Many artists now viewed as self-evidently revolutionary were once seen as merely provocative. The Beatles once sparked parental panics and religious boycotts; now, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr both have "Sir" before their name. Jim Morrison made Nietzchean inquiries into sex, death and the nature of prayer; today, The Doors sound comfortable and comforting. Half a century later, get a load of Sophie, a gender-norm-shattering Scottish producer with a bold expression who refused limitations—in music and in society. The artist’s uncategorizable, maximalist tracks resemble avant-garde electronica meets IMAX-scaled sound design.

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Immerse yourself in tracks like "Bipp," the alluringly fun club banger; "Ponyboy," an experimental track full of sexual inuendos; or "It's Okay to Cry," a song full of comforting vulnerability, and you'll find an artist on the bleeding edge of culture. Still, Sophie was perceptive enough to know the artist was one of many more to come.

"There's a huge amount of work to be done socially and culturally in the gap between where we are now and, I imagine, where we could be," Sophie, who was transgender and preferred not to be referenced with gendered or non-binary pronouns, told Arte Tracks in 2018. "The places that our imaginations can take us are so far away from what we're presented with a lot of the time. So, I can't get too excited about anything happening now. I'm really excited about what should be happening in the future."

Sophie tragically died on Jan. 30 after slipping and falling from the three-story balcony of an apartment where the artist stayed in Athens, Greece, while trying to take a picture of the full moon. Sophie was only 34. "She will always be here with us," the artist's label Transgressive said in a statement, calling the artist's desire for the lunar shot "true to her spirituality." 

Sophie's girlfriend, Evita Manji, told Daily Mail she spoke to Sophie after the fall. "I managed to tell her I love her and to keep fighting," she said. "She's an immaterial girl now; she can be anything she wants... and she is in everything around us," Manji said in a later online tribute.

Sophie Xeon was born in Glasgow in 1986 and grew up absorbing rave tapes from the artist's father and experimenting with synthesis. In the early 2000s, the precocious musician relocated to Berlin and formed Motherland, a dance-pop collective. Motherland's Matthew Lutz-Kinoy used the artist's music at exhibitions in Europe and the New Museum in Manhattan and boosted Sophie's signal.

A decade later, Sophie began DJing and releasing music. In the early 2010s, the artist rose as part of the forward-thinking PC Music Collective production team, which operated parallel to and against the mainstream’s current.

The artist's career began in earnest with the effervescent single "Lemonade / Hard,'" keeping her identity a secret in the beginning. (She revealed her face for the first time in a music video in 2017). "I think about physics and materials [while creating]," Sophie explained to Billboard in 2014, revealing a scientific-like approach to creating music. "'Lemonade' is made out of bubbling, fizzing, popping, and 'Hard' is made from metal and latex—they are sort of sculptures in this way. I synthesize all sounds except for vocals using raw waveforms and different synthesis methods as opposed to using samples. This means considering the physical properties of materials and how those inform the acoustic properties.

"For instance—why does a bubble have an ascending pitch when popped and why does metal clang when struck, and what is this clanging sound in terms of pitch and timbre over time? How do I synthesize this?" the artist asked. "Perhaps after learning about these things, it might be possible to create entirely new materials through synthesis."

"Lemonade / Hard" ended up in a 2015 McDonald's ad and seamlessly worked in that context. Sophie had no compunction about licensing the artist's music in commerce. In the same interview, Sophie frankly called the artist's genre "advertising"—which might seem like anathema to those committed to operating in a counterculture at odds with capitalism.

"Pop should be about finding new forms for feelings and communicating them in ways which talk about the world around us right now," the artist told The New York Times in 2015. "There’s no need to view something commercial as necessarily bad. I believe you don’t need to compromise one percent on what you want to present and need to communicate to people en masse."

Almost immediately after the McDonald's ad, Sophie became part of the mainstream landscape, releasing the artist’s debut album Product in 2015. That year, the artist co-wrote and produced Madonna's infamous single "Bitch, I'm Madonna." Sophie followed that up with writing and production work for artists as divergent as the dance-popper Charli XCX (2016's Vroom Vroom) and Odd Future MC Vince Staples ("Yeah Right" and "Samo" from 2017's Big Fish Theory). Sophie also remixed Rihanna's "Nothing Is Promised," a track from Mike Will Made It's debut 2017 album Ransom 2.

"It’s impossible to summarize the journey I went on with Sophie. Even the most insignificant things felt enormous,” XCX expressed on Twitter. “All I can [say] is that I will miss her terribly—her smile, her laugh, her dancing in the studio, her gentle inquisitive voice, her cutting personality, her ability to command a room without even trying, her incredible vision and mind."

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Staples also took to social media to remember the artist. "Sophie was different," he said in a Twitter tribute. "You ain't never seen somebody in the studio smoking a cigarette in a leather bubble jacket, just making beats, not saying one word. And don't let the verse be deep or heartfelt, 'cause she stopping the computer and walking outside until you get bacc [sic] on some gangsta shit."

In 2018, Sophie released the artist’s second and final studio album, Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides. The album is fascinating, a tidal wave of disparate styles—glitch, techno, dream pop, ambient house, EDM, and more—coupled with a transgender and transhumanist visual aesthetic. The album was met with acclaim, earning Sophie a GRAMMY nomination for Best Dance Electronic/ Album in 2018. "This is the kind of music that, in 20 years, we may look back on as a pivotal point in changing the trajectory of the pop music sound," Exclaim! wrote in a glowing 2018 review. 

Sophie left us far too soon, but for anyone wondering if the future of music will resemble this singular artist, here's a thought: Given how the Internet age has bled all genres and stylistic eras into one morass, like in Soundcloud rap—and how traditional ideas of gender are being deconstructed and reexamined daily in mainstream culture—this makes it not just conceivable but likely.

There may have only been one Sophie, but if you’re looking for a bellwether of what a pop musician might look and sound like in the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th centuries, look no further.

LaShawn Daniels, GRAMMY-Winning Songwriter & Producer, Dies At 41

"I made it through the wilderness, somehow I made it through!" With that girlish admission, Madonna opened her sophomore album, 1984's Like a Virgin — and officially took her throne.

Madonna's monumental sophomore album arrived just 16 months after the mononymous starlet's debut. Its self-titled precursor had earned the singer a Top 10 hit in "Holiday" and a handful of minor radio singles, and established her as a talent to watch as the singer/songwriter sounds of the 1970s gave way to '80s pop. But it wasn't until she released Like a Virgin that Madonna became the pop star whose name was on everyone's lips. 

Featuring modern classics like the title track and "Material Girl" as well as fan favorites like "Over and Over" and "Shoo-Bee-Doo" — and a melodramatic cover of Rose Royce's "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" — Like a Virgin solidified the superstar prowess she'd hinted with Madonna. With a provocative cover to boot, the album set the stage for the boundary-pushing, chart-topping career that made her the undisputed Queen of Pop. 

