By Robert Moran
It’s been the Grammys’ running narrative for almost a decade now: when will the Grammys’ all-time most-winning artist, a towering pop figure for generations, win the awards’ top prize, album of the year?
Snubbed in 2017 when Lemonade lost to Adele’s 25, and again in 2023 when her next great hope Renaissance lost to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Beyonce’s travails at the Grammys even spawned an impassioned speech from her husband Jay-Z at last year’s awards when he took them to task in their own home, asking: “She has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year? Even by your own metrics that doesn’t work.”
Beyonce accepts the award for album of the year for Cowboy Carter.Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
At Monday’s Grammys in Los Angeles, the narrative’s finally been put to bed after Beyonce took home album of the year for her country album, Cowboy Carter.
“I just feel very full and very honoured. It’s been many, many years,” the 43-year-old laughed onstage, flanked by her daughter Blue Ivy.
The singer, who went in with a field-leading 11 nominations, won three prizes on the day including best country album – the first black artist to ever do so – taking her overall record Grammys haul to 35 wins.
In a Grammys that busted genre ceilings, rapper Kendrick Lamar won two major prizes – song of the year and record of the year - and five all up for Not Like Us, his diss track-turned-phenomenon on which he accused his rival Drake of being a paedophile (the song’s currently at the centre of a lawsuit, brought about by Drake). It’s just the second rap song to ever win the categories, after Childish Gambino’s This is America in 2019.
“At the end of the day, nothing’s more powerful than rap music, I don’t care what it is,” Lamar said. “We are the culture and it’s always gonna stay here forever. And to the young artists, I just hope you respect the art form.”
The night’s other major prize, best new artist, went to pop sensation Chappell Roan.
Reading from a diary onstage, Roan – who, after initially being dropped by the label that signed her as a minor, found success with last year with breakout album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – used her acceptance speech to demand record labels provide a “liveable wage and healthcare” to developing artists on their rosters. “Labels, we got you – but do you got us?” she asked.
Sabrina Carpenter performs a medley during the 67th annual Grammy Awards.Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Aussie artist Kevin Parker of Tame Impala won for best dance/electronic recording for Neverender and hip-hop producers FnZ (aka Michael Mule and Isaac DeBoni) won for their remix of Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso with Mark Ronson. Other Aussie nominees Nick Cave and Troye Sivan missed out.
Taking place in Los Angeles, just weeks after the wildfires that devastated the city, this year’s Grammys looked to celebrate what’s the spiritual hub of the global recording industry. The show, hosted by Trevor Noah, acted as a fundraiser and began with a supergroup cover of Randy Newman’s I Love LA, featuring St Vincent and Sheryl Crow and local rock band Dawes, whose members lost their homes in the fires.
But beyond the local celebration, it was a Grammys reconciling with its own controversies – of bias against marginalised artists and genres, of traditionally overlooking new artists at the expense of established names (Grammys catnip Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish went home empty-handed), and for perennially failing to properly represent the pop zeitgeist.
Early wins for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in the rock categories (yes, this happened in 2025) might’ve signalled a return to the out-of-touch Grammys malarkey of old. But the show suddenly tiptoed into the future.
Sabrina Carpenter, the year’s other big pop breakout, took home two wins for best pop vocal album for Short n’ Sweet, and best pop solo performance for her hit Espresso. Rapper Doechii upset the likes of Eminem and Future for best rap album, winning for her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal. She became just the third woman ever to win the category, after Lauryn Hill and Cardi B.
In a telling portion of the broadcast, Grammys president Harvey Mason Jr made a mea culpa, discussing the steps the Recording Academy’s implemented to rectify diversity and inclusion issues in its voting body. He also introduced singer The Weeknd – who has boycotted the Grammys since 2021 – to the stage to perform.
The message was clear: we’ve heard the complaints, and the Grammys are different now. Beyonce finally breaking her Grammys ceiling was the final exclamation point. So maybe the Grammys are good now? Ask us again next year.
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