No One Expected These Music Stars To Miss Out On Grammys This Year
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For every surprising win at the Grammy Awards, you can bet there's always a snub (or several) right around the corner, too.
This year, the 67th annual ceremony, hosted by Trevor Noah, was filled with shocking moments — from Beyoncé's long overdue Album of the Year win to Kendrick Lamar sweeping Record and Song of the Year with his scathing diss track, 'Not Like Us.' However, between those victories were stunning losses for some of music's biggest stars.
In a rare turn of events, Taylor Swift — whose chart-topping 'The Tortured Poets Department' album yielded five nominations, including the big three categories (Record, Song and Album of the Year) — walked away with zero gramophones for the first time in quite a while.
The same goes for Billie Eilish, who received seven total nominations — including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for 'Hit Me Hard and Soft' — but also left Sunday's ceremony empty-handed.
To be fair, this year's major category nominations were undeniably stacked, and Swift and Eilish have taken those wins home before, so it's hard to think of their recent losses as snubs. Swift holds the record for most Album of the Year wins of anyone in Grammy history, and Eilish has won the big three on at least one occasion (not to mention she also has two Oscars).
Still, that didn't stop fans from calling out the singers' Ls online.
Not the #GRAMMYs using Taylor for views and then snubbing her for no reason on her BEST album to date 🙄 pic.twitter.com/ltUooGpv0B
— Jessie London Eras 8/19 🫶 (@jessie_ttpd) February 3, 2025
0 grammys for this album and for billie is the most ridiculous thing i've ever seen. they did her so wrong, she definitely atleast deserved album of the year and song of the year. this album is pure art. pic.twitter.com/cfwgkUd97m
— sy! (@pinksblade) February 3, 2025
Billie Eillish got hella robbed, Hit me Hard and Soft is literally her best album so far and she got no awards for it, dang and I'm not even a Billie fan but the Grammys messed up that one
— sweeteves 🇵🇸 (@sweetevies) February 3, 2025
just woke up to the news of billie not winning a single award, grammys you're such a joke pic.twitter.com/0Osqi7z4GU
— clau is seeing gracie ⭐️ (@beeringoodbye) February 3, 2025
I'm not even an avocado but Taylor and Billie had the biggest albums of the year and for them to get no grammys at all is crazy pic.twitter.com/Wq9xbpp3AD
— aidan (@aidan7501) February 3, 2025
Finneas, Eilish's older brother and longtime collaborator, issued a statement to fans on Sunday to quell the commotion surrounding his sister's losses.
'I don't wanna see ANYONE with a photo of me or billie as their PFP gettin' in fights with other artists' fans in comment sections!!!' the producer wrote on his Instagram story. 'Be at peace! Congratulations to all!!'
Other notable artists who missed out on snagging gramophones this year are Post Malone, who extended his near-record losing streak again with no trophies for his eight 2025 nominations (he has 18 career nominations and zero wins); André 3000, whose 'New Blue Sun' debut instrumental LP was nominated for Album of the Year; and Shaboozey, who, despite having one of the longest-running No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — 'A Bar Song (Tipsy)' — and six nominations, did not become a first-time Grammy winner.
Some have argued that this year's Grammys felt like the Recording Academy made up for past upsets, pointing to prime examples like Beyoncé's top prize, more major awards for Black artists, and The Weeknd ending his yearslong boycott of the show with a surprise performance. Perhaps that factored into why Swift, Eilish, and others didn't sweep categories as some expected.
In my humble opinion, the 2025 Grammys felt like the Recording Academy finally got a lot of things right for a change: a woman winning Best Rap Album for the third time in history, a rap record snagging two of the big three trophies and a Black woman becoming a first-time Best Country Album winner (that Quincy Jones tribute could've been better, though).
It's been a while since we've been able to comfortably say good things about the Grammys, given its controversial history. That by no means absolves the Recording Academy of its flaws — the fact that we're still celebrating 'firsts' and 'historic wins' in the year 2025 is proof of that. (I hold this critique for all award shows that weren't designed with people of color in mind).
