Billboard Women in Music 2025 takes place tomorrow, Saturday, March 29, and Billboard’s staff is breaking down each of the honorees' successes that earned them their awards — from JENNIE receiving the Global Force Award to Doechii being named Women of the Year, to Gracie Abrams being honored as Songwriter of the Year, and more!
Who are you most excited to see at Women in Music? Let us know in the comments!
Who are you most excited to see at Women in Music? Let us know in the comments!
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MusicTranscript
00:00I just want to win something, like, I just want to win!
00:03Dochi is our Woman of the Year.
00:05Everybody just wants to be like Jenny.
00:07She embodies a hit maker.
00:08It's not just one, there's a lot there.
00:10This year's Women in Music, we have some top tier honorees.
00:18Gracie Abrams is our Songwriter of the Year.
00:20I love Gracie!
00:22One of my favorite things about Gracie Abrams is that her fan base
00:26loves her so much, as much as they love her songs.
00:29And I think that's like a magical X-Factor quality that you don't see very often.
00:39Gracie Abrams is writing from a point of truth.
00:42She's not afraid to be vulnerable, and it's made her very popular with her fans
00:47because they can relate to everything she's talking about.
00:49Gracie Abrams has grown so fast.
00:51One prime example of that is that she is headlining Lollapalooza this year.
00:55Gracie's also learned from the best.
00:57She spent a lot of time on the road with Taylor Swift,
01:00and you can tell she took in a lot of what makes Taylor Swift so special with her fans.
01:05But she's put it through her own lens, and so that's what makes her so popular these days.
01:16Glorilla is this year's powerhouse.
01:18One of my favorite things about Glorilla is how much she reps her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.
01:27And everyone back home loves her.
01:29They adore her.
01:30What makes Glorilla a powerhouse is the way she has stepped into her career
01:36and really come into her own, especially in this last year,
01:39year and a half, opening for Megan Thee Stallion and holding her own there.
01:43This year being named one of the faces of Fenty, her own tour.
01:47And this album that she put out just did so well.
01:51Anyone who can get the entire music community to say,
01:54yeah, Glow is definitely a powerhouse.
01:57Tyla is receiving our Impact Award.
02:04Tyla has made an impact with her fusion of I'm a Piano,
02:08which incorporates R&B, Afrobeats, and pop.
02:13Why do we think her Glow Up happened so big?
02:15I think the dancing, probably.
02:17I couldn't go two feet anywhere in either direction when Water came out
02:21because it became such a global hit.
02:24And after that, with her first album, Truth or Dare, on there, other songs,
02:28the first African artist to win the first African music best performance Grammy.
02:34Tyla is young, vibrant, and she's got a lot of talent.
02:37She's got a lot of talent.
02:39She's got a lot of talent.
02:40She's got a lot of talent.
02:41She's got a lot of talent.
02:42She's got a lot of talent.
02:43She's got a lot of talent.
02:44She's got a lot of talent.
02:45Tyla is young, vibrant, innovative.
02:48Just look at the dress she wore to the Met Gala last year.
02:51Sand, actual sand.
02:52Oh, my God.
02:53The way she carried it off in such poise and confidence at such a young age.
02:57Tyla's really had a meteoric rise.
02:59And I couldn't wait last year when I saw that she was on the Coachella poster.
03:03But she sadly had to cancel.
03:04But this year, she's coming back.
03:06And she's coming back bigger and better than ever.
03:08And I, for one, can't wait.
03:10I think with her coming in, it really showed how global African music is and can be.
03:17And that there's still room for it to grow.
03:20Jenny is our Global Force honoree.
03:22I feel like a strong, independent woman right now.
03:26I got to meet Jenny in Seoul, which was phenomenal.
03:28To just be able to see her glowing and so happy to be home.
03:32Even though it was for a brief while, because she is always on the move.
03:34She even said in her interview, for women in music,
03:37she doesn't like to be in one city for more than a week.
03:39To be able to just catch her for a brief second when she was home,
03:42especially for a Billboard cover story, was so special.
03:45And the fact that her album came out and it has these stellar collaborators on it.
03:48And I feel like she's really getting her moment.
03:54I think the fact that we're honoring Jenny right now is sort of like this
03:57lightning-in-a-bottle moment where Blackpink built her up into a global superstar.
04:02Now with her debut solo album, she's proving that she's a solo superstar.
04:05And she's getting ready to go back into Blackpink activity.
