, too?
SURPRISE: Kendrick Lamar wins both record and song of the year
two barren lands for hip-hop. The nominees for those two categories usually mostly overlaps… and oftentimes, voters who are torn between contenders will see it as a way to spread the love, going for one of their favorites in one division and another in the other.
SURPRISE: Sabrina Carpenter sprints past ahead of the crowded diva field to claim pop album.
Just about everyone seriously forecasting these awards saw this one going to Eilish or maybe Chappell Roan. If you were going to pick one of this moment’s major pop divas for a shutout, you might have picked Carpenter, who is very much cherished for her new place in the pop firmament but might have been seen as a bit too frothy for some serious-minded Academy members.
SNUB: Chappell Roan gets the award everyone most wanted and predicted, best new artist…
but, come on, nothing else? Let’s call it a moderate snub at the very most, so best new artist is chopped liver. And since Roan did get that, we can skip the sackcloth and ashes on her behalf.
SURPRISE: Sierra Ferrell gets the second-highest number of awards of the night, with four.
The roots community has taken to Ferrell like nobody who’s come along in years, so it was not really a total surprise to see her collecting every award she was up for, given that support from lovers of folk, Americana and country.
SURPRISE: Chris Brown and Dave Chappelle really cannot do anything to turn off the spigot of Grammy love.
Anyone who believes that cancel culture prevails in the entertainment industry can just look at the ongoing record of wins by some highly controversial figures who are not beloved among progressives to know that this might be a fallacy.
SURPRISE: DEI and trans rights pick up some sorely needed wins, if only in the realm of artist advocacy.
Of course neither of these was on the Grammy ballot, per se. But on an evening where it seemed as if everyone might play nice about the nation’s drastic social and political divisions to find some unity over fire relief, there were at least a couple of artists who weren’t afraid to go there.
