When Talent Isn’t Enough
The frustration we felt over Ariana’s Oscars outcome is something music fans know all too well. Just a few weeks before the Oscars, the Grammy Awards – music’s biggest night – delivered a similar gut-punch to fans of Billie Eilish. Billie came into the 2025 Grammys with seven nominations, including all the major categories, after a year of incredible artistic output. Her album “Hit Me Hard and Soft” was a critical and commercial smash, and songs like “Birds of a Feather” were ubiquitous anthems. By all counts, she seemed poised to take home at least one award. But when the night was over, Billie Eilish did not win a single Grammy. Seven nominations, zero wins – a shutout that left viewers and fans reeling.
Billie Eilish at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
The reaction was immediate and intense. Social media lit up with disbelief, mirroring the outrage we saw for Ariana. “A Grammy night with zero wins for Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift feels like a different world,” one fan wrote, noting that both superstar artists were blanked despite multiple nods. “The Grammys did Billie and Taylor so so dirty… not even an ounce of recognition,” another fan tweeted, calling out the Recording Academy for overlooking two phenomenal albums. To Billie’s credit, she put on a brave face – she was seen cheering for the winners, proving herself gracious in defeat. Her brother and producer Finneas even took to Instagram to calm the storm, urging fans not to attack other artists or start fan wars out of anger. His message was clear: being nominated itself is an honor, and Billie’s camp chose to focus on positivity rather than bitterness. Still, for those of us watching, it was hard to shake the feeling that something was off in the selection process.
Billie Eilish’s Grammy snub highlighted issues that parallel Ariana’s Oscars experience. In both cases, incredibly popular and gifted artists who put their heart into their work walked away empty-handed, while less commercially prominent (though still talented) peers took the prize. It made fans ask whether the judging criteria used by these academies truly reflect artistic excellence, or if they sometimes miss the mark. Billie had dominated the Grammys just a few years prior – remember her sweeping the 2020 ceremony – so it is not as if the Academy does not recognize her talent. Some speculated that voters “decided to share the wealth this year” and give other artists a moment, since Billie and even Taylor Swift had won plenty in the past. Others pointed out that Grammy voters often have their own quirks: they might favor certain genres or veterans, or conversely, they might assume a young star will have more chances later. Whatever the reason, seeing Billie go 0-for-7 felt like confirmation that award shows can and do snub deserving artists, even ones at the top of their game.
As a fan, it is frustrating to realize that the awards we hold in such esteem can fail to acknowledge our heroes. When Ariana and Billie – artists who give their all and break new ground – are left without trophies, it feels like a personal loss to us cheering them on. It makes you wonder if these institutions need to reflect on their voting processes. Are there ways to make it more meritocratic, or to ensure that groundbreaking work is not overlooked? These are tough questions with no easy answers, but they are being asked more and more frequently by fans and artists alike.
