The Beatles, 'BRAT' summer, country and more: All of the 2025 Grammy nomination snubs and surprises

NEW YORK (AP) — It looks like the 2025 Grammy Awards may be a different kind of award show. Beyoncé leads the nods with 11, bringing her career total to a record-breaking 99 nominations. There's an incredible diversity of genres represented across the major categories, and women continue to succeed. So... who didn’t make the cut? What were the best surprises of all? Let’s take a look.

Country music has bled into other prominent genres and the Recording Academy has taken note. Country hybridists — like Beyoncé, Post Malone and first-time nominee Shaboozey — lead many nominations, in country and beyond.

But that means the traditionalists might not see rewards: CMA Awards favorites Cody Johnson’s “Leather” and Luke Combs’ “Fathers & Sons” didn’t see any nominations. The latter shouldn’t come as much of a surprise: Comb’s blockbuster cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” wasn’t nominated for record of the year at the Grammys in 2024, either – though it did land a nod in best country solo performance.

This year also marks Malone and Beyoncé’s first-ever nominations in the country categories.

Who saw this one coming? The Beatles last new song, the AI-assisted “Now and Then," is up for record of the year. Released in 2023, the song utilized artificial intelligence to extract John Lennon’s voice from an old demo. It's the same technology used to separate the Beatles’ voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back.”

Last summer, the Recording Academy announced a series of changes to the Grammy Awards, including new protocols involving technological advancements in machine learning. It sparked headlines: “Only human creators” could win the music industry’s highest honor in a decision aimed at the use of artificial intelligence in popular music. At the 2025 Grammys, clearly, those changes are in action.

Last year's album of the year category was dominated by pop women — and that continues, with Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX's rave-ready approach to the genre receiving noms. The latter is a nice surprise (more on that below), but the two men nominated are creative outliers. OutKast frontman André 3000's experimental jazz-flute album “New Blue Sun” is a contender, as well as Jacob Collier's “Djesse Vol. 4,” though that one may fulfill a space left vacant by Jon Batiste.

Charli XCX, having never received a solo artist nomination at the Grammys, is up for seven awards at the 2025 ceremony. Those include record and album of the year, as well as pop solo and pop duo/group performance, pop dance recording, dance/electronic album and music video. Clearly, her culture-shifting “BRAT” album — and the summer of memes it inspired — has continued to hold real influence.

There is no shortage of first-time nominees this year. Some were expected — like Roan, Carpenter and Shaboozey — others less so. Willow Smith has received her first nomination in the arrangement, instruments and vocals category for arranging her song “b i g f e e l i n g s.” Linda Martell, the first commercially successful Black woman musician in country, is featured alongside Shaboozey on Beyoncé’s “SPAGHETTII," which is up for the melodic rap performance category. That delivers the progenitor her first-ever Grammy nomination at age 83.

And lastly, Morgan Wallen — undoubtedly one of the most popular musicians in the country, and one rife with controversy — has received his first two Grammy nominations for his feature on Malone's “I Had Some Help.” Last year, his song “Last Night” was nominated for best country song, but that is a songwriter’s award, and Wallen did not receive a nod.

In the past, the country singer has been absent from nominations. In 2021, after video surfaced of him using a racial slur, he was disqualified or limited from several award shows and received no Grammy nominations for his bestselling “Dangerous: The Double Album.”

Just like last year, Latin music is missing from the top categories at the 2025 Grammys, despite a surplus of eligible talent: Peso Pluma’s “Éxodo," Shakira’s “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” Residente, “Las Letras Ya No Importan," Carín León's “Boca Chueca, Vol. 1” and Bad Bunny's “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana” among them.

Same as above: K-pop, too, seems to be absent. There are no nominations for the BTS members who’ve released solo material this year: RM’s “Right Place, Wrong Person,” J-Hope’s “Hope on the Street, Vol. 1,” and Jimin’s “Muse.” As a boy band, BTS has received five nominations across its career.

Despite being one of the great global superstars of the current moment — regularly celebrated as one of the most streamed artists on the planet — Bad Bunny's “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana” received only one nomination, for música urbana album.

And Usher, who had a blockbuster year — including a star-studded Super Bowl halftime show — also received only one nomination, for R&B album.

In pop, Dua Lipa's “Radical Optimism" is nowhere to be seen. In country, best new artist hopeful Megan Moroney received no nominations. In R&B, Normani's long-awaited debut album, “Dopamine,” failed to make waves with voters, and in rap, Nicki Minaj's “Pink Friday 2” and Megan Thee Stallion's “Megan” are absent.

Last year, Jack Antonoff took home producer of the year, non-classical for a third year in a row, tying Babyface as the only other producer to do so consecutively. This year, he didn't receive a nod in that category — one he has held a place in since 2019. Who will take the mantle?

The 2025 Grammy Awards will air Feb. 2 live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

This story was first published on Nov. 8, 2024. It was updated on Nov. 12, 2024, to correct the name of Dua Lipa’s album to “Radical Optimism.”

FILE - Charli XCX appears at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 10, 2024. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, FIle)

FILE - Jack Antonoff attends the premiere of the Apple TV+ series "The New Look" on Feb. 12, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Bad Bunny appears in the press room at the Oscars in Los Angeles on March 10, 2024. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Andre Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - The Beatles, from left, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney appear in Liverpool, England on July 10, 1964, for the premiere of their movie "A Hard Day's Night." (AP Photo, File)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The person inside the Tesla Cybertruck that burst into flames outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel suffered a gunshot to the head before the explosion, officials said Thursday.

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference that a handgun was found at the feet of the man who's been identified as Matthew Livelsberger. Officials believe the shot was self-inflicted.

Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.

He was awarded two Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.

The FBI said Thursday in a post on X that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” at a home in Colorado Springs related to Wednesday's explosion but provided no other details.

The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot to death by police. That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack. The FBI said Thursday that they believe Jabbar acted alone, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others.

Both Livelsberger and Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to multiple Army special operations units. However, one of the officials who spoke to the AP said there is no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty.

Chris Raia, FBI deputy assistant director, said Thursday that officials have found ‘no definitive link’ between the New Orleans attack and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.

Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries when the Tesla truck exploded. Video showed a tumble of charred fireworks mortars, canisters and other explosive devices crowded into the back of the pickup. The truck bed walls were still intact because the blast shot straight up rather than to the sides.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself."

"All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote.

Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk was in Las Vegas early Wednesday. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his South Florida estate.

Authorities know who rented the truck with the Turo app in Colorado, Kevin McMahill, the elected sheriff of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, said Wednesday. He did not release the person’s ID, however.

Copp, Richer and Long contributed from Washington.

Investigators enter a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)

Investigators stand outside a townhouse complex in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)

Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)