Every time someone presented one of the show’s major prizes — album of the year, record of the year, song of the year, best new artist — he or she rattled off the line before revealing the winner. It was a small but telling detail that demonstrated how the academy wants to be perceived after years of being portrayed as a shadowy record-industry cabal.

Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter has won album of the year at the 2025 Grammy Awards. Queen Bey continued her historic night with her first win in the album of the year category. She's the first Black woman to take home the album of the year Grammy as the lead artist this century.

At the Grammys 2025 Sunday in Los Angeles, Beyoncé nabbed her first-ever win for album of the year for Cowboy Carter, her country concept album. She has been nominated four times prior for her albums I