2025 Grammy Predictions: Who Will Win the Big Awards?

The Nominees
André 3000 – New Blue Sun
Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet
Charli XCX – Brat
Jacob Collier – Djesse Vol. 4
Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft
Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department

The Lowdown
This has been a strong year for albums as albums, and not just as collections of songs designed to support a single or two: Both Beyoncé and Swift lived up to that ideal. They’re hardly the only ones, though. Few artists epitomize that like Chappell Roan, whose debut full-length The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess has been a bottomless gold mine of vibrant, deeply felt pop. “‘Good Luck, Babe!’ was the song that finally propelled her,” says Spotify’s Talia Kraines, Senior Editor of Pop, “but it’s been truly fascinating to watch everybody really dig into her catalog — nearly the entire album is in the Spotify Top 200.” 

Elsewhere, Billie Eilish’s sharply drawn, yet tenderly felt Hit Me Hard and Soft, says Kraines, “was really her being a twentysomething instead of a teenager — it was incredibly relatable despite her being one of the most famous people in the world.” Charli XCX’s Brat introduced her as a solo artist to a whole new audience while staying true to her future-pop ideals. “We’ve always known she had it in her,” says Kraines. But don’t overlook the unbridled artistry of André 3000’s flute adventure New Blue Sun, just the kind of eclectic release Grammy voters often like to reward.

Who Should Win
Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
Beyoncé is the winningest artist in Grammy Awards history — but somehow has never won Album of the Year. Cowboy Carter could fix that: It’s an important history lesson about Black contributions to American music, as well as an introduction to the next generation of Black country music. “Uplifting other Black female country artists, and creating important conversations that needed to happen, is so important,” says Kraines. That the album is stuffed with indelible tracks like the slick “Bodyguard” and the sweetly supportive Miley Cyrus duet “II Most Wanted” makes it a contender, too. “The two things stand side by side: the cultural piece and the excellent album,” she says. 

Who Will Win
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department
Can anyone stop Swift’s momentum, especially since she announced The Tortured Poets Department at the 2024 Grammy Awards? “Obviously, the impact of the Eras Tour is hard to ignore, and obviously The Tortured Poets Department has been huge,” Kraines says. “Her whole catalog still continues to stream like crazy, and when she added the new album’s section [to her show], that gave it another boost.” TTPD being produced by Jack Antonoff, who’s currently on a three-year winning streak for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, should help Swift’s case — as well as the hysteria she created on her Eras Tour, which wrapped in December.  

The Nominees
The Beatles – “Now and Then”
Beyoncé – “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso”
Charli XCX – “360”
Billie Eilish – “Birds of a Feather”
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone – “Fortnight”

The Lowdown
This nomination year was one of pop’s most lively in recent memory, with newly minted phenomena, breakout hits, and superstar flag-plants jostling for position on playlists and charts. It makes for a fairly wide-open Record of the Year field that balances star-power (Beyonce! Billie! Taylor with Posty!) with new talent (Shaboozey!) and surprises (The Beatles?!). Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” could be the category’s spoiler, however. An undeniable sensation immediately upon its surprise release, the DJ Mustard-produced banger’s popularity has only grown, with marching bands picking up its mantle for the fall’s football season.

Who Should Win
Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Few songs combine this year’s many pop trends — new artists making splashes, cross-genre experimentation, the return of country to the Top 10 — than Shaboozey’s strummy, hooky “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which showcases the Virginia-born singer-rapper’s deep voice on a cut that recalls modern hip-hop and folksy roots-pop. “That song immediately felt like a hit from the moment you heard it,” says Talia Kraines, Senior Editor of Pop at Spotify. “It’s been great to be able to have that song on pop and country lists. And it’s become an all-encompassing party hit for all time — a kind of genre-less song.” 

Who Will Win
Billie Eilish – “Birds of a Feather”
Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” is a pop gem that showed how the eclectic artist’s vocal interpretations have matured since her late-‘10s breakthrough. Listeners naturally gravitated toward it, too, and it unexpectedly became the hit from Hit Me Hard and Soft last summer. “When a record comes out, there’s a planned [focus] song, but then we begin very quickly seeing on Spotify different songs beginning to trend,” says Kraines. “We immediately all loved ‘Birds of a Feather.'”

