Grammy Awards 2025 nominations: Everything you need to know about the 6 Indian-origin nominees
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The Recording Academy has announced the nominations for the 67th Grammy Awards, and Indian talent is shining bright in the list. Six Indian-origin artists, including Ricky Kej, Anoushka Shankar, and Varijashree Venugopal, have got nods, and are vying for the coveted gramophone.
And here's what you need to know about the icons who have put India on the global music map.
Ricky Kej
Ricky Kej, who hails from Bengaluru, secured a nod for a Grammy award for Break of Dawn in the Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album category. With three Grammy wins, this marks his fourth nomination. He won his first Grammy in 2015 for Winds of Samsara with Wouter Kellerman. He won his second Grammy for his album Divine Tides, in which he collaborated with the artiste Stewart Copeland. He is an environmentalist, and his music reflects that.
Anoushka Shankar
Anoushka Shankar has received two nominations. She has been nominated for her album Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn, in the Best New Age, Ambient, Or Chant Album category. Her second nod is for featuring on British multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jacob Collier’s song, A Rock Somewhere. She is in the race to win an award in the Best Global Music Performance category.
Anoushka is the daughter of late Ravi Shankar, and performs across multiple genres and styles including classical and contemporary. She has a long relationship with the Grammys. In 2006, she became the first Indian to play at the Grammy Awards and has earned over nine Grammy Award nominations till now.
Radhika Vekaria
Indian-origin British artist Radhika Vekaria is in the race to pick up Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album for her album, Warriors Of Light. The album sees Radhika on vocals in Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil and English. Warriors of Light is her second album after 2020’s debut album Sapta: The Seven Ways. The Los Angeles-based Radhika was born in the UK. Her parents are from East Africa and her grandparents are from India. Her mother, grandmother, and father were a connoisseur of classical Indian music.
Chandrika Tandon
Also included in the Best New Age, Ambient, Or Chant Album category is entrepreneur and artist Chandrika Tandon’s album Triveni. She worked on the album with flutist Wouter Kellerman and cellist Éru Matsumoto. She is Indra Nooyi’s older sister. Chandrika grew up in a middle-class home in Chennai’s T Nagar, and studied at Madras Christian College. Chandrika, who learned music from classical singer Shubhra Guha and vocalist Girish Wazalwar, was nominated for her first Grammy in 2010 for her album Om Namo Narayana: Soul Call.
Varijashree Venugopal
Bengaluru-based vocalist, flautist and composer Varijashree Venugopal is nominated along with Anoushka Shankar in Best Global Music Performance category for A Rock Somewhere.
This is her first Grammy nomination. She Venugopal also contributed to Ricky Kej’s album Break Of Dawn.
Noshir Mody
Another Indian talent to be on the list is Mumbai-born musician Noshir Mody. He has received his first Grammy nomination. He is included in the Best Global Music Performance category. He is part of the song Kashira by Masa Takumi, along with Ron Korb and Dale Edward Chung. Noshir is a self-taught musician, who moved to the US at the age of 22. He has “honed his guitar skills and immersed himself in the vibrant New York City jazz scene,” according to his website.