Beyonce‘ is the queen of the Grammy scene for 2025 with 5 of her record-breaking 11 nominations landing in traditionally country and Americana categories, but how did she get there? Let’s break down the art of getting that Grammy nod.
1: Registration. The artist or their representative has to either belong to a registered media company or be either a voting or professional member of the Recording Academy, at the cost of $150/yr per member.
2: Submission. An artist (or their representative) has to submit their work for each category. THEY CHOOSE THE CATEGORY (apparently “Best Beyonce’ Album isn’t a category so she defaulted to Country). To enter a song for Grammy consideration, the cost depends on your Recording Academy membership status and when you submit your entry, but generally ranges from around $40 per entry during early bird pricing to $125 per entry closer to the deadline for Recording Academy members, with media companies typically paying slightly higher fees.
3. Screening: A team of experts in each genre screen submissions to make sure they qualify for Grammy eligibility rules regarding release dates, categories and other factors listed in the Recording Academy rule books.
4: Campaigning. While it’s not really talked about much, once a piece of work is submitted, the artists and their team go hard promoting the work with “For your consideration” campaigns targeted towards music industry professionals. They spend thousands upon thousands of dollars in physical and digital advertising, and take as many public appearance opportunities as possible to keep their names in the forefront of every potential Academy member who might fill out their ballot.
4: Voting, Round 1 and 2. After submissions are received during the Online Entry Process, the Recording Academy’s Voting Members vote on said submissions across two GRAMMY voting rounds: First Round Voting determines the nominees for the majority of the categories at the annual GRAMMY Awards, while Final Round Voting determines the ultimate GRAMMY winners.
Final voting for the 2025 Grammy’s will be December 12th, 2024 with the winners being revealed at the ceremony on February 2nd, 2025
2025 Country Grammy Nominees
Best Country Solo Performance
“16 CARRIAGES,” Beyoncé
“I Am Not Okay,” Jelly Roll
“The Architect,” Kacey Musgraves
“A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey
“It Takes a Woman,” Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
“Cowboys Cry Too,” Kelsea Ballerini with Noah Kahan
“II MOST WANTED,” Beyoncé feat. Miley Cyrus
“Break Mine,” Brothers Osborne
“Bigger Houses,” Dan + Shay
“I Had Some Help,” Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen
Best Country Song
“The Architect,” Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
“A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“I Am Not Okay,” Casey Brown, Jason DeFord, Ashley Gorley & Taylor Phillips, songwriters (Jelly Roll)
“I Had Some Help,” Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Smith, Ryan Vojtesak, Morgan Wallen & Chandler Paul Walters, songwriters (Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen)
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM,” Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)
Best Country Album
COWBOY CARTER, Beyoncé
F-1 Trillion, Post Malone
Deeper Well, Kacey Musgraves
Higher, Chris Stapleton
Whirlwind, Lainey Wilson
Best American Roots Performance
“Blame It on Eve,” Shemekia Copeland
“Nothing in Rambling,” The Fabulous Thunderbirds feat. Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal & Mick Fleetwood
“Lighthouse,” Sierra Ferrell
“The Ballad of Sally Anne,” Rhiannon Giddens
Best Americana Performance
“YA YA,” Beyoncé
“Subtitles,” Madison Cunningham
“Don’t Do Me Good,” Madi Diaz feat. Kacey Musgraves
“American Dreaming,” Sierra Ferrell
“Runaway Train,” Sarah Jarosz
“Empty Trainload of Sky,” Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Best American Roots Song
“Ahead of the Game,” Mark Knopfler, songwriter (Mark Knopfler)
“All in Good Time,” Sam Beam, songwriter (Iron & Wine feat. Fiona Apple)
“All My Friends,” Aoife O’Donovan, songwriter (Aoife O’Donovan)
“American Dreaming,” Sierra Ferrell & Melody Walker, songwriters (Sierra Ferrell)
“Blame It on Eve,” John Hahn & Will Kimbrough, songwriters (Shemekia Copeland)
Best Americana Album
The Other Side, T Bone Burnett
$10 Cowboy, Charley Crockett
Trail of Flowers, Sierra Ferrell
Polaroid Lovers, Sarah Jarosz
No One Gets Out Alive, Maggie Rose
Tigers Blood, Waxahatchee
Best Bluegrass Album
I Built a World, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Songs of Love and Life, The Del McCoury Band
No Fear, Sister Sadie
Live Vol. 1, Billy Strings
Earl Jam, Tony Trischka
Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman, Dan Tyminski
Best Folk Album
American Patchwork Quartet, American Patchwork Quartet
Weird Faith, Madi Diaz
Bright Future, Adrianne Lenker
All My Friends, Aoife O’Donovan
Woodland, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
For the full list of 2025 Grammy Nominees, visit Billboard.com