"Every important artist has at least one album in his or her career whose critical and commercial success becomes the artist's magic moment," biographer Randy Taraborrelli wrote in 2002's Madonna: An Intimate Biography. "For Madonna, Like a Virgin was just such a defining moment."

As Like a Virgin turns 40, revisit the album's impact on both Madonna's career and pop music as a whole.

It Made Madonna A Global Superstar

The success of Madonna's debut had been a slow burn, with the album steadily climbing from its Billboard 200 debut at No. 190 to an eventual peak at No. 8 over the course of more than a year. It became a standard bearer for the decade's dance-pop sound thanks to sparkly bops like "Lucky Star" and "Borderline," but its performance on both the charts and the larger cultural zeitgeist was ultimately small change compared to the cultural behemoth its predecessor would soon become. 

Two months after its release, Like a Virgin became the pop star's first album to top the Billboard 200, replacing Bruce Springsteen's Born In the U.S.A. and eventually spending three consecutive weeks at No. 1. The studio set aso kicked off a hot streak of three chart-toppers for Madonna on the tally including 1986's True Blue and 1989's Like a Prayer. 

The newly minted superstar's popularity at the time also launched the phenomenon known as the "Madonna wannabe." Fans all across the country began emulating her style, taking inspiration from her pop persona, and evangelizing for the Queen of Pop by wearing her merch.

In his 1985 story that helped coin the term, Time journalist John Skow seemed simultaneously aghast and fascinated by the trend, writing, "Twelve-year-old girls, headphones blocking out the voices of reason, are running around wearing T-shirts labeled VIRGIN, which would not have been necessary 30 years ago. The shirt offers no guarantees, moreover; they merely advertise Madonna's first, or virgin, rock tour, now thundering across the continent, and her bouncy, love-it-when-you-do-it song 'Like a Virgin.'

And the "wannabes" weren't just wearing shirts promoting Madonna's tour, either. According to Skow, teenagers and young women across the country were "saving up their babysitting money to buy cross-shaped earrings and fluorescent rubber bracelets like Madonna's, white lace tights that they will cut off at the ankles and black tube skirts."

Read More: Songbook: How Madonna Became The Queen Of Pop & Reinvention, From Her 'Boy Toy' Era To The Celebration Tour

It Gave Us Some Of Her Most Quintessential Hits

With her debut, Madonna had already scored her first No. 1 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart, thanks to the sugary escapism of "Holiday." But Like a Virgin featured a pair of shimmering singles that would eventually become timeless centerpieces of her catalog.

First came the title track, which was officially released as the album's lead single on Halloween 1984. With its erotic lyrics and flirtatious, danceable rhythm, the song set the tone for the album to come and earned Madonna her first No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. 

Then there was "Material Girl" and its gleeful Mary Lambert-directed music video, an homage to Marilyn Monroe's timeless performance in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. By the time the song peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100, its title had started to double as one of Madonna's many nicknames — even if, as she bemoaned in the decades that followed, calling her the "Material Girl" entirely sidestepped the track's ironic, feminist message. 

The LP's rollout also included three additional singles: the new wave-leaning "Angel," "Into the Groove" (featured in Madonna's first major movie, 1985's Desperately Seeking Susan, and later added to the album as a bonus cut) and the lovesick "Dress You Up," all of which added to her chart successes. Though "Into the Groove" wasn't released commercially in the U.S., the other two singles each peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100; meanwhile, both "Angel" and "Into the Groove" added to the seven-time GRAMMY winner's quickly proliferating collection of No. 1s on the Dance Club Songs chart.

It Helped Her Fight For Control Over Her Career

Since her earliest days dancing through New York City's downtown scene, Madonna had uncompromising confidence and a clear creative vision. After the success of her self-titled debut in 1983 had established her as a star to watch, when it came to crafting her follow-up, she wanted even more autonomy. However, the singer's request to produce her sophomore album herself was quickly shot down by her label at the time, Sire Records. 

She started speaking out publicly in the press against what she called the label's "hierarchy of old men," famously telling Rolling Stone, "It's a chauvinistic environment to be working in because I'm treated like this sexy little girl. I always have to prove them wrong. This is what happens when you're a girl — it wouldn't happen to Prince or Michael Jackson. I had to do everything on my own and convince people that I was worth a record deal. After that, I had the same problem trying to convince them I had more to offer than a one-off girl singer. I have to win this fight."

Eventually, the label offered a compromise: Madonna could choose to work with whichever executive producer she wanted, no questions asked. Taking the victory, the singer selected Nile Rodgers, who had just come off producing one of her favorite albums, David Bowie's 1983 smash Let's Dance. 

Reportedly, the dynamic between the singer and the Chic co-founder wasn't always smooth as they created the album together. But Like a Virgin certainly set the precedent for Madonna's unwavering insistence on controlling her sound, her image and her message to the world — and she's been credited as a producer on every one of her albums since. 

It Birthed The First Iconic MTV Video Music Awards Performance

Six weeks before sending "Like a Virgin" to radio, Madonna opened the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards with a scandalous, high-concept performance of the song. 

The singer emerged atop a 17-foot-tall wedding cake, dressed in a racy wedding dress and bustier similar to her outfit from the album artwork. (Adding an extra touch of provocation, Madonna accessorized the look with her now-famous "BOY TOY" belt, which she also wore for the cover art shoot.)

The moment became instantly iconic, with Madonna throwing back her veil as she sang, "Like a virgin/ Touched for the very first time/ Like a virgin/ When your heart beats next to mine." 

Madonna's performance also included one of the earliest televised wardrobe malfunctions. As the pop star climbed down the wedding cake's multiple levels, one of her high heels accidentally slipped off. To cover up the gaffe, the singer crash-landed on the floor, inadvertently flashing the camera with a shot of her underwear as she writhed around on the ground. 

"I thought, 'Well, I'll just pretend I meant to do this,'" the icon recalled three decades later in a 2014 Billboard retrospective about the performance. "And, as I reached for the shoe, the dress went up. And the underpants were showing."

While many industry insiders decried Madonna's performance at the time and even went as far as to declare her career would be over due to its scandalous nature, Les Garland, MTV's executive vice president of programming at the time, had a more accurate reading of the moment: "She stole the show."

It Pushed The Envelope For Female Artistry — And Paid Major Dividends

Sex appeal had been a key component of male pop stardom since the days of Elvis Presley swinging and thrusting his hips on "The Ed Sullivan Show." However, it arguably wasn't until Madonna's Like a Virgin that a female pop singer channeled her own sexuality so unabashedly into her music. After all, the lyrical content of the title track alone was enough to leave the older generation clutching their pearls (even if some of those parents were likely the same fans who had been shrieking along to Elvis and the Beatles in their youth). 