The Nominees
Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Billie Eilish – “Birds of a Feather”
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars – “Die With a Smile”
Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone – “Fortnight”
Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please”
Beyoncé – “Texas Hold ‘Em”

The Lowdown
Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” make this crop of Song of the Year contenders a little bit country — and music fans have been more than fine with that. “The mass audience is really not afraid to get their twang on,” says Alex Tear, SiriusXM’s Vice President of Music Programming. “We called it the summer of Yeehaw here at Hits 1, because there were a lot of crossover artists.” And though Beyoncé was shut out of the CMA Awards nominations last year, she has a shot at winning Song of the Year at the Grammys. “Beyoncé is not a poser in this format,” Tear says. “She has the origins of country music running through her DNA.” But the front-runners are undeniable: “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Please Please Please.”

Who Should Win
Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please”
Carpenter’s nu-disco stunner, from her excellent album Short n’ Sweet, helped give her mainstream recognition that was long overdue. And while Roan is sure to take home Best New Artist, it would be gratifying to see Carpenter win in this category (after all, she’s a singer who’s been working late). “I’m just so happy to see Sabrina get her due,” Tear says. “It’s time. She’s been on the game in this scene for close to a decade, and it’s her turn to get flowers.”

Who Will Win
Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
This was the year of Chappell Roan, and it all starts with her biggest hit: “Good Luck, Babe!” surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. The explosive track is so beloved — even Tom Morello is a fan — yet many think her success was overnight. “What’s so infuriating is how people are just now taking me seriously,” she told Rolling Stone in her cover story. “Like, ‘You know what, bitch? I’ve been doing this shit and you’re just now catching up.’” “Good Luck, Babe!” is Billie Eilish’s favorite song of the year. If that doesn’t convince the Grammys, what will?

The Nominees
Benson Boone
Sabrina Carpenter
Doechii
Khruangbin
RAYE
Chappell Roan
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims

The Lowdown
Best New Artist is part of the Big Four categories, alongside Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. While they’re all massive achievements, Best New Artist is the ultimate award, signaling a star’s arrival. This year’s race will likely come down to Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. But Doechii, currently with momentum on her side, as well as Shaboozey, Benson Boone, and Teddy Swims all have to be considered potential spoilers. “In the middle of this Brat year, [Boone] has done a masterful job with connecting to the masses,” says Alex Tear, SiriusXM’s Vice President of Music Programming, who also raves about Swims. “He’s got an amazing, memorable voice, and he’s got the swag. ‘The Door’ is a song that just won’t stop.” 

Who Should Win
Chappell Roan
Roan famously described herself as “your favorite artist’s favorite artist,” but that was before she had nearly 6 million followers on Instagram and received an invitation to the White House (spoiler alert: she turned it down). And considering she spent almost a decade trying to make it in the industry, she’s the most worthy of the win. “It’s my dream job,” she told us. “I never know if it’s going to be like this ever again, which is kind of scary.”

Who Will Win
Chappell Roan
Roan’s explosive success this year means she’s likely to sweep the major categories, chief among them, Best New Artist. “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess really set her up in 2023, and that Chappell buzz was going,” Tear says. “I remember [thinking], ‘Oh my god, she’s going to kill this.’”

The Nominees
Kacey Musgraves – “The Architect”
Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Jelly Roll – “I Am Not Okay”
Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen – “I Had Some Help”
Beyoncé – “Texas Hold ‘Em”

The Lowdown
There’s a saying in Nashville — “It all begins with a song” — and this year’s glut of contenders for Best Country Song sure backs that up. Kacey Musgraves ambitiously probed the meaning of life, Jelly Roll reminded us that we’re all going through something or other, and Post Malone and Morgan Wallen celebrated the joy in going off the rails with their ubiquitous bop. “When you talk about Song of the Year, you’re really talking about using a song as a vehicle for emotional expression,” says Rachel Whitney, Head of Editorial, Nashville, Spotify, “and these are the songs that really stand out.”

