Sierra Ferrell Wins BIG at 2025 Grammy Awards

From a homeless and train hopping busker, to one of the fastest-rising stars in independent roots music, to now a four-time Grammy-winning artist, the hopeful and inspiring story of singer and songwriter Sierra Ferrell only continues to get sweeter.
On Sunday (2-2) during the Grammy’s “Premier Ceremony” that precedes the big telecast on CBS, Sierra Ferrell nearly swept the American Roots categories where she was nominated four times. Ferrell won all four categories, walking away with trophies for Best Americana Album (Trail of Flowers), Best American Roots Song (“American Dreaming” with co-writer Melody Walker), Best Americana Performance (“American Dreaming”), and Best American Roots Performance for “Lighthouse.”
These wins will not just make Sierra Ferrell one of the biggest winners in country and roots music. It will make her one of the biggest Grammy getters in 2025, if not the biggest before the night is over.
Sierra showed up in a white dress with a scepter where she had her speech stashed for her first win.
“Wow, wow, thank you so much,” Sierra said, accepting the first award, Best Americana Performance. “I want to say thank you to my mom for one. I love my mother. And to my little dog Baker, and to my production crew Eddie Spear and Gary Paczosa, and to my gals out on the road with me that keep the wheels rolling. I obviously wasn’t expecting this, and I want to thank everyone in the category, because everyone’s so beautiful in their own way, and they have their own essence.”
Melody Walker also accepted the award for American Roots Songs with Sierra.

See full list of country and roots winners from the 2024 Grammy Awards below.
Best American Roots Performance was handed out later in the presentation with the country awards. When returning to the stage for her fourth acceptance speech, Ferrell said, “I got so caught up earlier from the anxiety of winning something that I forgot to thank the most important thing, which is God … The power of prayer is so powerful, so don’t forget to say your prayers.“
The writing was on the wall that Sierra Ferrell could have a big Grammy week at the end of 2024 when her most recent album Trail of Flowers ended up at the top of many 2024 end-of-year lists, including becoming Saving Country Music’s 2024 Album of the Year.
Ferrell was also selected to perform at MusiCares Person of the Year gala the night before the Grammys honoring The Grateful Dead. Sierra dressed like the Dead’s “Skull and Roses” character with a crown of roses in her hair, and appropriately performed The Dead’s “It Must Have Been the Roses” with Lukas Nelson.
For some music artists, a Grammy Award is icing on the cake. For a performer like Sierra Ferrell, it’s not just validating, it can be career-changing. Already selling out theaters across the United States and set to open stadium shows for Post Malone in 2025, the wins could significantly bolster Sierra even more, finally putting a woman on par with other top independent performers such as Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, and Billy Strings.
Though to some, all music awards are silly. For others, they seem especially sweet from the hard work and perseverance that led up to them. That certainly feels like the case for Sierra Ferrell.
Also winning in American Roots categories were Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, who took the trophy for Best Folk Album for Woodland, and Billy Strings who won Best Bluegrass Album for Live Vol. 1. Early country winners include Chris Stapleton for Best Country Solo Performance (“It Takes a Woman”), Kacey Musgraves for Best Country Song (“The Architect”), and Beyoncé for Best Country Duo/Group Performance with Miley Cyrus for “II Most Wanted.”
Beyoncé was nominated in all four country categories, but has only walked away with one so far. She was also nominated for Americana Performance, but lost to Sierra Ferrell. Best Country Album will be handed out during Sunday evening’s primetime telecast.
