Morgan Wallen, Willow, Kim Gordon: First-Time Grammy Nominees

The list of nominees for the 2025 Grammy Awards is led by Beyoncé, again, who is up for 11 trophies. She’s followed by Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone, with seven apiece. Amidst the lineup of superstars who are competing for more prizes—or, in some cases, their first—a handful of well-known artists land their first nods, finally becoming Grammy nominees, sometimes years into their musical careers.

Here are five of the most notable first-time nominees at the sixty-seventh Grammy Awards.

Morgan Wallen

It may come as a surprise that the top star in country music has never been nominated for music’s biggest honor, but that was the case…until now. Morgan Wallen is up for his first two honors this year, thanks to “I Had Some Help,” his chart-topping collaboration with Post Malone. That tune is in the running for both Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Country Song.

Wallen’s music has been nominated in the past, but he’s never actually been up for any awards. At the most recent ceremony, his smash “Last Night” competed for Best Country Song, which goes to the songwriters. He didn’t have a hand in penning the tune, so he wasn’t actually a nominee.

J-Kwon

The rapper scored the hit of a lifetime 20 years ago with “Tipsy,” which turned out to be his only truly successful track. The hip-hop musician’s career quickly waned, but he received a boost earlier this year when his tune was interpolated into “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey’s breakout single that has become the biggest song of the year in America. That cut is up for several awards, including Song of the Year—and J-Kwon is included.

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While he didn’t contribute anything original—something the Recording Academy is usually pretty strict about—he’s still listed as one of the songwriters on the single, and thus, he’s nominated for one of the big four awards. J-Kwon’s “Tipsy” didn’t earn any love when it was new, but apparently, it appeals more to Grammy voters as part of a country track.

Ingrid Michaelson

The indie-pop singer-songwriter has been steadily working, largely under the mainstream’s radar, for 20 years, and she’s finally scored a Grammy nomination. Ingrid Michaelson is competing for the Best Musical Theater Album award, as she is credited as a producer, composer, and lyricist on the musical The Notebook, which opened on Broadway in March of this year.

Willow

Formerly known by her full name Willow Smith—as in, Will Smith’s daughter—the alternative singer is finally a Grammy nominee. The musician is nominated for Best Arrangement, Instrument, and Vocals for “Big Feelings” from her most recent album Empathogen. While she’s scored hits in the past—most notably as a child with “Whip My Hair” and more recently with "Meet Me at Our Spot" as one-half of the group The Anxiety—she’s never been in the running for an award.

Willow is the third member of her immediate family to be nominated for a Grammy. Her father has already won several, and he snagged the first rap trophy handed out decades ago. Her brother Jaden was nominated alongside Justin Bieber for his album Justice a few years back.

Kim Gordon

The lead singer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon has been a legend in the music industry for decades…but somehow, she’s only earning her first Grammy nominations now. The multi-genre artist collects not one, but two nods at the same time this year.

Gordon’s sophomore solo project The Collective is nominated for Best Alternative Music Album. “Bye Bye,” a single from the set, is competing for Best Alternative Music Performance, one of the newest categories. Gordon has never been nominated on her own, or as part of the pioneering rock group, but that’s now been rectified by Recording Academy voters, who apparently loved her new work.