Who Should Win
Kacey Musgraves – “The Architect”
Musgraves took an awfully big swing with “The Architect” and knocked it out of the park. What could have been a twee observation of life’s mysteries — “Even something as small as an apple/it’s simple and somehow complex,” she sings, “Sweet and divine, the perfect design/Can I speak to the architect?” — is instead an elegant, deep thinker. It also reunites her with her “Merry Go ‘Round” collaborators Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, two Grammy heavyweights with 14 nominations between them.

Who Will Win
Kacey Musgraves – “The Architect”
“The Architect” is one of those songs that continues to reveal itself upon repeated listens. “Kacey is such a talented songwriter, and I think she really pulls from a depth of experience, and this song in particular is one that resonates when you’re considering life and all its meanings,” Whitney says. “She just does such an incredible job capturing that.”

The Nominees
Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
Post Malone – F-1 Trillion
Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well
Chris Stapleton – Higher
Lainey Wilson – Whirlwind

The Lowdown
In a genre where 30-track playlists are often presented as “albums,” country music had a banner year for legitimate pieces of succinct art. Kacey Musgraves cultivated an earth mother worldview, Lainey Wilson turned an honest eye toward her sudden fame, and Chris Stapleton made his most cohesive album since his debut, Traveller. And then there was Beyoncé, who channeled her Texas upbringing and the Black roots of country music into a true masterwork. “No matter what your opinion is of her as a country artist, you cannot deny the universal success of this album,” says Storme Warren, host of country station the Big 615 on TuneIn and a 41-year veteran of broadcasting. But he also says to keep an eye on Wilson, last year’s winner for Best Country Album for Bell Bottom Country, and on Grammy favorite Musgraves. “[Kacey] has a poetic, visual, cinematic gift that just does not exist with a lot of artists,” he says. “The best ones have that.”

Who Should Win
Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter
To listen to Cowboy Carter from start to finish is to receive an education not only in the Black influence on country music, but what led Beyoncé to make this stunner of an album. The LP is every bit Beyoncé’s story as it is country’s. “It’s who she is,” says Whitney. “She pulled together an extraordinary project with the help of a lot of incredible country songwriters and artists that envelops both the history and the future of country music in a really elegant way.”

Who Will Win
Chris Stapleton – Higher
Stapleton has triumphed three times in this category, and that type of consistency and voter familiarity can’t be underestimated. But Higher is also chock-full of stellar songs — like lead single “White Horse,” which won Best Country Song at last year’s Grammys, and “Think I’m in Love With You” — making it a worthy victor. Warren says Stapleton found a new gear with the album. “What Stapleton is doing as a writer and a vocalist, and his connection to his fan base and to country music, is just incredible,” he says. “I think Higher represents the true evolution of who he is.”

The Nominees
J. Cole – Might Delete Later
Common and Pete Rock – The Auditorium, Vol. 1
Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal
Eminem – The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)
Future and Metro Boomin – We Don’t Trust You

The Lowdown
Carl Chery, Spotify’s Head of Urban Music and Creative Director, says this year’s Best Rap Album could come down to what kind of rap Grammy voters listen to. “If you like more of the trap variety, you’re going to lean in Future and Metro’s direction,” he says in an example. For those who are into nostalgia, Eminen’s The Death of Slim Shady could fit the bill — the Detroit rapper scored his first nomination since 2019. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Eminem takes it,” Chery says. “This album does feel like the best reception we’ve seen from an Eminem album in years and it performed well commercially… For someone who’s now in his 50s, Eminem is going in a different direction. You’ve been around for a while, your numbers are supposed to drop… His audience is getting younger.” All that said, no rapper is coming into the Grammys hotter than Doechii.

Who Should Win
Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal
Back in October, we saw Doechii tear down Webster Hall in New York and realized that could very well be the last time she tours in a venue of that capacity. It was an incredible performance in the midst of a star-making 2024 for the Florida artist. The Grammys should always want to be in on hip-hop’s cultural zeitgeist, and that means a Best Rap Album trophy, among others, for three-time nominee Doechii. 

