Grammy Awards 2025: Beyoncé Wins Best Album at Last
Correcting what many saw as a historic oversight, Beyoncé won Best Album at the 67th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The honor came for her eighth album, Cowboy Carter, which celebrates and contextualizes the Black roots of country music. Despite being passed over for the Grammy’s top prize four times before, she finally took home the prestigious award.
As her name was announced, Beyoncé embraced her daughter Blue Ivy and then her husband Jay-Z before walking to the stage in a gold paisley dress to accept the trophy. “I just feel very full and very honored,” she said. “It’s been many, many years.” She dedicated the award to Linda Martell, a trailblazer for Black musicians in country music and the first Black woman to perform solo at the Grand Ole Opry. Martell appears on several tracks from Cowboy Carter.
“I hope we just keep pushing forward [and] opening doors,” Beyoncé continued. “God bless y’all. Thank you so much.” Her win comes 25 years after her first Grammy nomination with Destiny’s Child and solidifies her status as the most-awarded artist in Grammy history, with a total of 35 trophies—though the main prize had long eluded her.
Her victory was propelled by a shift to country and Americana, marking the second album in a trilogy that explores American musical traditions and uncovers the often-overlooked contributions of Black artists. With this win, Beyoncé becomes the first Black woman to win Album of the Year since Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1999.
Cowboy Carter also took home the Grammy for Best Country Album earlier that evening—a win that visibly surprised Beyoncé. Her reaction was one of disbelief as Taylor Swift, who also successfully crossed genres in her career, announced her name. “Wow, I really was not expecting this,” said Beyoncé, thanking “all of the incredible country artists” who voted for the prize.
This recognition came just five months after she was snubbed at the Country Music Awards, despite becoming the first Black woman to top the Hot Country Songs chart with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” That track was also nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys, but lost to Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us.
Lamar, who dominated the night by winning all five of his nominations—including Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video—used his victory speech to focus on his hometown of Los Angeles, which had recently been ravaged by wildfires. “We’re gonna dedicate this one to the city,” he said. “Compton, Long Beach, Inglewood, Hollywood, out to the valley… This is my neck of the woods that held me down since a young pup.”