And yet, Madonna seemed to not only welcome controversy, but openly court it, refusing to cover up, tone it down or censor herself. Of course, the singer would continue to push boundaries even further as her career evolved — within a decade, she would release 1992's Erotica and its scandalous coffee table companion Sex — but Like a Virgin served as a deliberate turning point in the pop star embracing her sexuality and daring the masses to object. 

Breaking societal barriers paid off: the album quickly became the first by a female artist to sell more than five million copies in the U.S. It was certified diamond by the RIAA in May 1998, and with a reported 22 million copies sold worldwide as of press time, it remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Nearly four decades after its release, the album was deemed worthy of preservation in 2023 by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry based on its "cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation's recorded sound heritage."

Read More: 10 Artists Who Have Stood Up For Women In Music: Taylor Swift, Lizzo & More

It Paved The Way For Future Generations Of Pop Stars

Without Madonna's pioneering influence on Like a Virgin, it's hard to imagine life for the pop stars who followed in her footsteps. 

Would Britney Spears have writhed around with an albino python at the 2001 MTV VMAs if it wasn't for Madonna's scandalous performance of "Like a Virgin" nearly three decades before? As the star said herself, she certainly learned from Madonna's tutelage over the years.

"I was in awe of the ways Madonna would not compromise her vision," the Princess of Pop  wrote in her 2023 memoir about working with Her Madgesty on "Me Against The Music," their 2003 duet from Spears' Into the Zone. "It was an important lesson for me, one that would take a long time for me to absorb: she demanded power, and so she got power." 

Spears wasn't the only pop star inspired by Madonna's fearless nature and bold self-belief, either. The Spice Girls have credited the superstar as "a big influence" on their career and the "girl power!" message they spread across the globe more than a decade after Madge ascended to her throne with Like a Virgin. 

More recently, Madonna's influence can be clearly traced to everything from Lady Gaga's avant garde style to Taylor Swift's penchant for creating musical eras, or Christina Aguilera's unapologetic embrace of her sexuality in her own Stripped era and Tate McRae baring all in her "it's ok, i'm ok" music video from earlier this summer.

"One element of Madonna's career that really takes center stage is how many times she's reinvented herself," Taylor Swift said nearly a decade ago when Madonna was named the top touring artist at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards."It's easier to stay in one look, one comfort zone, one musical style. It's inspiring to see someone whose only predictable quality is being unpredictable."

Thankfully, we'll never know what the music industry would look like without the Queen of Pop — and Like a Virgin inaugurated a legacy that has endured for four decades and counting.

Sharing an album with the world is an artist’s way of immortalizing a fragment of their life. Though virality can propel music to the mainstream, releasing an album is a profound accomplishment that can have a deep and laying impact. Albums are more than an encapsulation of a musician’s lived and learned experiences: they’re a way to cherish them forever.

The Recording Academy is proud to present the 2025 GRAMMYs nominees for Album Of The Year, honoring both artistic and technical skill of the highest degree in music. The Category is notably dominated by women this season, while several entries see established artists tapping into new genres and sonic arenas. 

Check out the nominees below and read the full 2025 GRAMMYs nominations list ahead of Music's Biggest Night on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. 

André 3000 — 'New Blue Sun'

André 3000 might be best known for his role in Outkast, but recently, the Atlanta rapper has been busy carving out a new reputation as André the flutist.

In the years following Outkast’s split in 2007, André 3000 has been spotted wandering everywhere from LAX to Japan with his flute in tow. Now, the opening track of his first-ever solo album amusingly calls out his genre switch: "I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time."

To record improvisations that eventually birthed New Blue Sun, the flutist worked with producer Carlos Niño, keyboardist Surya Botofasina, and guitarist Nate Mercereau to craft a surreal, textured soundscape. Throughout, André 3000 plays the contrabass flute, Maya flute, wood and bamboo flutes, and more wind instruments — harmoniously uniting to create the artist’s first release in over 17 years.

Composed of eight tracks with bizarre, lengthy titles, the lyricless New Blue Sun is labeled as new-age and experimental jazz. It’s fairly shocking that André 3000 is not a trained musician, given the project’s brilliance; led primarily by rhythm, and using his instincts developed from rapping, the expert flutist embeds New Blue Sun with an organic authenticity. The album feels limitlessly atmospheric, dipping into an ambience that teeters between peaceful and precarious.

With Big Boi in the ‘90s, André 3000 undoubtedly helped shape hip-hop, pushing the genre forward with creative integrations of funk, jazz, rock, and gospel. In 2024, he continues to break rules as he champions alternative jazz — all with his flute by his side.

When Beyoncé’s first country song came out in 2016, people questioned if the icon belonged on the country radio — despite the indisputable impact of Black artists on the genre. Eight years later, the genre-bending diva is still drowning out the noise by switching on her very own radio station: COWBOY CARTER’s KNTRY Radio Texas, that is.

The fantasy station is one of the many visionary elements of COWBOY CARTER, an album that honors the cultural contributions of Black artists to American country music. The eighth studio project is Act II of her album trilogy; while the first installment RENAISSANCE (2022) focused on futuristic escapism, COWBOY CARTER looks to the past. It pays vibrant tribute to the Black community’s roots in country music, offering a glorious reimagination of Americana.

Not just championing but also reinventing Southern subgenres, COWBOY CARTER is yet another example of Beyoncé’s revolutionary versatility. From horseshoe steps to boot stomps to Beyoncé’s fingernails as percussion, the album unites bluegrass, zydeco, folk, R&B, and more to craft a majestic testament to Beyoncé’s boundless artistry.

Boasting 27 tracks and five years in the making, the Texas-born legend’s album includes features from Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, and Brittney Spencer, embracing country legends as well as making space for up-and-coming Black artists on the scene.

While Beyoncé has yet to take home GRAMMY Gold for Album Of The Year, she remains the artist with the most GRAMMY wins of all time. After all, this isn’t her first rodeo.

"Oh, I leave quite an impression," Sabrina Carpenter croons on Short n’ Sweet, with a nonchalance that’s virtually intoxicating. While the 25-year-old indeed stands at just five feet tall, it’s evident the actress-turned-songstress has enough talent to fill a stadium.

Glowing with lighthearted, honest-to-goodness genius, Short n’ Sweet is the cherry on top of Carpenter’s already extensive discography. Her sixth studio album spawned a trinity of 2024 hits: "Espresso," "Please Please Please" and "Taste." With this remarkable trio, Carpenter became the first artist since the Beatles to chart their first three top five US hits in the same week. Short n’ Sweet's success was boosted by her Coachella debut earlier in the year, and furthered during her first arena tour.

On her delightful summer hit "Espresso," Carpenter explicitly mentions that her "twisted humor" is what makes her lovable, which might remind older fans of her 2022 single "Nonsense." The pop track went viral for its raunchy, often silly outros that Carpenter lovingly tailored to each city she toured in — and on Short n’ Sweet, she taps into her risqué wit much more fully, rocketing her album to another level of memorable.

