Nominees have been announced for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, and Black Catholics are once again well represented among the crop of esteemed music artists.
The nominees were announced by the Recording Academy on Nov. 7 in a ceremony led by a number of star recording artists, including former Album of the Year winner Jon Batiste.
The New Orleans-rooted, Catholic-raised multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer is nominated again this year in three categories, including Best Americana Album for his new release “BIG MONEY”. Two songs from the LP are also up for awards, including the title track for Best American Roots Song and “Lonely Avenue” for Best American Roots Performance.
Broadway and film star Cynthia Erivo will also be returning to music’s biggest night, as the English Catholic singer is nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with her duet “Defying Gravity” alongside Ariana Grande, from part one of the movie adaptation of the musical “Wicked.” Erivo is also nominated for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella with her song “Be Okay” from her solo studio album released earlier this year.
Here are the #GRAMMYs nominees for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance 🏆
— billboard (@billboard) November 7, 2025
Complete list: https://t.co/cHx8Xo1NSK pic.twitter.com/aOBquzqcwL
Another Catholic-raised Black Brit, FKA Twigs, is up for Best Dance/Electronic Album with her release, “Eusexua,” which saw rave reviews upon its release in January.
Another New Orleans mainstay is on the board in Ledisi, whose song “Love You Too” is nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance, a category she won in 2021. Branford Marsalis, another Catholic-raised Crescent City native, is nominated with his “Belonging” LP for Best Jazz Instrumental Album—which he won in 2001.
Louisiana is also seen more broadly in this year’s nominations, though clustered—as is often the case—in the Regional Roots Music Album category. Therein is a compilation album, “A Tribute to the King of Zydeco,” which pays tribute to the late Clifton Chenier, a one-time Grammy winner and lifelong Black Catholic.
Dee Dee Bridgewater, who was raised in the faith in Memphis, Tennessee, is nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album, a category she previously won in 2011.
Modern New York hip-hop trailblazer Cardi B is one of several Afro-Latinx Catholic artists nominated this year, with her song “Outside” nominated for Best Rap Performance, while Rauw Alejandro is up for Best Latin Pop Album with his 2024 release, “Cosa Nuestra.”
Outside of the strictly music-based categories, Black Catholic Georgia native Omari Hardwick—best known for his acting—is nominated for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album for the second year in a row, this time for the duet effort “Pages” with R&B singer Anthony Hamilton.
Beninese-French singer Angélique Kidjo, whose spiritually tinged works are informed by her Catholic upbringing, is also nominated for the second year running in the same category, with her song “JERUSALEMA” up for Best Global Music Performance.
This year’s Grammys nominees were selected during first-round ballots last month, and voting members of the Recording Academy will decide the winners in November. The Grammys telecast will take place on Sunday, Feb. 1, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and will air live on CBS and Paramount+.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
