So you’ve heard Beyonce and Billie Eilish have had a rivalry ever since the Grammys, and you’re all sorts of confused because who would’ve guessed the two had ever interacted? The truth is, they haven’t. Neither singer has commented on the fan-imposed competition, but that hasn’t stopped things from getting heated within the fanbases.

The days post-Grammys were filled with social media blowing up and the Beyhive and Billie stans going at each other’s necks. We’re here to unpack the beef and get to the bottom of this.

What are they even fighting over?

The problem arose from the Grammys on February 2nd, 2025 where artists would be awarded based on their work from the previous year. Beyonce was nominated for eleven Grammys, listed as follows.

• Album of the Year: "Cowboy Carter."
• Record of the Year: “Texas Hold 'Em.”
• Song of the Year: “Texas Hold 'Em.”
• Best Pop Solo Performance: “Bodyguard.”
• Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Levii's Jeans” featuring Post Malone
• Best Melodic Rap Performance: “Spaghettii” featuring Linda Martell and Shaboozey
• Best Country Solo Performance: “16 Carriages.”
• Best Country Duo/Group Performance: “II Most Wanted" featuring Miley Cyrus
• Best Country Song: “Texas Hold 'Em.”
• Best Country Album: "Cowboy Carter."
• Best Americana Performance: “Ya Ya.”

Billie Eilish was nominated for seven Grammy awards of her own, listed as follows.

• Song of the Year: “Birds of a Feather”
• Record of the Year: “Birds of a Feather”
• Album of the Year: “Hit Me Hard and Soft”
• Best Pop Vocal Album: “Hit Me Hard and Soft”
• Best Pop Solo Performance: “Birds of a Feather”
• Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Guess” featuring Charli XCX
• Best Dance-pop Recording: “L’mour de ma Vie [Over Now Extended Edit]”

The night kicked off on the right foot with everyone piling in in gorgeous outfits, eating expensive food, and enjoying themselves and the awards. Beyonce won several of her nominations including Best Country Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Everything came to a head when the night was beginning to close, Billie hadn’t won any of the awards she was nominated for, and there was one major award left.

Album of the Year. Billie’s last chance for the night.

And Beyonce won.

Alan Light from Wikimedia

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Billie fans say...

The loss left many Billie fans with cries of outrage. They couldn’t believe that out of seven nominations, she’d gone home empty-handed. The biggest point of contention wasn’t her six other losses, but the fact that she’d lost Album of the Year — one that they were so sure she’d win — and lost it to Cowboy Carter, at that.

The complaints have been among, “It’s a country album, no one listens to country.”, “Hit Me Hard and Soft had more streams”, and “Hit Me Hard and Soft was more popular”. Billie fans felt as though there was no competition between the two albums as songs like “Wildflower” and “Birds of a Feather” had been trending on TikTok for the past year. The numbers should speak for themselves, they said. Among their concerns was the recent controversy Beyonce’s been involved in with rumors that she’s a shot-caller, or participant, at the very least, in the dark side of the industry. These rumors made it easy for Billie fans to believe that Beyonce bought her award or otherwise won it unfairly. The two singers’ reactions to her victory were telling enough, as they say, with Beyonce’s shock and Billie’s watery eyes tugging on the heartstrings of the fandom.

The CwE from Wikimedia

The Beyhive says...

Ever since her victory and the criticism from the Billie fans, the Beyhive has been on defense, countering every claim thrown their way. The Beyhive’s argument is that although “Hit Me Hard and Soft” may have had more streams, the awards aren’t dictated by streams. They argue that the Grammys are graded on musical impressiveness, impact, and influence, as determined by a board of music critics, rather than summing up each album’s total streams.

They’ve pointed out that songs off of “Cowboy Carter” were trending on TikTok too, songs such as “16 Carriages”, “Cuff It”, and “America Has a Problem”. On top of this, Yale University offers a course titled “Beyonce Makes History” where they explore Beyonce’s impact on politics and culture, and the album is mentioned during this course. A fact that the Beyhive argues, if this isn’t a display of Beyonce’s talent and influence, then the other side was simply undermining Beyonce. The Beyhive’s beef with Billie fans had gone past just the music for this reason. They realized that Beyonce wasn’t being bashed solely on her music but out of racism and the belief that she wasn’t as deserving as her peers.

Ralph_PH from Wikimedia

Facts of the Feud

Although both sides are entitled to their opinions, there needs to be a filter that sorts fact from opinion and distinguishes the reality before rumors reflect badly on both fanbases and their lead artists. The facts are as follows:

1. “Hit Me Hard and Soft” did have more streams than “Cowboy Carter” initially
2. Both albums had several songs trending on TikTok with similar amounts of success
3. Beyonce’s involvement in any shady activities of the industry is strictly rumored and has not been proven in any shape or form
4. The Grammys are determined by music critics who are looking for impressive performances, and transcendent music, and operate based on a fair system for musicians
5. Yale does teach a course on Beyonce’s impact, titled “Beyonce Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics through music.” In the course, they explore how Beyonce’s work influences politics, culture, Black activism, and intellectual thought.
6. Neither artist has commented on the drama nor involved themselves in one way or another, it is purely a fanbase dispute
7. The few racist comments made after Beyonce’s victory do not reflect the values of the entire fanbase or Billie Eilish herself. Racism is never justified and thus, the people making these comments are outliers.

Regardless of who won, the celebrities had a good time at the Grammys and they’ll always have next year. Even Taylor Swift who was nominated for five awards and went home empty-handed was caught in multiple shots partying and having a great time. And whether or not, you believe Beyonce should’ve won Album of the Year, her victory is impressive nonetheless. Her victory makes her the first black woman to win Album of the Year in the past 25 years since Lauryn Hill for her album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1999. Congratulations everyone!!

Josh Sorenson from Pexels