Undoubtedly, it’s Carpenter’s bright confidence that makes space for her playful pen game on Short n’ Sweet. With her signature plucky yet composed soprano, she balances her soulful ardor with her deadpan humor expertly, allowing her to explore the nuances of romance in new and clever ways — all while maintaining her infectious charisma that earned her her first GRAMMY nominations this year.

Charli xcx knows how to throw a party, and on June 7, 2024, she turned the world into her own nightclub. BRAT, her sixth studio album, gloriously splattered the globe a garish green, with hits like "360," "Apple," and "Von Dutch" soundtracking the summer.

Ten years after scoring her first GRAMMY nominations for "Fancy" with Iggy Azalea, the British queen of "brat summer" continues to crank out bangers about chandelier swinging and driving in the fast lane. Working with producers A.G. Cook, EASYFUN, Cirkut, her fiancé George Daniel, and other longtime collaborators, Charli conjured her own genre: a chic, club-ready pop blend of electroclash and hyperpop.

Though the self-proclaimed 365 party girl sings about dancing until dawn and sipping one too many aperol spritzes, BRAT is also Charli’s most vulnerable album, her long nails gingerly peeling back the sticky layers of fame and womanhood. BRAT makes blunt confessions about jealousy, questioning motherhood, grief, and intergenerational trauma. Brilliantly, she’s dauntless and exposed all at once — and still bumpin’ that at the club.

Her popular co-headlining SWEAT Tour with GRAMMY-nominated collaborator Troye Sivan vroom-vroomed BRAT to arenas across the U.S. Charli xcx might have had her shades on while performing, but make no mistake: she has nothing to hide.

When people think of contemporary jazz, rollercoaster might not be the first word that comes to mind — but Jacob Collier is nothing if not ambitious. As the climax of his four-album project dating back to 2018, Djesse Vol. 4 triumphs as an odyssey through genre.

What makes Collier such a prolific musician is his refusal to distill abundance. He sees the beauty in anything and everything, and Djesse Vol. 4 brings his perspective to life. The project not only centers but celebrates the human voice; in fact, about 150,000 voices feature on Djesse Vol. 4 — many from his own concert audiences that he transformed into improvised choirs. 

Collier has won multiple GRAMMY Awards for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals, and Djesse Vol. 4 continues to showcase his mastery of sound via genre diversity. The nominated album is modern and sprawling, from the serenity of his audience-choirs to howling of heavy metal. Djesse Vol. 4 is thought-provoking, engrossing, and oftentimes surprising; who else would have aespa and Chris Martin on the same track?

Collier is the first British artist to win a GRAMMY for each of his first four albums, and Djesse Vol. 4 already boasts a GRAMMY-nominated track on it (2022’s "Never Gonna Be Alone," featuring Lizzy McAlpine and John Mayer, which was later announced as the album’s first single). Collier was previously nominated for Album Of The Year for Djesse Vol. 3 and also received a nod at the 2023 GRAMMYs in the same Category for Coldplay’s nominated Music of the Spheres.

Djesse Vol. 4 has redefined Collier’s perspective on life, and in a way, Collier’s album is more than a reflection: it’s an open invitation.

Billie Eilish had a fear of water as a child, yet to capture the album cover for HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, she spent six brutal hours on-and-off submerged underwater with a weight on her shoulders. "A lot of my artwork is painful physically in a lot of ways, and I love it," the 22-year-old told Rolling Stone. "Oh, my God, I live for it."

Eilish delves beneath the surface in more ways than one on HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. As rippling, immersive alt-pop, the album swims through similar topics covered in her first two studio albums, including coping with fame, body image, and post-breakup grief. Yet Eilish is no longer the proudly self-proclaimed "bad guy"; instead she doesn’t tether herself to a persona.

In this way, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT holds dear a newfound, striking level of maturity. Eilish is incontestably true to herself, and lyrically, the album feels especially unbridled and attentive. With its title a paradoxical demand, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT powerfully represents the impossible struggle between intensity and tenderness — both in love and in life.

Though the album cascades as an emotional torrent, it’s as cohesive as it is potent. It’s (unsurprisingly) produced by her brother and day-one collaborator, FINNEAS, whose minimalistic but nevertheless hard-hitting soundscape gives bedroom pop a makeover. Eilish’s third Album Of The Year nomination shows that, once again, she isn’t treading water; she’s plunging straight into the deep end.

In the prismatic world of pop, Chappell Roan knows how to rotate through every color in the rainbow. A kaleidoscope of wistful yet intense romance, Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess churns with the unabashed authenticity that only true superstars can craft — and on a debut album, nonetheless.

Although Roan’s career began 10 years ago on YouTube, the Missouri-born singer skyrocketed to fame in the last year following spectacular festival performances and an opening slot on Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour. Her 2020 single "Pink Pony Club" pushed the singer toward a massive 2024 breakthrough, the song an open proclamation of queer joy (amid understanding her evolving relationship with religion).

Inspired by drag queens, Roan’s aesthetic is breathtakingly campy and sparkly — much like her striking debut album. Championing female and queer freedom, The Rise And Fall gushes with yearning in a way that’s both carefree and confessional. From the hungry, heart-shattering "Casual" to the kinky pleasure of "Red Wine Supernova," each track showcases Roan’s sharp dynamism.

The Rise And Fall bursts with radiant '80s-inspired and 2000s synthpop from GRAMMY-winning producer Dan Nigro, all of which only highlights her dynamism. Beyond her vocal flips and cutting lyricism meant for laughing and/or crying, what’s special about Roan’s album is its defiance. Chappell Roan is the definition of unapologetic, and The Rise And Fall is all the evidence anyone needs.

Before it was even released, The Tortured Poets Department had already made GRAMMY history: during her acceptance speech for the 2024 GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, Taylor Swift surprised audiences by announcing the album’s upcoming release. And just one year later, Swift is making history yet again with her seventh Album Of The Year nomination.

Serving as a creative "lifeline" for Swift during the Eras Tour, working on The Tortured Poets Department reminded the star of how integral songwriting is to her wellbeing. Consequently, the 16-track album (plus an additional 15 tracks in an expanded version of the labrum) unveiled some of her most diaristic songwriting yet. Swift's meandering lyrics stand out as particularly candid, dramatic, and whimsical — though it’s far from the first time the prolific songwriter has used or referenced poetry in her work.

For a return to her folksy synthpop sound, Swift turned to her close friends Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, who most recently helped produce her GRAMMY-winning album Midnights among other projects. Showcasing Swift’s collaborative brilliance, The Tortured Poets Department also features Post Malone on the hauntingly atmospheric opener "Fortnight" and a stirring "Florida!!!" verse from Florence + the Machine.

As the Eras Tour comes to a close (unless, of course, she has another surprise up her sleeve) on Dec. 8 in Vancouver, The Tortured Poets Department’s nomination is one of the many recent reminders of Swift’s staggering legacy. Swift is the first and only person to have won Album Of The Year four times, and The Tortured Poets Department could score her a legendary fifth win — further solidifying her as a breaker of records and rules.

