Is Beyoncé the favourite to win album of the year at the 2025 Grammys?

With last week's announcement of the 2025 Grammy Award nominations, Beyoncé became the most nominated artist in Grammy history. 

Considering she was already the most awarded artist in Grammy Awards history, the record is just the latest in her long line of accomplishments. But one award that has still eluded her after all this time at music's biggest night is the top prize: album of the year.

Today on Commotion, music and culture critics Pablo The Don, Reanna Cruz and Andrea Williams join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss whether Cowboy Carter could win big at this year's Grammy Awards, and other categories to watch.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Let's talk about Beyoncé. She's got the most nominations — 11 nominations. She's the most nominated artist in Grammy history. She now has 99 total nominations, which is just a wild number. 

This year, she has the opportunity to become the first Black woman to win country album of the year. That's pretty wild. But also, the other big thing that everybody's waiting for is, 99 nominations, our girl has never won album of the year. How are you feeling about her chances this time around?

Andrea: I don't know. I'm not going to lie, I feel like this year might not be the year. 

Elamin: No, Andrea! What are you doing?

Andrea: Look, I'm sorry. Please don't kill me, Bey Hive! It's just, it's such a balanced field. It felt like a really, really big pop year. There are some albums in that category that I'm like, I don't know how you're going to squeeze by Sabrina and Chappell. It's a lot. And I think this becomes the issue with that category. She's been there so many times. She probably should have got it before. And so now it's like, if we're being honest and we're not just talking about the fact that she's never gotten it, were she to get it, we'd have to be like, I don't know. Is this a make-up call? You know?

Even if it's not album of the year, which I know is the big thing, there's still enough for us to talk about with Beyoncé this year. Being nominated across four genres is huge. I feel like she's going to get something in country, even if it's not country album. Those things are huge in and of themselves. We don't have Brandi Carlile and Allison Russell in Americana, so I think YA YA could get that one this year. It's going to be a big year for her nonetheless; I just don't know if she's going to get album [of the year].

Elamin: Reanna, I'm interested in the thing that Andrea said earlier, that if Beyoncé manages to compete in the album of the year category, which she is, she's got to go past some really heavy pop albums this year. She mentioned Sabrina and Chappell, which is interesting because in that category I would have mentioned Taylor Swift, but also I would have mentioned Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish, to me, is the heavyweight of the album of the year category. Incredible record. How do you see Beyoncé's chances of finally breaking her album of the year curse? 

Reanna: We keep saying that the nominations are so balanced, and I think that really reflects in album of the year. But that being said, the Grammys love Billie Eilish. 

Elamin: They do. 

Reanna: If I was a betting man and I had to bet for album of the year, I think I'd split my money between Cowboy Carter and Billie Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft. I think either of those could appeal to Grammy voters in a way that would be successful…. The fact that Cowboy Carter is up for album of the year and has the most nominations, I feel like that says something. 

Elamin: It's not that they're ignoring this record, right? They're clearly paying close attention to this record and the work that it is doing. It's just a matter of, will it rise up enough to defeat the love that they have for Billie Eilish? Because that love runs really deep. They will give her a Grammy for literally anything. 

Reanna: They're obsessed!

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Ty Callender.