Still, while Swift, Eilish, Malone and others may have been shut out from victories this year, we can hold onto this memory that many 2025 wins were justly deserved. That may not be the case next year, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
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Usher Reveals His Heartfelt Reason Behind Missing The Grammy Awards
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It would mark the beginning of his experience with depression, which Wilson said never really went away. (Even in 2019, Wilson postponed a tour and said that he had been feeling 'mentally insecure' at the time and was grappling 'with stuff in my head.') Wilson went on to compose, arrange and produce the legendary 'Pet Sounds' album alongside songwriter Tony Asher, with a single goal in mind: to create the 'greatest rock album ever made.' It was released May 16, 1966. The 13-track album, which now holds the No. 2 spot on Rolling Stone's 2021 list of the '500 Greatest Albums of All Time,' has become the group's landmark record. Paul McCartney – who Wilson has referred to as one of his heroes – once called the record 'unbeatable in many ways.' The voices in Bryan's head – and a resurrection While bringing to life many of the band's iconic songs, Wilson was also plunging deep into his personal hell, taking drugs including hashish, amphetamines and LSD. It was a sort of self-medication, he had said. 'It's called 'nepenthe,'' he told King in 2004. 'Alcohol and morphine – nepenthe means numbing the soul,' he said, referring to a fictional antidote for sorrow mentioned in Ancient Greek literature. Wilson continued to spiral, at times spending days in bed. Around age 25, he began hearing voices: awful ones he desperately tried to tune out, which at times threatened to harm him. It was a symptom of schizoaffective disorder, Wilson said. 'Every few minutes the voices say something derogatory to me,' he told Ability Magazine in 2006. The only antidote for those proved to be singing, writing and being around his family, Wilson said. Wilson and his first wife, singer Marilyn Rovell, were divorced in 1979 after about 15 years of marriage. He met his second wife, Melinda Ledbetter, in a car dealership in 1986, when she sold him a Cadillac. He released his first solo album – 'Brian Wilson' – in 1988. His wife, Melinda, called that time the 'Landy years' — a reference to the domineering therapist hired to help Wilson but who instead, according to the musician, overmedicated him, controlled him and banned communication with his friends or family, Wilson and Melinda told King in the 2004 interview. (After a 1991 settlement, Landy was banned from having any contact with the artist.) Wilson married Melinda in 1995. He pointed to her as a critical backbone and support system during his struggles, and the one who helped him take his life back. After her death, Wilson called her his 'savior.' In 2004, came a stunning resurrection: more than 35 years since its inception, Wilson revisited the 'SMiLE' project and with the help of lyricist Van Dyke Parks and band member Darian Sahanaja, performed the entire finished album at the Royal Festival Hall in London. He released the 'Brian Wilson Presents Smile' album in September 2004. Wilson has called it his 'biggest accomplishment ever.' 'I get the impression that Brian knew he was running out of time and if he was going to present the work he'd have to make a decision to do it and no longer be embarrassed that he had followed his own madness as a 24-year-old composer,' Parks told The New York Times at the time. In May 2024, after his wife Melinda died, a judge ruled to place Wilson under a conservatorship, to which the musician agreed to. Court documents said Wilson had a 'major neurocognitive disorder' and was unable to care for himself, CNN reported. In Wilson's mind, The Beach Boys – as the world knew them – broke up in 1998, after Carl Wilson died of lung cancer. Dennis Wilson died in 1983 in a swimming accident. For all the sorrow and internal battles that haunted his life, Wilson never forgot about the things that made him happy: his wife, his children and music, above all else. 'They're the light of my life. Nothing brings joy into my life like my children,' Wilson told Ability Magazine in 2006. 'My children and my music are my two greatest loves.' In his interview with the magazine, Wilson said he had found ways to overcome the darkest days of his mental health conditions with the help of medication and regular visits with a psychiatrist. On what gets him through the day, he said: 'I walk five miles a day in the morning, I eat really good food, I get a little sleep at night—four or five hours, sometimes six if I'm lucky—and I use my love with people. I use love as a way to get along with people.' And when the going got tougher, he said he got through it with his willpower – which he, fittingly, called 'Wilson Power.' CNN's Todd Leopold contributed to this report.