The Record Of The Year Category honors some of the year's biggest recordings — and at the 2025 GRAMMYs, the nominees are hits by a mix of newcomers and superstars.

Throughout the past year, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx, and Chappell Roan proved why they're at the top of pop's current class. The Beatles and Kendrick Lamar both cemented their respective legacies, while Beyoncé and Taylor Swift continue to challenge their own musical boundaries.

With a range of unforgettable music moments, there's no telling who will take home the golden gramophone for Record Of The Year — which is awarded to the artist and the producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s) — at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards. But one thing is for sure: the eight nominees make for quite an exciting contest.

Check out the nominees below and read the full 2025 GRAMMYs nominations list ahead of Music's Biggest Night on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025.

It can take years for an artist to work on their masterpiece. In the Beatles' case, the journey of "Now And Then" took 45 years. John Lennon originally wrote the demo in the late '70s. It's a mournful, piano-backed confession: "I know it's true/ It's all because of you/ And if I make it through/ It's all because of you."

The song remained unfinished long after Lennon's tragic 1980 passing, but — in a powerful act of love — his bandmates completed it for him. Paul McCartney enlisted Giles Martin (the son of Beatles' former producer and longtime collaborator George Martin) as the song's co-producer, using Lennon's original 1977 demo, George Harrison's guitar melodies from the 1995 Anthology sessions, and Ringo Starr's drumming and backing vocals from 2022. "Now And Then," which marked the Beatles' 35th top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100, is a tearful close to the band's legacy. 

"Obviously, it hasn't been, but it sounds like John's written it for Paul now, in a very emotional way," Martin told Rolling Stone. "It's a bittersweet song, which is very John. But with a combination of happiness and regret." 

McCartney never gave up on the song, which is a testament that true friendship never dies.

Beyoncé — "TEXAS HOLD 'EM"

After shimmying underneath a disco ball for 2022's GRAMMY-winning RENAISSANCE, Beyoncé wanted to keep the dance party going on 2024's COWBOY CARTER — except this time around, she traded Studio 54 for a honky-tonk. But "TEXAS HOLD 'EM," the album's joint lead single alongside "16 CARRIAGES," is much more than an instructional hoedown.

The 32-time GRAMMY winning icon has long incorporated African American history in her music, and "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" is no different. The single, like many tunes on COWBOY CARTER, is rooted in liberation. Country music is the backbone of America, but its roots in Black culture are often hidden. With "TEXAS HOLD 'EM," Beyoncé lifts the veil off the genre's true history by celebrating both her Houston heritage and the Black country artists that paved the way for her.

The song's message is clear, but it's balanced by playful melodies, Beyoncé's signature stacked harmonies and a plucking banjo (played by Rhiannon Giddens, an advocate for the reclamation of country music instruments by Black musicians). While Beyoncé is no stranger to chart-topping hits ("TEXAS HOLD 'EM" is her ninth solo No. 1 single on the Hot 100), she made history as the first Black woman to score a No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.

Sabrina Carpenter does whimsy so well. Chalk it up to her Disney Channel roots, but the singer's innate ability to craft an earworm is why she's skyrocketed as one of the biggest pop stars of the new generation. "Espresso," the lead single from 2024's Short n' Sweet album and unofficial song of the summer, encapsulates Carpenter's irresistible charm.

"The song is kind of about seeing femininity as your superpower, and embracing the confidence of being that b—," she told Vogue in April. 

That confidence is found all throughout "Espresso," from her cooing vocals to her cheeky songwriting ("I can't relate to desperation/ My give-a-f—s are on vacation"). Topped off by an irresistibly catchy, undulating chorus, "Espresso" helped Carpenter reach several career milestones that kickstarted a year full of them — including her first GRAMMY nominations.

Charli xcx has long been one of the coolest girls in pop, and her sixth album brat cemented that fact. On "360," the album's second single, the British star not only acknowledges her own cool factor, but of those around her. Produced by longtime collaborator A. G. Cook, the song trades in the producer's signature exaggerated hyperpop sonics for more minimalistic synths that complement Charli's auto-tuned vocals.

"I went my own way and I made it/ I'm your favorite reference, baby," Charli xcx exclaims on the cocky opening line before comparing herself to friends like model/musician Gabbriette and actress Julia Fox. "360" is a cheeky reflection of the ever-growing digital era, giving fellow internet "It" girls an anthem for the ages.

Billie Eilish — "BIRDS OF A FEATHER"

The beauty of Billie Eilish's artistry is in her vulnerability. For the nine-time GRAMMY winner's third album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, she pushed herself into her deeper territories with the assistance of her brother and go-to collaborator FINNEAS.

Second single "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" best exemplifies the album title's meaning in both its tenderness and desperation. It was initially intended to be a traditional love song, but given the siblings' unorthodox track record, they couldn't resist making it slightly untraditional: "I want you to stay/ 'Til I'm in the grave/ 'Til I rot away, dead and buried/ 'Til I'm in the casket you carry," Eilish sings on the opening verse in her signature whisper. 

Even with the juxtaposing lyrics, the song's airy production and wistfully gauzy synths still make for a beautiful, adoring statement piece. And the heartfelt sentiment paired with Eilish's breathy vocals quickly made "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" the biggest hit from HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, already garnering nearly 1.5 billion Spotify streams as of press time.

Branding Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" as merely a diss track would be doing it a disservice. The 17-time GRAMMY winner's tune is not just a rap song, but a cultural phenomenon. A seething finale to his (very public) feud with Drake, "Not Like Us" is a triumphant win for both Lamar and rap music as a whole.

Atop a buzzing sample of Monk Higgins' 1968 "I Believe to My Soul" cover, Lamar delivers slick wordplay and calls out Drake's presumed cultural appropriation of Southern rap: "You run to Atlanta when you need a few dollars/ No, you not a colleague, you a f—in' colonizer."

Following its release, the song took on a life on its own: tennis icon Serena Williams (Drake's alleged former lover) crip walked to the track at the 2024 ESPY Awards, Megan Thee Stallion and Janet Jackson incorporated it into their concerts, and many national sports leagues used it in their game broadcasts.

Drama aside, "Not Like Us" — which also scored a Song Of The Year nomination — is a celebration of West Coast hip-hop. Lamar, a proud Compton native, enlisted Los Angeles-born DJ Mustard to produce the track. The chopped-up sample is inspired by Oakland's "hyphy" rap subgenre, while Lamar exaggerates his already-animated cadence, paying homage to late Los Angeles rapper Drakeo the Ruler. While "Not Like Us" is a targeted diss, it's also a reminder of California's historical impact on rap — and Lamar's place within that legacy.

Chappell Roan grabbed the world's attention with her bombastic interpretation of baroque pop and her knack for highlighting queer romance. "Good Luck, Babe!," April's breakout hit following her 2023 debut LP, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, ushered in a new chapter.