Who Will Win
Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal
When we spoke to Chery, he was on the fence about how much Top Dawg Entertainment and Doechii’s team would push for Grammy consideration, given that her debut album is still on the way (Alligator Bites Never Heal is technically a mixtape). Chery mainly saw Doechii in the Best New Artist category, but after our conversation, a media blitz and savvy marketing push (including a star-studded “Denial Is a River” video) made it clear that TDE wanted to push Alligator Bites Don’t Heal to the moon. When TDE puts the house behind an artist, they usually succeed at the Grammys. 

The Nominees
Rapsody featuring Hit-Boy – “Asteroids”
¥$ (Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign) featuring Rich the Kid & Playboi Carti – “Carnival”
Future and Metro Boomin featuring Kendrick Lamar – “Like That”
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
GloRilla – “Yeah Glo!”

The Lowdown
This is Kendrick’s category to lose, according to Carl Chery, Spotify’s Head of Urban Music and Creative Director. “I just don’t see a world where [Kendrick] doesn’t win,” he says. “The track record is there. It’s one of the biggest moments of the year. So I think everything is working in his favor right now.” The Grammy committee gets its fair share of criticism for not being on the pulse of hip-hop; this year it’d be pretty much impossible to, in Kendrick’s words, not know “what the culture’s feelin’.” 

Who Should Win
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
If ever there were a no-brainer, this category is it. “Not Like Us” covers all the bases: It’s a scathing diss rife with social commentary and call-and-response moments, all over a fun DJ Mustard beat. From the moment the Compton rapper dropped the track last May, the song’s caught fire not just as an anti-Drake anthem, but a legitimately fun song that makes everyone feel like they’re “us” when they’re reciting it. The song’s second verse brought conversations about Drake’s cultural appreciation to a fever pitch; the impact is undeniable. There have been years where a hit song accrued a lot of numbers but didn’t seem as culturally relevant — this isn’t one of those years. 

Who Will Win
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
The numbers alone indicate Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” as a Best Rap Song inevitability. It’s been a multi-week Hot 100 Number One on Billboard and became the fastest song to reach 500 million Spotify streams. Everyone from presidential candidates to sports fans have co-opted the title.

The Nominees
T Bone Burnett – The Other Side
Charley Crockett – $10 Cowboy
Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers
Sarah Jarosz – Polaroid Lovers
Maggie Rose – No One Gets Out Alive
Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood

The Lowdown
With many of Americana’s biggest recent Grammy winners (Jason Isbell, Rhiannon Giddens, among them) absent from this year’s proceedings, the Best Americana Album race is wide open. Voters have their share of wildly eclectic artists to choose from, including indie-country songwriter Waxahatchee, the big-voiced Maggie Rose, and Texas troubadour Charley Crockett. Says Margi Cheske, co-president of Concord Records, who have released LPs by Allison Russell and Nathaniel Rateliff: “This year is more wide open for surprises than in past years.”

Who Should Win
Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers
The Recording Academy can be famously slow to recognize up-and-coming talents, even when they’re as red hot as Sierra Ferrell. But the West Virginia singer-songwriter has had such a star-making year — major festival slots, rave reviews, features with two of the single most popular artists in the country (Zach Bryan, Post Malone) — that Ferrell deserves a win here. “She’s so incredibly unique and talented,” says Cheske.

Who Will Win
Sarah Jarosz – Polaroid Lovers
If there’s one roots artist who feels due for recognition this year, it’s Jarosz, who now has 12 total Grammy nominations (split between the Folk and Americana categories). Her last three records all received nods, and she’s already won in this category with 2020’s World on the Ground. On top of that, her latest LP, Polaroid Lovers, is the most accessible of her career. “She’s kind of like the new Alison Krauss,” says Cheske. “Her new record is incredible.”

The Nominees
Bad Bunny – Nadie Sabe lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana
J Balvin – Rayo
Feid – Ferxxocalipsis
Residente – Las Letras Ya No Importan
Young Miko – Att.

The Lowdown
Latin music keeps reaching new heights: In 2024, it was the fastest-growing genre on streaming, and an RIAA report showed that it set a record by generating $685 million in the first half of the year alone. So much of that success has been because of urbano genres like reggaeton and trap, and mega-stars like Bad Bunny and Feid. Releases from these artists make this year’s Grammy category for Best Música Urbana Album a particularly tight race.