AMERICAN ROOTS WINNERS:
Americana Album:
The Other Side – T Bone Burnett
$10 Cowboy – Charley Crockett
Trail Of Flowers – Sierra Ferrell – WINNER
Polaroid Lovers – Sarah Jarosz
No One Gets Out Alive – Maggie Rose
Tigers Blood – Waxahatchee
American Roots Performance:
“Blame It On Eve” — Shemekia Copeland
“Nothing In Rambling” — The Fabulous Thunderbirds Featuring Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal & Mick Fleetwood
“Lighthouse” — Sierra Ferrell – WINNER
“The Ballad Of Sally Anne” — Rhiannon Giddens
Americana Performance:
“YA YA” — Beyoncé
“Subtitles” — Madison Cunningham
“Don’t Do Me Good” — Madi Diaz Featuring Kacey Musgraves
“American Dreaming” — Sierra Ferrell – WINNER
“Runaway Train” — Sarah Jarosz
“Empty Trainload Of Sky” — Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
American Roots Song:
“Ahead Of The Game” — Mark Knopfler, songwriter (Mark Knopfler)
“All In Good Time” — Sam Beam, songwriter (Iron & Wine Featuring Fiona Apple)
“All My Friends” — Aoife O’Donovan, songwriter (Aoife O’Donovan)
“American Dreaming” — Sierra Ferrell & Melody Walker, songwriters (Sierra Ferrell) – WINNER
“Blame It On Eve” — John Hahn & Will Kimbrough, songwriters (Shemekia Copeland)
Best Bluegrass Album:
I Built a World, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Songs of Love and Life, The Del McCoury Band
No Fear, Sister Sadie
Live Vol. 1, Billy Strings – WINNER
Earl Jam, Tony Trischka
Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman, Dan Tyminski
Best Folk Album:
American Patchwork Quartet, American Patchwork Quartet
Weird Faith, Madi Diaz
Bright Future, Adrianne Lenker
All My Friends, Aoife O’Donovan
Woodland, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – WINNER
COUNTRY WINNERS:
Country Solo Performance:
“16 Carriages” — Beyoncé
“I Am Not Okay” —Jelly Roll
“The Architect” — Kacey Musgraves
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — Shaboozey
“It Takes A Woman” — Chris Stapleton – WINNER
Country Song:
“The Architect” — Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves) – WINNER
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“I Am Not Okay” — Casey Brown, Jason DeFord, Ashley Gorley & Taylor Phillips, songwriters (Jelly Roll)
“I Had Some Help” — Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Smith, Ryan Vojtesak, Morgan Wallen & Chandler Paul Walters, songwriters (Post Malone Featuring Morgan Wallen)
“Texas Hold ‘Em” — Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)
Country Duo/Group Performance:
“Cowboys Cry Too” — Kelsea Ballerini With Noah Kahan
“II MOST WANTED” — Beyoncé Featuring Miley Cyrus – WINNER
“Break Mine” — Brothers Osborne
“Bigger Houses” — Dan + Shay
“I Had Some Help” — Post Malone Featuring Morgan Wallen
YET TO BE HANDED OUT:
Country Album:
Cowboy Carter – Beyoncé
F-1 Trillion – Post Malone
Deeper Well – Kacey Musgraves
Higher – Chris Stapleton
Whirlwind – Lainey Wilson
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February 2, 2025 @ 2:38 pm
Shes a fantastic artist imo, also glad that Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings got a grammy for the equally great Woodlands.
February 9, 2025 @ 9:21 pm
The first time I heard her sing I told my daughter she would make it big one day. That was about 4 years ago.
February 2, 2025 @ 2:40 pm
Looks like it might not be Beyoncé’s night. Only taking best country duo performance, which tbh she was the only one I’d call actually good in a competition of mediocrity. Looks like Stapleton might just walk away with best country album over Beyoncé. Can’t wait for the media firestorm over that
February 2, 2025 @ 2:43 pm
Sierra Ferrell’s Grammy dress is hilarious! My wife thought it was the worst wedding dress ever. Way to go girl!
February 3, 2025 @ 8:37 am
Sierra;s wardrobe budget must be off the charts because in 4 years I’ve never seen her wear the same outfit twice.
February 2, 2025 @ 3:07 pm
Oh man they are missing out by not having her perform!
February 2, 2025 @ 3:13 pm
Honestly, with four wins, she should have been considered for a primetime performance, and probably should have been nominated for Best New Artist, which probably would have landed her a telecast performance. I remember some three-win afternoons in the American Roots categories (Rosanne Cash, Jason Isbell) but I’m not sure when we’ve seen four. I’m going to have to go back and check if it’s happened before. It’s huge for her, but too bad it’s not televised.
February 2, 2025 @ 4:13 pm
Right?
She’s massively talented to such a high degree. And then she wrecks it with the bizarre outfits. I’m guessing she’s inspired by Lady Gaga and Bjork. Why???
I’ve seen Sierra dress in cute cowgirl outfits and looks fantastic, then she goes for outrageous next time you see her. It’s a performance art thing.
With these trophies maybe she’s the queen of Americana? It used to be Brandi Carlisle, but I’d say Sierra pretty much is at the top of her game.