The song discusses compulsory heterosexuality, as Roan sings about a woman she's dating who tries to deny her feelings for Roan: "You can kiss a hundred boys in bars/ Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling." 

"I knew exactly what I wanted. I wrote it in three minutes," Chappell Roan told Rolling Stone of the song's creation, which she co-wrote alongside Daniel Nigro and Justin Tranter. "I felt so much anger. I was so upset. It all came out and I didn't add anything when I wrote it all done. It was a perfect storm."

The anger definitely explodes on "Good Luck, Babe!," with Roan channeling '80s divas like Kate Bush and George Michael. The singer's goal was to make a "big anthemic pop song," and "Good Luck, Babe!" soared beyond all expectations.

Taylor Swift Feat. Post Malone — "Fortnight"

Despite nailing a formula that has made her one of the biggest pop stars of all time, Taylor Swift is still willing to take risks.

"Fortnight," from the 14-time GRAMMY winner's The Tortured Poets Department, serves as both the LP's first single and opening track. The chart-topping smash introduces the album's moodier tones, telling the story of a woman in an unhappy marriage who is now the neighbor to her ex-lover and his new wife. 

Atop '80s-inspired electropop synths courtesy of longtime collaborator and co-producer Jack Antonoff, the lyrics are unexpectedly dismal for Swift: "I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary/ And I love you, it's ruining my life." Featured artist Post Malone then sweeps in with his melancholic harmonies, giving more emotional weight to Swift's brilliant storytelling.

Let's start with the essentials: house music is Black music. House music was born in the United States; Chicago to be exact. House music is one of the core foundational styles of electronic music; as important as Detroit-bred techno.

House is an upbeat genre characterized by a funky, repetitive 4/4 beat (also known as four-on-the-floor) and a danceable tempo ranging from 115 to 130 bpm. House is often made with synthesizers and drum machines — like Roland's classic TR-808 and TR-909 — along with samples. Vocals are common in house music, with the most classic iterations being female diva vocals that harken back to house's disco roots, or distorted, pitched vocals that give a sample new life.

The foundations for house music were bubbling in the '70s in the Midwest and East Coast, particularly at celebrated underground New York clubs like Paradise Garage and David Mancuso's Loft, and in Chicago's house party scene. Larry Levan, the star DJ of Paradise Garage, played an eclectic mix of tunes — particularly disco, R&B, new wave and proto-house records from the likes of Arthur Russell (as Dinosaur L and Loose Joints) and Gwen Guthrie. This New York underground sound would have a huge influence on house music, and was imported to and adapted for Chicago by the Bronx-born Godfather of House Frankie Knuckles.

While disco and funk thrived in the New York club scene, the short-lived post-Saturday Night Fever national disco craze led to its over-commercialization and oversaturation. That came to a head on July 12, 1979, when radio shock jock Steve Dahl led the Disco Demolition Night at the Chicago White Sox's Comiskey Park. The underlying racism was unmasked as mostly white attendees brought all sorts of non-disco records from Black artists for Dahl to blow up, culminating in on-field riot. 

The impact was swift and far-reaching. As the Guardian pointed out, 13 out of 16 of the No. 1 hits in the U.S. from the first half of 1979 were disco tunes, while just one disco tune topped the chart for one week during the second half of the year. Radio stations pivoted back to rock music, labels stopped investing in disco and even the Recording Academy canceled its Best Disco Recording category after one year.

While the commercial and pop culture appetite for disco had soured, people still needed music to dance to. The future of dance music would be created by innovative DIY producers. Aided by the exciting new technology of drum machines, Casio keyboards and other relatively affordable "bedroom producer" equipment, young people in Chicago — many of them Black and queer — made music that would soon be called house. Named after its first home, Chicago's Warehouse, which opened in 1977,  this music not only soundtracked sweaty dancefloors, but would influence electronic music the globe over to this day.

The history of house music — from its foundations in the Windy City to its global explosion, and evolution to the current day — is as rich and varied as the genre itself. This timeline, while not an exhaustive list, will take you through some of the biggest key moments, tracks and players that have shaped house over the last four decades.

House Music Is Born In Chicago

By 1980, The Warehouse was in full swing under the helm of its venerated resident DJ Frankie Knuckles, a.k.a. the Godfather of House. The Bronx-born DJ was a close friend of Larry Levan and also got his start in the queer NYC underground, bringing his disco-rich, classically omnivorous New York club sound to what would become his devoted Chicago fanbase. 

As disco singles dried up, Knuckles needed fresh tunes to mix into his sets and turned to reel-to-reel tape to craft his own extended remixes live in the club. Later, he'd produce his own original house tunes, like the kinetic "Baby Wants To Ride" featuring legendary house vocalist Jamie Principle in 1987. Knuckles famously called house music "disco's revenge." 

In late 1982, Warehouse admission price doubled and Knuckles left to start his own club, The Power Plant, where he introduced drum machines into his sets. Knuckles closed his venue in September 1987 and moved back to NYC. Meanwhile, The Warehouse was renamed the Music Box, and Knuckles' big shoes were filled by the frenzied, eclectic sets of new resident Ron Hardy. Another vital early house DJ, Hardy would play young local producer's tracks and make them hits — yet his untimely death to AIDS at age 33 in 1992 and limited production output have left his legacy oft under-sung. Smartbar, which has remained a purveyor of house music to this day, also opened in 1982, spreading the house club scene to Chicago's North Side.

The nascent genre was technically born in 1984 with the release of Vince Lawrence and Jesse Saunders' "On and On," one of the first original house tracks. With its jittery, repetitive loops, catchy, clapping hi-hats, simple, playful vocals, disco samples, and use of recently introduced drum machines, the track is a perfect representation of classic Chicago house. The pivotal track inspired a rash of other young house-heads to try their hands at production.

Other important '80s Chicago house tracks include Mr. Fingers' (a.k.a. Larry Heard) deep house classic "Can You Feel It," which was made with just the TR-909 and JUNO-60 drum machines, and Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body (the House Music Anthem)" — the first house track that used piano — both of which were released on Trax Records in 1986. Other crucial releases include Lil' Louis' frenetic, deeply influential 1989 track "French Kiss," Steve "Silk" Hurley's "Jack Your Body" in 1987, and Ron Hardy's "Sensation" in 1985. Phuture's "Acid Tracks" in 1987 marked the launch of acid house, characterized by DJ Pierre, Earl "Spanky" Smith Jr. and Herbet J's trippy, sputtering experiments with the Roland 909 drum machine. 

Chicago record stores such as Gramaphone and Imports Etc. played a vital role in promoting and distributing house music, and served as an educational and meeting space for DJs and ravers.

