The past year saw Taylor Swift make history with her Eras Tour, major albums released by music titans and protests at Eurovision overshadow Abba’s anniversary year.
As 2025 gets under way, it looks set to offer up more moments for the history books – with hit records battling it out at the Grammys and highly anticipated tours on the horizon.
Here are some of the big music moments to look out for:
– Award battles at the Grammys
As the biggest night in the music calendar approaches, US singer Beyonce will be hoping to finally claim the coveted album of the year award.
Her chart-topping venture in to the world of country music in the form of Cowboy Carter will be hoping to succeed where 2008’s I Am… Sasha Fierce, 2013’s Beyonce, 2016’s Lemonade and 2022’s Renaissance previously failed.
The gong will be hotly contested as it will see hit albums including Charli XCX’s Brat, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft, Chappell Roan’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department go up against each other.
Beyonce leads the pack this year, going into the ceremony taking place in Los Angeles on February 2nd with 11 nominations.
Cowboy Carter will also by vying for best country album, while track Texas Hold ‘Em is up for the record of the year, song of the year and country song of the year awards.
– Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s to face trial
The spotlight has been shone on hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in the past year as he had faced more sexual assault allegations, and this is only set to intensify when his criminal trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges begins in May.
The US rapper, who is in a New York jail awaiting his day in court, has also had a host of other sexual assault lawsuits filed against him.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he coerced and abused women for years, aided by associates and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Eyes will also be on US rapper Jay-Z as he fights an allegation that he raped a 13-year-old girl along with Combs at an afterparty following the 2000 Video Music Awards.
The US rap star, real name Shawn Carter, has described the lawsuit as a “blackmail attempt” by the claimant’s lawyer.
– Glastonbury speculation
The festival will welcome hundreds of thousands of fans through its famous gates at Worthy Farm near Pilton, Somerset, again in June.
In the build up to the event, there has been a lot of speculation over who will feature on the line-up, notably in the coveted Pyramid headline slots.
Among the acts being rumoured to top the bill are US pop stars Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter, while British rockers The 1975 and North Shields-born musician Sam Fender have also been giving strong odds by bookmakers.
Rod Stewart was previously confirmed to play the Sunday teatime legends slot in November.
The 79-year-old Hot Legs singer said at the time he is “more than able to take the stage again to pleasure and titillate”.
While Mr Stewart is the only act to have been officially confirmed so far, Chic frontman Nile Rodgers reportedly let slip that he will follow the singer during an interview in November.
“We’re going to have a blast because we follow him directly,” Rodgers reportedly told Metro.
– Oasis’s long-awaited reunion
The reunion of Liam and Noel Gallagher this summer is among the most-anticipated events of the year.
Around 15 years after their explosive split, prompted by a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris, the brothers confirmed Oasis would be back for a long-awaited worldwide tour.
The Mancunian rockers seem to have put their difference aside so fans can relive the group’s 1990s glory days by hearing the rock band perform hits including Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Stop Crying Your Heart Out live.
Kicking off their string of shows in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on July 4, the Britpop group will then move to Manchester’s Heaton Park, London’s Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium and Dublin’s Croke Park, before embarking on shows across the world.
While millions will be counting down the days, many more missed out on tickets to the 41 shows.
Some of those who did manage to snag a coveted tickets were also left frustrated as some standard tickets more than doubled from £148 to £355 when they went on sale, with the situation being blamed on a system which raises prices at times of “unprecedented demand”.
The controversy prompted the Government and the UK’s competition watchdog to pledge they would look at the use of dynamic pricing, with the band saying they were unaware the practice would be used.
– Artists making a comeback
The past year was already jam-packed for Beyonce following the release of Cowboy Carter, the second part of a three-act project, with the first being Grammy-nominated album Renaissance which she brought out in July 2022.
But the singer has teased an announcement will be made on January 14th as the figures 1.14.25 flashed up at the end of a video she shared following her NFL half-time performance on Christmas Day.
Fans have speculated online that it could mean new music or videos for the Cowboy Carter album are on the way, while others said it could be a tour announcement.
Multi-Grammy winning US rapper Kendrick Lamar was also kept busy in 2024 amid a bubbling feud with Canadian rapper Drake, but he will take on a bigger undertaking come February when he headlines the Super Bowl half-time show in New Orleans.
He has said he is looking forward to bringing hip-hop to the NFL’s championship game, where he performed as a guest artist with Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg in 2022.
The new year will also usher in a host of new music including Beatles musician Ringo Starr, who is set to release his first album in six years in January, titled Look Up.
Later in the year, British Eurovision entry Olly Alexander will release his first solo record, Polari, while Lady Gaga is set to drop her highly anticipated seventh studio album.