04:08We're sort of catching her at this really rare moment,
04:11right before everything with the group picks back up again.
04:13She's going to play Coachella, which is a huge deal
04:15because Blackpink played the Sahara Tent a few years ago.
04:18And then they graduated to Headliner soon after that.
04:21And it was one of the best performances that I had the opportunity of seeing in a while.
04:24It was so much fun. All the Blinks showed up.
04:26And now we get to see Jenny sort of hold the stage down on her own.
04:29It seems everybody just wants to be like Jenny.
04:32Money Long is this year's rising star.
04:34Billboard Women in Music has been a goal of mine
04:36to be able to be getting honored to perform.
04:39It's like, all right, I might be kind of good at this manifestation thing.
04:44There's eyes on her as she's risen because she came from the
04:47behind-the-scenes creative part of the industry that people don't recognize right off.
04:52That's how she got her start writing for people like Rihanna and Fifth Harmony
04:56and other artists like that.
04:58And then she decided, you know what, I need to do this for me.
05:01Nobody knows me like you do.
05:05When I interviewed her for the rising star,
05:07Tricky Stewart, who executive produced her album,
05:10and you know, he did Beyonce, called her a song assassin.
05:14Oh, I'm seeing you. I know that I'll never love again.
05:21She's shown that R&B music is still a big part of her life.
05:26That R&B music is still relevant, can still be very contemporary,
05:31can still be very compelling in emotion,
05:33because that's what R&B is all about, passion and emotion.
05:37Ángela Aguilar is our Breakthrough honoree.
05:46One of the things that I love that we're honoring her with Breakthrough
05:49is that she has been on 21 Under 21,
05:50which is a Billboard list for the past few years,
05:53and to now see her get to that moment where she is breaking through
05:56and she is gaining more household name recognition
05:58and she has some more success under her own belt
06:01because obviously she's from a famous family of musicians.
06:04I love the fact that her dad is a Mexican music icon, Pepe Aguilar,
06:07and she has really stepped out on her own.
06:13She's joined this class of young women,
06:15you know, you have Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo,
06:17who have had such success before they even turned 21.
06:20Ángela is very similar in that respect.
06:22She recently is 21, and if you look at her accomplishments,
06:25it's things that most of us weren't doing by the time we were legal, you know.
06:29To see her getting this shine on her own accord is really special.
06:32Megan Maroney is this year's Rule Breaker.
06:39Country is notoriously tough for women.
06:41They're just having a tough time breaking through,
06:44and she's done things her own way.
06:46If you look at the first song, Tennessee Orange,
06:48she released that on her own, and it went viral,
06:50and that's how she got her label deal.
06:52So she has decided from the start,
06:54I'm gonna do it my way, and you can come along,
06:56but I'm not gonna change for you.
06:58One of my favorite things about Megan Maroney
07:00is that she's not just a great artist,
07:01but she really is a true Nashville songwriting talent.
07:05She goes into sessions, and everyone is always impressed,
07:08and you can really see that on her latest album.
07:16Megan Maroney has got fans across the musical spectrum,
07:19not just country.
07:20Megan has created her own lane
07:22with what she calls Emo Cowgirl.
07:24She's created this genre herself
07:26that kind of is a blend of really emotional songs,
07:30but still bringing in country,
07:32and she's just created this whole new thing.
07:35That's what makes her a Rule Breaker.
07:36She's an incredible songwriter.
07:38She's an entertainer, and I think everybody is lucky
07:41to get to be experiencing the Megan Maroney era right now.
07:44Erykah Badu is Billboard's Women in Music icon.
07:47I remember when Baduism hit in the late 90s,
07:50everybody's like, who is this woman?
07:52Where is she coming from?
07:53What's going on?
07:54The hats, the hair, just the whole persona.
07:57She's fearless.
07:58I think that's the word I attribute to Erykah
08:00and why she should be an icon.
08:02Erykah Badu understands femininity,
08:06and I think just humanity,
08:08in a really profound and mystical and interesting way,
08:13and she just channels that for us,
08:14and she's been doing that for decades.
08:16Miss Badu, if you see this, you are a legend, creator.
08:20You are a mother, a singer, a rapper.
08:22You do your mother thing every time.
08:24I love you.
08:25Another generational artist.
08:26You go to her shows, and you've got the seasoned folks
08:28that go back 30-some years with her,
08:31and then you've got the youngsters,
08:32and some of those songs,
08:33See You Next Lifetime, Oh My God.