By the mid-'80s, house music was expanding beyond Chicago and its environs. Frankie Knuckles was in demand overseas, and even held a summer residency at a London gay club called Heaven in 1987. Led by techno forefather Kevin Saunderson and Chicago singer Paris Grey, Inner City showcased the joyful house music coming out of Detroit and the impact the two scenes were already having on each other. The group also showcased house’s global pop potential, with their classic 1988 debut single "Big Fun" scoring them a No. 1 hit in the UK and on the U.S. dance chart. 1988's "I'll House You" from New York rap group the Jungle Brothers and DJ/producer Todd Terry showed that New York was ready to bring their flavor to house.

Europe, UK & NYC Go House Crazy; Chicago's Second Wave Artists Emerge

House music continued to thrive in Chicago in the '90s as the next generation of pivotal Chicago artists cropped up , including Derrick Carter, Ron Trent, Paul Johnson and DJ Sneak, while the originators continued their quest to make house happen on a broad scale.

In 1992, house rebel Curtis Jones (performing as Cajmere) dropped the eternal dance floor heater "Percolator" and launched his influential Cajual Records. In 1993, he'd add Relief Records into the mix as an outlet for Green Velvet, his neon-green-mohawked acid house and tech house alter ego and, as Bandcamp put it, "early releases by future legends of the second wave." The popularity of Jones' music and labels helped put Chicago house on the map globally.

Read more: Dance Legend Curtis Jones On Cajmere, Green Velvet & 30 Years Of Cajual Records

In 1995, newcomer Derrick Carter teamed up with Brit Luke Solomon to launch London house imprint Classic Music Company, which is still running today under another iconic UK house label, Defected (established in 1999). 

In 1990, DJ collective The Chosen Few DJs, which includes Jesse Saunders, launched their annual house head reunion picnic. The Chosen Few Picnic and collective are still actively spreading the gospel of Chicago house today. In 1997, Chicagoans DJ Lady D, DJ Heather, DJ Collette and Dayhota made history with the U.S.’s first female DJ collective Superjane.

Dance remixes, many of which were undeniably house, proliferated in the '90s. New York remained the source of these in-demand producers, with Masters at Work (Louie Vega and Kenny Dope), C&C Music Factory (David Cole and Robert Clivillés), François K, David Morales, Todd Terry and Danny Tenaglia at the forefront. New York-based Strictly Rhythm and Nervous Records, both of which are still active, released countless house classics.

In 1991, Frankie Knuckles released his debut album Beyond The Mix, featuring the breezy classic "The Whistle Song." He brought his DJ sorcery to New York with residencies at clubs Roxy and Sound Factory, the latter which brought Harlem's liberatingly queer ballroom culture to the downtown club scene, via NYC house legend Junior Vasquez. In 1998, Frankie Knuckles fittingly won the inaugural Best Remixed Recording GRAMMY Award (then called Remixer Of The Year, Non-Classical), and was nominated again the next year, but David Morales took home the gold.

Masters at Work’s impact on ‘90s NYC house can’t be understated. Some of the dynamic duo’s big tunes from the era include Barbara Tucker's 1994 No. 1 Dance Club hits "Beautiful People" and "I Get Lifted," along with Harddrive’s (a.k.a. Vega) "Deep Inside" and "The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)" by the Bucketheads (a.k.a.  Dope). Other big '90s house tracks that came out of NYC include Robin S.' enduring "Show Me Love," which hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, Ultra Naté's ever-uplifting, Mood II Swing-produced "Free" from 1995, and Armand van Helden's 1999 classic "U Don't Know Me."

At New Jersey's influential Club Zanzibar, a deep and soulful rendition of house was being perfected by Brooklyn-born Tony Humphries and Jersey-bred Kerri Chandler (one of the progenitors of deep house, alongside Larry Heard). Demonstrating the porous borders of house, Jersey house singer Adeva teamed up with Knuckles for a joint album in 1995, going full gospel house with a backing choir. 

The '90s also saw more house coming out of Detroit, with a more minimal, often spacey touch, reflective of the city’s empty buildings and techno roots. Moodymann showcased his singular lo-fi funk-laden sound with his debut album Silentintroduction on Detroit techno legend Carl Craig's Planet E label, while Theo Parrish, Chez Damier (who got his start in Chicago), Stacey Hotwaxx Hale and DJ Minx all began making their mark on house. Of course, there is no rule that techno artists can't make house, and many Detroit legends did, including Kevin Saunderson, Carl Craig, DJ Minx, "Mad" Mike Banks and others.

Read more: Planet E's Carl Craig On Keeping Dance Music Black & Expansive New 'Planet E 30' Album

Mainstream European audiences have generally shown more openness to dance music than Americans, with dance tunes regularly topping the pop charts in the UK, Sweden, Germany, and beyond. Eurodance was at its euphoric peak in the '90s, with key tracks such as Technotronic's "Pump Up The Jam" (1990, UK), La Bouche's "Be My Lover" and "Sweet Dreams" (1995, Germany), Haddaway's "What Is Love" (1993, Germany), Snap's "Rhythm Is A Dancer" (1992, Germany), Real McCoy's "Another Night" (1994, Germany) and Corona's "Rhythm of The Night" (1993/4, Italy). Many of these singles also charted in the U.S.

The UK, and London specifically, have always had an affinity towards house music and putting their own spin on American sounds. In the '90s, soulful house from New Jersey inspired the bassline-focused UK garage (and, later, its faster cousin speed garage). Tech house was born in London in the mid-90s by acid house DJs; it soon became London's de facto club sound following Terry Francis' appointment as club fabric's first resident DJ. London club Ministry of Sound opened in 1991 with an award-winning sound system, bringing New York house legends like Larry Levan and David Morales across the pond. The club also spurred the phenomenon of superstar DJs like Carl Cox and and promoted UK acid house explosion via the likes of DJ Harvey.

Global Dance Comes Stateside

The seeds for EDM's (electronic dance music) popularity in the U.S. were sprouting in the 2000s. The most mainstream offerings in a broad and previously underground scene, EDM is characterized by big drops and pop tendencies like shorter track lengths and catchy vocal hooks. The new millennium also saw the ever-expanding sound of house officially take root globally, with international artists exporting a glossy version of the sound back to the U.S. 

In the early aughts, tracks like Italian Benny Bennasi's "Satisfaction" in 2002, Swede Eric Prydz's "Call On Me" in 2004 and Frenchman Bob Sinclair's "World, Hold On (Children Of The Sky)" in 2006 cracked U.S. dance charts and solidified the artists as big-name mainstage DJs for years to come. The first two represented the electro house sound that would remain popular into the next decade. Prydz's 2008 hit "Pjanoo" marked another very Y2K sound: driving, trance-y progressive house.

The 2000 breezy "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Italian DJ Spiller and British dance-pop queen Sophie Ellis-Bextor was an Ibiza hit that made its way to American clubs and pointed to the popularity nu disco would have in the '00s (as seen by Ellis-Bextor's "Murder On The Dancefloor" and Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" in 2001). UK garage went mainstream as acts like So Solid Crew and Craig David incorporated the genre into chart-topping hits. Black Londoners like Supa D and Crazy Cousinz mixed house with elements from genres across the African diaspora into the captivatingly percussive sound of UK funky.

