December 30, 2025
After being overlooked, the mother of four began to reconsider where she places value and “validation” as an artist.
R&B songstress Ciara reflected on her 20-year career accomplishments in a recent interview, including that she was disappointed when her 2013 hit “Body Party” was not nominated for a Grammy Award.
Ciara said she “literally checked off every box” she believed would position “Body Party” for a nomination. After she failed to receive the nod, Ciara began to reconsider where she places value and “validation” as an artist.
“I never want to feel like the validation of my success is within any tool, anything physical or material. You have to have your own success meter in your mind and as long as I’m doing what I love and it’s making me happy…I decided, I don’t want to put too much weight or merit in things that I can’t control,’ she said on the ZeZe Millz Show.
“Body Party” was released in March 2013 as the lead single from Ciara’s self-titled fifth studio album and became a commercial success, peaking at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at No. 6 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Grammy nominations often reflect a combination of artistic merit, voting patterns, and competition in a given year, and not all commercially successful tracks secure nominations. (No single verifiable news outlet beyond Complex and chart history found specific commentary on this point.)
Ciara has been recognized by the Recording Academy in the past. According to references, including Billboard, she received a Best Dance Performance award for “Body Party” at the Soul Train Music Awards in 2013. She has also garnered Grammy nominations, including a Best New Artist nod in 2005 and nominations tied to collaborations such as Missy Elliott’s single “Lose Control.”
The mother of four isn’t the only singer the Grammys have failed to acknowledge despite great music and great success. One of the most successful singers in history Mariah Carey has too felt snubbed by the academy. Despite being nominated for 34 Grammy Awards over more than three decades, Carey has won only five.
Her wins include Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Performance in 1991 and multiple awards in 2006 for The Emancipation of Mimi. In 2024, Carey received the special Grammy Global Impact Award by the Recording Academy.
Carey herself has spoken about her complicated relationship with the Recording Academy and the emotional impact of not winning more awards. In a 2025 appearance on Live With Kelly and Mark, Carey said she felt the Grammys had “pushed her out.”
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