Grammy Awards 2025: who will win, and who deserves to win? Featuring Beyoncé, Charli XCX and Doechii

It’s 1 of the biggest nights successful the euphony calendar: The Grammy Awards. The euphony industry’s equivalent to the Oscars strives to honour the champion enactment released successful the twelvemonth prior, but has, of late, attracted controversy – from snubbing artists wholly (cough, The Weeknd) to facing accusations of radical bias (case successful point: Beyoncé ne'er winning Album of the Year).

But arsenic we know, sadly, sometimes who we deliberation should triumph doesn’t extremity up nabbing the prize. Below, we’ve rounded up who we deliberation volition triumph successful the ceremony’s large categories, vs who really should.

Who should win: Chappel Roan oregon Sabrina Carpenter

Who volition win: The Beatles

Good Luck Babe and Espresso weren’t conscionable 2 of 2024’s defining songs, they were large breakthroughs for some popular stars. The inescapable chorus of Carpenter’s Espresso provided a soundtrack for the summer, portion Good Luck, Babe! brought Roan’s marque of theatrical baroque popular (and awesome vocal chops) to the forefront.

Both songs arsenic merit to win, which makes it a shame that the grant volition astir apt spell to The Beatles. Why? It’s a harmless bet: the Academy are sticklers for bequest acts, positive there’s heightened entreaty astir the information Now and Then was shelved for truthful agelong (over 20 years) and has been dubbed arsenic the band’s last song.

Who should win: Charli XCX

Who volition win: Taylor Swift

When you conscionable truthful overmuch person to spot a shadiness of greenish to beryllium reminded of a portion of music, it’s harmless to accidental that said euphony is era-defining.

The excellence of Charli XCX’s sixth medium – its rambunctious energy, beautifully chaotic accumulation and A* selling run – has already been wide discussed (and adopted by everyone from Kamala Harris to Kyle MacLachlan), with Brat becoming the connection – and temper – of 2024. There’s nary 1 that deserves the night’s biggest grant more, but successful reality, it’s hard to ideate a satellite wherever Taylor Swift is nominated for Album of the Year and doesn’t win.

Who should win: Billie Elish

Who volition win: Billie Elish

The quality successful criteria for the Song of the Year and Record of the Year categories has caused truthful overmuch disorder implicit the years that the Grammys took it upon themselves to wide things up successful November: Record deals with “a circumstantial signaling of a opus and recognises the artists, producers and engineers that lend to that recording”, portion Song honours a song’s creation and celebrates its songwriters.

With that successful mind, there’s 1 wide victor of the grant this year: Birds of a Feather. Another gem from Billie Elish and her songwriter/producer member Finneas, the song’s ethereal quality is captured successful its agleam songwriting, gorgeous melody and arsenic always, Eilish’s lullaby-ish delivery. It’ll beryllium a astonishment if the duo don’t clinch this one, particularly considering their presumption arsenic Grammy favourites.

Who should win: Raye oregon Doechii

Who volition win: Chappel Roan

Best New Artist is location to immoderate of the astir contentious winners successful the ceremony’s history: who could hide the injustices of Fun, Macklemore and Hootie & the Blowfish winning implicit Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar and Alanis Morissette?

Hopefully the nasty surprises volition beryllium averted this year, with the award’s harvest of nominees including Sabrina Carpenter and state prima Shaboozey. Despite it feeling arsenic though Chappel Roan was primed for this year’s trophy, with specified an unthinkable commencement to her autarkic vocation (plus the upland of hits she’s penned for different artists), London’s ain Raye would marque a superb recipient. As would rapper Doechii – whose mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal introduced her well-defined marque of alternate hip-hop and unsocial visuals to a caller cohort of listeners.

Who should win: Literally anyone

Who volition win: Beyoncé oregon Billie Elish

The sheer prime and scope of 2024’s popular offering is summed up nary amended than the all-female nominees for Best Pop Solo Performance – each of whom are arsenic worthy recipients of the award: Chappel Roan (Good Luck, Babe!), Sabrina Carpenter (Espresso), Charli XCX (Apple), Bille Eilish (Birds of a Feather) and Beyoncé (Bodyguard).

Although the virality of Apple oregon the breakthrough entreaty of Espresso and Good Luck, Babe! whitethorn sway voters, Birds of a Feather oregon the upbeat country-pop of Bodyguard are the evident choices for the prize with some artist’s reputations among voters (if you didn’t already know, Beyoncé is the astir grant creator successful Grammy’s history, with 32 wins).

Who should win: Anyone but Taylor Swift

Who volition win: Taylor Swift

Listen, I’m not a Taylor Swift hater by immoderate means, but The Tortured Poets Department is far, acold from her champion work. The evident chokehold she has connected voters deserves to beryllium studied, but successful the meantime, Carpenter, Roan, Eilish and Ariana Grande – whose stellar R&B and pop-blending effort Eternal Sunshine was seemingly snubbed from the large categories this twelvemonth – should nab the aureate Gramophone trophy.

Who should win: Charli XCX

Although she’s ne'er won a Grammy earlier (and has lone antecedently been nominated for 2015’s Fancy with Iggy Azalea), it’s hard to spot however anyone but Charli XCX could instrumentality location the prize, leaving the likes of Kaytranada and Four Tet successful the dust. The hedonistic tracklist of Brat was the soundtrack of dancefloors astatine clubs, festivals and pre-drinks astir the satellite past year, and exists arsenic an homage to the British rave country that the vocalist grew up in.

Who should win: Kendrick Lamar oregon Doechii

Who volition win: Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar’s scathing Drake clapback isn’t conscionable 1 of the champion rap performances of the year, it’s 1 of the champion diss tracks of each time. A hyphy, violin-assisted backing provides Lamar’s bars with a canvas to annihilate his nemesis: whether regarding his alleged underage relationships oregon his presumption arsenic a “rap practitioner”.

The opus hasn’t lone crowned Lamar the eventual victor successful the pair’s longstanding beef, but it’s surely swiped the Grammy retired of the hands of Lamar’s chap nominees, which see Eminem and Cardi B. Failing that, a Doechii triumph for Nissan Altima – wherever the rapper anoints herself “the caller hip-hop Madonna” and the “trap Grace Jones” wouldn’t beryllium a shame – conscionable springiness her breathtaking travel and mischievous lyrical play a perceive and you’ll recognize why.

Many mainstream artists person tried their manus astatine state euphony (Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Post Malone – who besides finds himself nominated this year). Still, nary person done truthful arsenic convincingly arsenic Beyoncé with Cowboy Carter.

Following 2022’s dazzling Renaissance was ever going to beryllium a hard feat, but the star’s 2nd merchandise successful her trilogy of conception albums did acold much than honour than Black roots of the genre and uplift upcoming Black state artists: it made a well-deserved abstraction for her, and aboriginal generations of Black women, successful a genre wherever she antecedently felt unwelcome (the effect to her astonishment show astatine the 2016 CMA Awards is simply a shining illustration of this). The Best Country Album Grammy has her sanction written each implicit it.