While French touch/filter house — the Parisian interpretation of house with funk and disco elements popularized by Daft Punk — was bubbling up in the '90s, it really took off around the year 2000. The genre is exemplified by 2000 singles such as Modjo’s "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)," Demon's "You Are My High," and Superfunk's "Lucky Star," featuring soulful vocals from Chicago's Ron Carroll.

In Berlin's underground dance scene, a melodic, intricate version of house was taking shape outside of minimal techno’s dominance. This was exemplified by M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade 2006 smash "Body Language," alongside fellow Germans Henrik Schwarz, Âme and Dixon launching their hugely influential label Innervisionsin 2005, expressly indebted to Chicago and Detroit. Beatportal named Âme’s 2005 song "Rej" "the defining track of a whole era," one that led to the global dominance of what is known as melodic house and techno today. 

Underground scenes in San Francisco and Los Angeles blossomed, with the likes of Chicago transplant Mark Farina and the Sunset Sound System crew, and DJ Dan and Marques Wyatt fostering the respective local rave scenes. While Chicago had a bit of a slower creative period than the prior decades, Brooklyn-born DJ Heather was building her legacy as a Chicago house purveyor. Felix Da Housecat (who had released his first single back in 1987 at just 15 with mentorship from DJ Pierre) saw mainstream success in the '00s, getting tapped for remixes from the likes of Madonna, Britney Spears, and Rökysopp. 

Windy City native Honey Dijon was working her magic in New York's queer dance music underground andfashion scene. In 2008, queer DIY New York collective Hercules and Love Affair, led by Andrew Butler, dropped the sparkling nu disco gem "Blind," bolstered by a remix from the one and only Frankie Knuckles. On Aug. 25, 2004, the section of Chicago's Jefferson Street that was home to the original Warehouse was renamedFrankie Knuckles Way.

 House Goes EDM

In the 2010s, dance music finally took off in the U.S. mainstream in the form of EDM, and its influence on pop is undeniable. Big room house — essentially house-indebted EDM — gained popularity via songs such as Martin Garrix's "Animals," Kaskade's "Don't Stop Dancing" featuring EDX and Haley, Calvin Harris' "We Found Love" featuring Rihanna, Swedish House Mafia's "Save The World" and Avicii's "Levels."

In 2011, massive EDM festival Electric Daisy Carnival moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, signaling  how popular dance music had become stateside and the unofficial start of the rave industrial complex. Coachella added the clubby Yuma tent in 2013 with the goal of focusing on underground dance music while expanding its original DJ-centric Sahara Tent. The following year, Harris drew the second-largest Coachella crowd at his mainstage, non-headlining set.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, house’s queer roots were blossoming. In 2013, The Blessed Madonna became smartbar's first woman booker after serving as a resident DJ. Eris Drew and Octo Octa, both trans women, have been expanding the bounds of house and bringing classic, eclectic rave energy since they got behind the decks, while Shaun J. Wright and Alinka have been keeping Chicago house queer and Black with their Twirl parties and label.

Read more: The Rise Of Underground House: How Artists Like Fisher & Acraze Have Taken Tech House, Other Electronic Genres From Indie To EDC

Two UK acts, Disclosure and Jamie XX, would bring classic house, specifically UK garage with a modern touch, to the U.S. charts and GRAMMYs with their debut albums, Settle in 2013 and In Colour in 2015, respectively. Disclosure's success was swift and far-reaching, winning the GRAMMY for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Settle; lead single "Latch" remains their biggest hit and turned then-unknown Sam Smith into a pop star.

Midway through the decade, tech house — which blends elements of techno into a four-four house beat — would begin to take over as the dominant sound of EDM, making superstars of Chris Lake, Hot Since 82 and Patrick Topping and inspiring the next generation of global DJs. This trend was largely driven by Welsh house purveyor Jamie Jones, whose label Hot Creations, producer supergroup Hot Natured, and Paradise Garage-inspired, Ibiza-bred Paradise parties helped popularize a groovy version of tech house. 

Elsewhere in Europe, Norwegian DJ/producer Todd Terje kept the spirit of Ibiza's breezy Balearic house and nu disco alive on his instant-classic debut single "Inspector Norse" in 2012, made using only an ARP 2600 synth. Cinthie, "the Berlin Queen of House," was keeping the spirit of classic-yet-fresh Chicago house alive in the techno-loving city with her all-vinyl sets and label 803 Crystal Grooves.

South Africa'sBlack Coffee became a global flagbearer for Afro house, a vast umbrella term representing an innovative and disparate group producers and subgenres from the African continent and diaspora, further cemented by Drake sampling his 2009 tune "Superman" on 2017's "Get It Together," naming him as a featured artist alongside singer Jorja Smith.

Read more: Black Coffee On New Album, 'Subconsciously': "Music Is Life To Me And I Want You To Feel That With Every Beat And Melody"

House: The Bedrock Of Multiple Mainstream Smashes

In 2022, ill-informed headlines claimed Beyoncé saved house music with the release of the euphoric GRAMMY-winning single "BREAK MY SOUL" and album RENAISSANCE.

House music didn't need saving, but it did reach a wider audience and become the sound of the summer while sparking important conversations reminding people that house is a Black American genre. The 32-time GRAMMY winner did her homework and enlisted a bevy of producers, including Honey Dijon and Luke Solomon (who worked on "COZY" and "ALIEN SUPERSTAR"), and samples to pay tribute to dance music's Black queer roots on RENAISSANCE. Honey Dijon and T.S. Madison— whose "B**ch, I’m Black" speech was sampled on "COZY" — made history as the first Black trans women to earn a Billboard hit.

Learn more: Obsessed With Beyoncé's 'Renaissance'? Keep The Dance Party Going With Albums From Frankie Knuckles, Big Freedia & More

Drake also brought house (and its rapid-fire cousin Jersey club) tunes to the top of the charts on Honestly, Nevermind with help from Gordo (who previously made EDM as Carnage). Keinemusik heads Rampa and &ME brought their wildly popular driving, melodic, Afro-house-infused sound to "Falling Back" and "A Keeper," and Black Coffee and Gordo deliver the breezy, Jersey club meets deep house "Currents."

ARC Festival launched in 2021, as Chicago's answer to Detroit's long-running Movement electronic music festival, featuring local legends and big-name DJs from around the globe and reinvigorating the Windy City as a dance music destination. In 2023, the city finally protected the West Loop building that once housed The Warehouse as an official city landmark.

A younger generation of DJs, such as South Korean Peggy Gou, British TSHA and Aluna, Canadian Jayda G and Detroit-born-and-raised DJ Holographic continue to keep the spirit of house alive and fresh. The likes of Aussie Dom Dolla, Chicagoan John Summit and Brazilian Mochakk have become tech house biggest rising stars while coloring outside of the lines.