The nominees for the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards were unveiled this afternoon, with the Twitter-beloved Severance and the Seth Rogen joint The Studio racking up the most nods. But some musicians got nominated, too, including Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Questlove, and the Walkmen's Hamilton Leithauser.
Kendrick's record-breaking Super Bowl Halftime Show earned him a nominations for Outstanding Live Variety Special and Outstanding Music Direction; he got nominated for the 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show, too, but he was one of many performers that year. The 2025 Halftime Show director Hamish Hamilton got a nod in the Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special category, while Charm La’Donna was recognized for the choreography.
Kendrick's halftime show was co-produced by Roc Nation, meaning Jay-Z is technically up against his wife at this year's Emmys. Beyoncé's 2024 Christmas Day Halftime Show -- aka the Beyoncé Bowl -- also got nominated for Outstanding Live Variety Special, Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special (Bey co-directed with Alex Rudzinski), and Outstanding Production Design For A Variety Special. Also in the Outstanding Live Variety Special category, Mark Ronson was nominated for executive producing SNL50: The Homecoming Concert.
The Roots' Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, ever the mainstay in music-related TV programming, racked up a few more nominations this year too. His work on SNL50: The Homecoming Concert got him nominated for Outstanding Music Direction, and he was also recognized for co-directing Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years Of SNL Music as well as co-executive producing Hulu's Sly Lives! (Aka The Burden Of Black Genius).
While the Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics category doesn't have much crossover with typical Stereogum coverage this year, it's a fruitful year for the Outstanding Main Title Theme Music category. Hamilton Leithauser and co-composer Dominic Lewis were nominated for their theme to the Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors, jazz auteur Kamasi Washington got a nod for Adult Swim's Lazarus theme song, and Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh was nominated for the theme to Netflix's The Residence. Read the full list of nominees here.
The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 14 with host Nate Bargatze.