February 2, 2025 @ 4:31 pm
Her fashion choices are interesting. I was kind of hoping she’d show up channeling a Kitty Wells or ’60s Dolly or Loretta fashion statement. With that said, happy she won.
February 2, 2025 @ 4:58 pm
Of course her dress is performance art, and though I agree this particular getup was pretty ostentatious, bitch just won FOUR Grammy Awards, and beat out Beyonce to do it, so she can wear whatever the hell she wants.
BTW, the entire music world is asking right now, “Who the hell is this?” as photos get shared of her in her crazy dress holding four Grammys, especially since so many were tuning into see how well Beyonce did.
This is going to be a massive moment for Sierra.
February 2, 2025 @ 7:10 pm
Sierra always dresses in costume, a different one for each performance. She picked this up from her eight years as a street performer. She is one of the freshest, unique, and most gifted artists I’ve come across in years. She’s too country for country, and taking the Americana scene by storm!
February 2, 2025 @ 5:23 pm
She could really pull off an ode to Bobbie Gentry (get it?) or Jeannie C Riley.
February 3, 2025 @ 12:46 am
she wrecks it with the bizarre outfits? As if that’s a bad thing? I love Bjork, another talented woman who does her own thing and does not really care what others think.
How do you feel about her gold tooth and that face piercing? Haha.
February 3, 2025 @ 7:57 am
Oh you got me Jazzy! I feel the burn…ya cut me deep!
In all seriousness, I was replying to the commenter above who mentioned the outfit. Me and my wife agreed it was something for sure but tasteful? Ehh.
I’ve been one of the more vigorous defenders of Ferrell here among SCM regulars, many who don’t get her at all. My opinion evolved after watching her closeup and live a few times. Her talent is too big to ignore and on a pure musical level, I would say there’s genius going on. Her vocals are otherworldly imo. And her ability to blend musical eras into an original package is something to behold. Once in a lifetime talent.
I do think Americana is the best fit as a category for her music, given that it’s old- timey, utilizes a string band approach, and has the nods to old school jazz sprinkled throughout. I know Trig disagrees with me on that, and thats ok. But yeah 4 Grammys is an enviable accomplishment for a musician. Where does it go from here, it’s anybody guess.
February 3, 2025 @ 10:38 am
I have always been a big fan of Elton John, and he would often wear big stupid elaborate costumes. It’s not edgy anymore to wear these bizarre costume stunts anymore because it’s been done so often before.
If an artist came out professing traditional orthodox Christian beliefs and stated that Jesus is the only way…that would be edgy and counter-culture now.
February 3, 2025 @ 11:08 am
…you mean like Sierra Ferrell did at the Americana Music Awards? She also specifically thanked God and talked about the importance of prayer in her final acceptance speech. That is why I caution people trying to pigeon hole Sierra. Do so at your own risk.
February 2, 2025 @ 3:14 pm
I haven’t heard any of the songs nominated for country song, but those are so so many songwriters per song (at least by country music standards).
Ok, back to not being terribly interested in the Grammys.
February 2, 2025 @ 4:23 pm
The fact it takes a committee of six to write crappy country songs speaks volumes. Remember the days when one person could come up with a hit? Dolly, Merle, Loretta, Willie…sigh.
February 2, 2025 @ 5:51 pm
For the artist, it’s called “a word for a third”
Songwriters will often give a recording artist a writing credit as an incentive to recording the song
That means songwriting royalties in addition to the royalties from performing
February 2, 2025 @ 3:36 pm
I can’t get too mad at Beyoncé for winning a category in which no one should have even been nominated. Grammys aren’t for music fans though.
February 2, 2025 @ 4:06 pm
Sierra Ferrel is amazing been a fan for several years she is very original grest singer and player and deserves her Grammys Congratulations Sierra!
February 2, 2025 @ 6:13 pm
Great for her but hard to take these awards seriously when you see the acts and songs nominated for country awards. But still good for her.
February 2, 2025 @ 6:19 pm
Trig,
Are all Grammy categories nominations done by committee? I think the committees have caused this disconnect between who gets nominated (ie Beyonce) and who the voters actually vote for.
The committees were implemented to make the Grammys more relevant and “hip”, but many members are musicians or songwriters and so don’t vote so much for hip hop which doesn’t use many musicians (turning off the musicians) and relies a lot on samples (alienating the songwriters. I wonder if this helps to explain the lack of wins for Beyoncé in these categories.
