It’s been a long time coming. For the first time since 2010, music-industry titans Beyoncé and Taylor Swift will compete for the Grammys’ coveted Album of the Year award for their records Cowboy Carter and The Tortured Poets Department. Of course, the co-presidents of pop music have other contenders in the category, including Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, André 3000, Jacob Collier, and Swift’s former tour openers, Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter. Beyoncé and Swift will also face off in the Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories for “Texas Hold ’Em” versus “Fortnight”, and in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for “Levii’s Jeans” featuring Post Malone versus Gracie Abrams and Swift’s track “us.”
Beyoncé leads the night overall with 11 noms, bringing her total to 99 and breaking the record for most Grammy nominations in history, which she had previously held with her “Drunk in Love” collaborator (and, to a lesser extent, husband), Jay-Z. Swift has nabbed six nods this year, giving her a total of 58 — it’s no 99, but it’s not too shabby either.
A decade and a half ago, Swift introduced her surprise face to the world when her pop-country album Fearless took home the top prize over Beyoncé’s I Am … Sasha Fierce, though Beyoncé did leave with Song of the Year for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and Best Female Pop Vocal Artist for “Halo” over Swift’s “You Belong With Me.” Haven’t they gone head-to-head more recently, though? Only in such categories as Song of the Year in 2021 and 2023, Best Pop Vocal Album in 2020, Best Pop Solo Performance in 2020, and Best Song Written for Visual Media in 2023 (in each of these cases, neither won). This year’s rematch will answer a few questions. Will Beyoncé, the most-decorated Grammy winner in history with 32 trophies, finally snag her first Album of the Year award? Will Swift extend her record-setting four wins in the category after besting bestie Lana Del Rey this past February and adding a fifth(!) for TTPD? All will be revealed at this year’s ceremony on Sunday, February 2, which will be simulcast on ABC, Hulu, and Disney+.
Somehow, both rollout masterminds have skirted the friendly rivalry by alternating the Grammy cycles in which they’ve released new albums for years, partially in an unspoken effort to avoid bloodshed in their fans’ social-media circles. But, in 2025, the armistice is up.
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