Beyonce is nominated for multiple Grammys in 2025, but historically, she’s been shut out from the top awards on multiple occasions.
Her newest album Cowboy Carter is nominated for Album of the Year, but that is one Grammy she has never won. While fans are rooting for her, it’s more than likely that she’ll miss out again.
Understand, this is not a criticism. However, in the past, Beyonce has been favored to win Album of the Year at the Grammys multiple times, but she’s always come up short when the final award gets handed out.
In our humble opinion, Cowboy Carter is certainly deserving of the prize, but there’s definitely no saying whether she’ll get the award next year. And as we’ve learned time and time again this year, history has a way of repeating itself.
Besides, even though Bey is nominated in a bunch of categories (including Album of the Year), she does have some stiff competition, going up against rising popstars like Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli XCX. Past Album of the Year winners Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish are also nominated this year, and honestly, it’s anybody’s game.
Queen B is the artist to win the most Grammy Awards ever, which should come as no surprise. She’s also the most nominated artist of all time. She shares that honor with her husband, Jay-Z.
Beyonce has won 32 Grammys throughout her career. As of 2024, she has been nominated 88 times, which is definitely no small feat!
The “Crazy In Love” singer received her first solo nominations in 2004. She has been nominated as a member of Destiny’s Child and for her collab album with Jay-Z as The Carters.
Beyonce has been nominated in the general field many times, but she has only won Song of the Year once. Her only win came in 2010 for the megahit “Single Ladies.”
Next year, Beyonce has the opportunity to expand her lead as the most-honored Grammy winner in history. Her album Cowboy Carter has a whopping 11 nominations for the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, making her the most nominated artist this year.
Despite winning many Grammys, Beyonce has been shut out for many of the Recording Academy’s General Field awards. And that’s not the only time she’s felt that burn.
Beyonce’s CMA Shutout
One of the most glaring snubs for Bey actually came in September 2024. When the Country Music Awards announced their nominees, Cowboy Carter was noticeably absent.
Even though Beyonce has never been nominated for a CMA before, many people were surprised to see arguably the most famous singer in the world shutout, because Cowboy Carter is a country album.
The CMAs have not explained exactly why they snubbed Cowboy Carter, but Vox suggested that perhaps a lack of promotion or the fact that the award show favors male pop crossovers may have been why.
Despite the clear country influences, Beyonce may have hurt her standing in the country world when she announced the album. “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” she wrote on Instagram.
Even though the CMAs didn’t explain Cowboy Carter’s omission, a few country stars have offered their opinions on why Beyonce didn’t get a nomination. Some of them suggested that Beyonce isn’t in the country world enough to get the recognition.
Luke Bryan noted that the “Halo” singer hasn’t been part of the country “family,” which may have been why she got left out. He explained his thought during an interview on Andy Cohen Live.
“If you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit,” he said. “Come to an award show and high-five us and have fun and get in the family, too. And I’m not saying she didn’t do that … but country music is a lot about family.”
Dolly Parton, who is featured on the album, also shared her thoughts on the controversy in a Variety interview. “There’s so many wonderful country artists that, I guess probably the country music field, they probably thought, well, we can’t really leave out some of the ones that spend their whole life doing that,” she said.
The lack of CMA nominations clearly didn’t affect Cowboy Carter’s run for the Grammys, because she was nominated in multiple country music categories, including Best Country Album.
That being said, it’s still not clear if Beyonce will win in any of the country categories, because she’s up against a few artists who are more firmly in the country world, like Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, and Kacey Musgraves. Her Cowboy Carter collaborators Post Malone and Shaboozey are also nominated against her, and they did receive CMA nominations.
Beyonce’s Biggest Snubs
Even though she hasn’t won many awards in the General Field, Beyonce has popped up as a nominee countless times. In more recent years, there’s been outrage over Bey’s losses in those categories.
One of Beyonce’s first major losses was in 2015. She lost the Album of the Year award for her self-titled album to Beck’s Morning Phase. Still, she gracefully accepted the loss, but the same couldn’t be said for everyone.
After Beck won, Kanye West charged the stage, seemingly in a repeat from his 2009 VMAs incident. After getting on stage, Ye smiled and headed back into the audience. He didn’t escalate the situation any further.
Fortunately, Beck seemed to take it in good fun. He even gestured for Kanye to come back on stage, but the rapper didn’t take him up on the offer.
After the show, Kanye explained his thoughts in an interview with E! News. “Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyonce,” he said.
Another major loss came in 2017. Beyonce’s album Lemonade was a critical hit. The album topped many outlets’ year-end lists. The record was definitely favored to come out on top at the Grammys.
Ultimately, Adele won for her album 25. As she accepted the award, the “Someone Like You” singer showed that she thought Beyonce should’ve won.
During her speech, Adele showed plenty of love for Queen B. “I can’t possibly accept this award,” she said. “I’m very humble, and I’m very grateful and gracious.”
“My artist of my life is Beyonce, and this album to me, the Lemonade album, is just so monumental,” she said. “All us artists here, we f**king adore you. You are our light.”
After her speech, Adele broke her Grammy to share in the glory with Beyonce.
Jay-Z Speaks Out Against The Grammys
In 2024, Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award at the Grammys. After showing thanks, the rapper took a shot at the Recording Academy during his speech.
After speaking about instances where rappers boycotted the Grammys, Jay called out the establishment. “We want y’all to get it right. We love y’all,” he said. “Obviously it’s subjective. It’s music, and it’s opinion-based.”
As he continued, Jay spoke about Beyonce. “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year. So, even by your own metrics that doesn’t work,” he said. “Think about that: most Grammys, never won Album of the Year. It doesn’t work.”
Beyonce has mostly let her snubs roll off her back. That being said, her album Cowboy Carterresponds to some of her past snubs.
In the opening song “American Requiem,” Beyonce claps back at critics. “Used to say I spoke too country/And the rejection came, said I wasn’t country enough,” she sings.
The line references the backlash that Beyonce received for performing at the CMA Awards in 2016 with The Chicks. Following the performance, some fans spoke out against Bey’s inclusion in the award show.
The line also seems to clap back at the Grammys. The Academy rejected her song “Daddy’s Home” from the country categories. After her CMA snubs, the line feels even more fitting on the album.
What Awards Is She Nominated For This Year?
As mentioned above, Beyonce is up for 11 awards at the 2025 Grammys. If she wins any, she’ll greatly expand her lead as the most awarded artist.
All three of the major categories have Beyonce nominations. She’s up for Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter, while “Texas Hold ‘Em” is up for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
Besides those two, Beyonce is up for the following awards: Best Country Album (Cowboy Carter), Best Country Song (“Texas Hold ‘Em”), Best Pop Solo Performance (“Bodyguard”), Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Levii’s Jeans”), Best Melodic Rap Performance (“Spaghettii“), Best Country Solo Performance (“16 Carriages”), Best Country Duo/Group Performance (“II Most Wanted”), and Best Americana Performance (“Ya Ya”).
This year, the Beyhive is definitely rooting for her in every category!