February 2, 2025 @ 6:33 pm
My understanding is that the “secret committees” were mostly done away with a few years ago, and the voting was opened up to try and add more voices into the process. But the Grammys are a peer-voted award, meaning you have to be a musician, producer, songwriter, engineer, etc. to vote.
I’m waiting to see what happens with Best Country Album before I start declaring what the 2025 Grammys mean re Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter.” If it wins Best Country Album, I’m not sure it will matter she only won one of the three song categories. The top line will still be that it was Beyonce’s night in country. That’s why I’m waiting to commentate on the country categories. If she loses, I think it will be mostly due to the incredibly soft sales/streaming numbers after its release, and Beyonce’s severe lack of promotion. The fact that Beyonce didn’t really make a country album, and didn’t really embrace Nashville might also be a factor, but significantly less of one than it factored into the CMAs.
February 2, 2025 @ 6:46 pm
Oops. My apologies, former committees. My new theory is that Grammy voters googled “what’s popular on TikTok” to come up with some of these nominations.
Happy for Sierra though.
February 2, 2025 @ 7:03 pm
Way to go Sierra this is Thomas from the glass bad as I hate to say it that you deserve it used to worry about you catching that train you and that dog
February 2, 2025 @ 7:32 pm
Yep. The Grammys hate country. It is impossible to refute now.
February 2, 2025 @ 8:27 pm
Wow. I know I’ve said this before, but I like to search instagram for artists I might like, and hope to find future stars. I remember finding Sierra making funny and out there videos trying to get some attention, and thinking she was a great singer that would unfortunately most likely never get the recognition she deserved.
From that to now being a multi- Grammy winner in a few years is beyond spectacular. What an inspiration to the young girls seeking a dream, to other independent artists hoping for that break, and even for us fans hoping that little known artist we love will can possibly exceed all expectations.
Congratulations to Sierra Ferrell for making her dream a reality. Well deserved.
February 2, 2025 @ 11:45 pm
Absolutely the most talented singer of our time. Maybe now she’ll get top festival billing like she deserves.
February 3, 2025 @ 12:40 am
Although I detest that awful awards show I’m happy for Sierra. I’m also happy she comes down here to New Orleans to do shows again and again including this coming May. Many artists rarely if ever do. We were at the record release show for American Dreaming at The Ryman with Nikki Lane last year. What a night!
February 3, 2025 @ 3:56 am
I been trying to tell everyone I know for years now about Sierra Ferrell! First time I heard her sing just one note. It was obvious I knew she was the new voice of American Roots! She is so pure with a orginal style about her. You gotta love her! Her voice is so alive with Life. Yes! I have seen her live. She’s incredible with a great band! Go see for yourself!
February 3, 2025 @ 6:42 am
Sierra is certainly deserving of some recognition, but there is no way you could convince me that Trail of Flowers is better or more deserving than Charley Crockett’s $10 Cowboy.
February 3, 2025 @ 10:48 am
I really like Sierra, but, certainly Not at the expense of
“The Ballad Of Sally Anne” — Rhiannon Giddens, not being awarded the Grammy for Roots performance.
Pure 🐎 shit that.
February 3, 2025 @ 12:36 pm
Beyoncé’s win makes this less meaningful. as a matter of fact, if I was a true artist who was doing it more for the love of music and less for awards, I’d be embarrassed to even win Grammy at this point. But, based on what I’ve seen out of Sierra Ferrell, she loves to make a spectacle of herself with her garish outfits. Maybe her and the grammys are a match made in heaven.
February 3, 2025 @ 6:28 pm
Do you have the same take about Porter Wagoner and the colorful Nudie suits he wore?
Is Luke Combs more of an artist because he wears the same Columbia/Blue Jeans outfit every performance (not knocking it, I do the same for work)?
February 4, 2025 @ 12:08 pm
The 1950’s called…they were looking for you.
February 5, 2025 @ 12:07 pm
I’ve often thought I was born 25 years too late.
February 3, 2025 @ 3:32 pm
This is wonderful for Sierra. She’s worked hard and paid her dues for this, and her persistence and talent won out. Let’s hope enough people get past the noise and clutter surrounding last night to giver her and her kind of music a well deserved boost.
It’s nice to see the Grammy folks get something right every now and again.
February 4, 2025 @ 5:15 am
I love Sierra. An incredible talent.
February 5, 2025 @ 5:09 pm
Great job Sierra absolutely beautiful soul best wishes on a beautiful future