Part of what made the year in urbano releases so interesting is that a lot of artists leaned deeper into futuristic production and fusions, reinventing sounds fans are used to. “Latin music on the urbano side was much more alternative and indie, more melodic,” says AJ Ramos, head of artist partnerships, Latin music, and culture at YouTube/Google. “We were hearing more love songs, more fusions with pop, more fusions with rock.” That might explain why the fresh energy on Young Miko’s attn. connected with a younger generation of listeners so much. Even massive releases, like Bad Bunny’s Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana played around with electronic sounds like Jersey club, while Feid’s playful take on music continues to take over the charts.

Who Should Win
Feid – Ferxxocalipsis
This is Colombian star Feid’s first Grammy nomination — and deserved recognition for a career he’s been building over the last few years. Ferxxocalipsis was an unexpected swing, even spawning a major hit with the Young Miko assist “Classy 101.” It’d be nice to see the Academy keep awarding new stars: Karol G won the category last year.

Who Will Win
Bad Bunny – Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana
The Puerto Rican hitmaker is already a three-time Grammy winner, so he has the full attention of the Academy — plus it helps that this unexpected record changed up his flow and saw him returning to some of his harder, more trap-driven roots. Notes Ramos: “Bad Bunny is Bad Bunny.”

The Nominees
El David Aguilar – Compita del Destino
Cimafunk – Pa’ Tu Cuerpa
Mon Laferte – Autopoiética
Nathy Peluso – Grasa
Rawayana – ¿Quién trae las cornetas?

The Lowdown
The Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album has always been somewhat of a grab-bag; it’s so broad that anyone can argue that nearly any album fits in here. The projects that tend to do best are either straight-ahead rock or hard-to-categorize experimentalism: As examples, Rosalia’s Motomami took the prize in 2023, while Juanes and Natalia Lafourcade shared the award in an unexpected tie last year.

This year appears to be another wildcard race, with tons of releases that show the diversity of Spanish-language albums. José Luis Mercado, who’s behind the popular Latin music platform and social media account Rock En Las Americas, says he’s been noticing a split in what artists are doing: The release cycle has been full of compendiums that nod to the past and the history of Latin alternative sounds, and projects from newer artists discovering entirely different directions. Elsewhere, modern acts dove headfirst into genre-defying styles that capture fresh new energy. Mercado points to records like Nathy Peluso’s long-awaited sophomore LP Grasa. “They can enter hip-hop territory, they can enter alternative territory,” he says. “They can do a lot of genres at once, and they feel comfortable in all of them.”

Who Should Win
Mon Laferte – Autopoiética
A lot of people are gambling on Mon Laferte — and for good reason. “It would be a good indicator of her musical career. We’re talking about an artist who has spent much more than a decade in the music scene, and she still hasn’t won an Anglo Grammy,” Mercado says. He also notes that the album’s theme of reinvention and recreation would make a win particularly satisfying.

Who Will Win
Nathy Peluso – Grasa
Nathy Peluso and Mon Laferte stand out as having the biggest chance here. Both straddle the line between representing a more modern sound while having a foot rooted in the classics, and they’ve been nominated before. In 2022, Mon Laferte’s album SEIS was up for Best Música Mexicana Album and in 2023, her project 1940 Carmen was also a big contender for this category. Peluso, meanwhile, was here in 2022, when her debut Calambre got a deserved nomination. It’ll be close, but we expect Peluso to emerge the victor.

The Nominees
Avery*Sunshine – So Glad to Know You
Durand Bernarr – En Route
Childish Gambino – Bando Stone and the New World
Kehlani – Crash
NxWorries (Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge) – Why Lawd?