08:38Call Tyrone is just a classic of my childhood.
08:42It's probably one of the songs that turned me on to her.
08:43It's got so much attitude.
08:45It's got so much swagger.
08:50Erykah Badu is someone that women in the music industry
08:53can look up to in the sense,
08:55she's always just been herself.
08:58You can't put her in a box,
08:59and I think that is personally very inspiring.
09:01Hopefully, there's some new music coming
09:04because it's been a long time,
09:05and I think we're all ready for some more Baduism.
09:08Meghan Trainor is this year's hitmaker.
09:10From the get-go, Meghan Trainor was a hitmaker.
09:12All about that bass just came out of the box,
09:15and it was so infectious
09:16that you couldn't help but like her.
09:26It's the 10-year anniversary of All About That Bass.
09:28It's a Diamond-certified single.
09:30That does not happen that often,
09:31and it happens, rightfully so, to Meghan
09:33because that song is still just as certifiably fun
09:36as it was when it came out.
09:37By the time we heard All About That Bass,
09:38Meghan had already established herself as a songwriter.
09:41She really knew what goes into a hit
09:43by the time she was making hits for herself.
09:46She's had so many hits since.
09:48Even most recently, her song Criminals is so fun.
09:51I think we all learned the dance to that one.
09:57I think another thing,
09:58talking about the longevity of a hitmaker like Meghan,
10:00is that she has really embraced something like TikTok
10:02and used that for her super catchy songs
10:05to just connect with her fans even more.
10:06Made You Look is a perfect example
10:08of people joining in on a dance.
10:10The Criminals dance obviously was a huge hit
10:12from the Netflix show.
10:13She partnered with two viral dancers,
10:15you know, who made up some choreography,
10:17and I think she embodies a hitmaker
10:19because it's not just one.
10:21There's a lot there.
10:28Aespa is the perfect group of the year.
10:30They only formed a few years ago.
10:31The four members are all really young,
10:33and I think any time we can rally behind a group
10:36that is still finding its footing
10:37but also finding success at the same time is phenomenal.
10:40I also love how innovative the group is
10:42for being so young.
10:43They have a really good grasp on technology.
10:45Each of the members has partnered with AI and avatars
10:48so that the group feels even larger than it really is.
10:51Their success we see all over the charts.
10:53They have had six projects
10:55enter the top 50 of the Billboard 200.
11:01It gave us a lot more,
11:03a realization that, you know,
11:05our fans are energetic and so supportive of us,
11:08and we were so thankful.
11:10Dochi is our woman of the year.
11:12Dochi is woman of the year
11:18because she lives in her authenticity.
11:20She lives in her truth.
11:21People think Dochi's an overnight success
11:24just because you haven't paid any attention
11:26or heard her earlier music.
11:28She's been around for a while.
11:29I go back to this interview we did with her
11:30for Women in Music when she was named a rising star.
11:33She said she was three years into a five-year plan.
11:362025 is year five, and now she's woman of the year.
11:43Seeing Dochi on the Grammys made me respect her even more
11:47because it was so theatrical what she did,
11:50the inventiveness of that performance.
11:52It was different theater, but it was hip-hop.
11:54Whether she's on a giant stage with the Grammys
11:57or the Grammy Museum stage,
11:58her energy is just so infectious and engaging,
12:01and the messages in her music,
12:03it's just she's living in her truth.
12:04I put my heart and my soul into this mixtape.
12:08I bared my life.
12:10That speech went viral because, again,
12:12she was just honest, and when she won,
12:14she became the third female artist
12:16to win that category ever.
12:17Watching her accept the award at the Grammys
12:19and seeing her come full circle
12:21was just a testament to her perseverance,
12:23determination, and her skillset.
12:30It's all about empowerment.
12:31To see somebody empowered at that young of an age
12:34is just, for me, exhilarating
12:36because that shows how far we've come as women,
12:39and especially women of color,
12:40and embracing who we are.
12:42Our hair, whether it's straight,
12:44whether it's in braids,
12:45whether it's what we call nappy, it's us.
12:48Dochi, you're going to see again
12:49because she's been around for four or five years before this
12:52and perfecting her trade,
12:54and she's going to keep on doing that.
12:56And what we call a career artist,
12:57you don't see very many career artists,
12:59and for me, I think Dochi's a career artist.
13:01Thank you to everybody.
13:05I really can't wait to see
13:06what this year's honorees are going to do next.