The Lowdown
Since its inception, the Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album has been a liminal space in the genre, a place for music with mass appeal (like Beyoncé’s Lemonade, which won in 2017) as well as more lowkey sensations (like Lucky Daye’s Table for Two, 2022’s winner). The category was first awarded as Best Urban Contemporary Album in 2013 and renamed and redefined in June 2020, always geared toward work a little left of traditional R&B’s center. Unlike most previous years, 2025’s field doesn’t boast any obvious blockbusters, like in 2024, when SZA’s SOS and Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure went head to head. Still, real heads know there was a bunch of great alternative R&B released this round, says Spotify’s Head of R&B Alaysia Sierra. And even with some big names in the running, like Childish Gambino, it could be anybody’s game.

Who Should Win
NxWorries (Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge) – Why Lawd?
Why Lawd? is true to the spirit of the category, a feat of rap-and-B that weds beloved hip-hop techniques (including Knxwledge’s keen ear for unique samples and .Paak’s witty and vulnerable raps) to easy-listening sensibilities. Plus, NxWorries skillfully orchestrated a top-notch group of famous friends like Dave Chappelle, Thundercat, Charlie Willson, and H.E.R under their vision, rounding out a valiant effort that’s as fun and fresh as it is heart-wrenching. “I would lean more into the things that felt intentionally progressive,” says Sierra, who is not a voter, but has been recognized by the Recording Academy as a leader in the field. “As a body of work, [Why Lawd?] really speaks to what this category is meant to serve.”

Who Will Win
NxWorries (Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge) – Why Lawd?
The vibey duo of eclectic producer Knxwledge and triple-threat-talent Anderson .Paak made a critically acclaimed, star-studded, and long-awaited sequel to their studio debut, 2016’s Yes Lawd!, a cult favorite. What’s more, Why Lawd? comes after years of .Paak building not only familiarity but favor with Grammy voters, nabbing four awards as a solo act since 2019. Then, in 2022, he and Bruno Mars swept every category that their inescapable hit “Leave the Door Open” was nominated in. “I think the Anderson element, after the years that he’s had [and] with Silk Sonic will help elevate what NxWorries looks like to voters,” says Sierra.

The Nominees
The Black Crowes – Happiness Bastards
Fontaines D.C. – Romance
Green Day – Saviors
Idles – TANGK
Pearl Jam – Dark Matter
The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
Jack White – No Name

The Lowdown
It took the Grammys until 1995 to carve out a separate award for Best Rock Album, and they royally screwed it up that year by handing it to the Rolling Stones for Voodoo Lounge over Pearl Jam‘s Vs., R.E.M.’s Monster, Soundgarden’s Superunknown, and Neil Young’s Sleeps With Angels. In the years that followed, they sometimes got it very right (Green Day‘s American Idiot, U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising), but often got it very, very wrong (The Strokes’ The New Abnormal, Muse’s Drones, and no less than five Foo Fighters albums). It’s a competitive race this year with LPs by Green Day, Pearl Jam, Idles, and the Rolling Stones.

Who Should Win
The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
Pearl Jam, Green Day, and the Black Crowes all released stellar albums, but none stood miles above their best work of the Nineties or 2000s. Mick, Keith, and the band, meanwhile, haven’t even attempted a record of new songs since the uneven A Bigger Bang. Most fans presumed they’d never get around to it. And nobody expected anything even remotely on the level of Hackney Diamonds. The album is an absolute miracle and the Stones richly deserve another Grammy: the band has been awarded a scant three Grammys across their six-decade career. “I really think it’s going to the Stones this year,” says SiriusXM DJ Justin Kade. “It’s kind of how you give someone an MVP or lifetime achievement award.”

Who Will Win
The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
It’s the tiredest of tired rock critic clichés to say the Rolling Stones have made their best record since 1981’s Tattoo You, but there’s an actual argument that they actually pulled it off with Hackney Diamonds. Expectations were low since they hadn’t released an album of original songs since 2005’s A Bigger Bang, they’re all in their 80s now, and drummer Charlie Watts died in 2021. But working closely with producer Andrew Watt over the course of just a few weeks, they hammered out a series of excellent songs like “Angry,” “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,”  and “Bite My Head Off” that fit seamlessly into the set lists of their summer stadium tour. Says Jason Squires, program director of KFRR in Fresno, California. “You don’t count these guys out ever, ever, ever.”