Grammy Nominations 2026: Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, and Bad Bunny Dominate
The 68th Grammy Awards nominations were announced via livestream on Friday, November 7, with a slew of past winners, including Sabrina Carpenter, Sam Smith, Chappell Roan, and Doechii making an appearance. This year’s list blends music-industry heavyweights with buzzy newcomers: Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga led the pack with nine and seven nominations, respectively, while rising talents such as “Messy” singer Lola Young, cult-favorite pop crossover Addison Rae, child-actor-turned-R&B crooner Leon Thomas, and reality-TV–formed girl group Katseye all made the cut
Though often overlooked by the Recording Academy, Bad Bunny proved impossible to ignore this year. (The ceremony will air just one week before the 2026 Super Bowl, where the Puerto Rican superstar is headlining the halftime show.) He scored six nominations, including the Recording Academy’s three top categories: Album, Record, and Song of the Year—the first Spanish-language artist to ever do so. Lamar, Gaga, and Carpenter also landed nods across all three.
The Song of the Year race is particularly stacked, featuring Lady Gaga’s comeback single “Abracadabra,” Doechii’s inescapable “Anxiety,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” and even a track from the fictional band KPop Demon Hunters—all vying for one of the night’s most coveted awards.
Doechii performs during her "Alligator Bites Never Heal" tour
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s sultry duet “Luther” also received a SOTY nod; last year, the Compton rapper’s Drake diss track “Not Like Us” was the anthem of the night, winning both Record and Song of the Year and creating a few viral moments.
Kendrick Lamar performs with SZA during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show
Two of the biggest artists on the planet, however, won’t be in the spotlight this time around; after a few years dominated by multiple Beyoncé and Taylor Swift album cycles, neither artist is up for anything. Beyoncé swept the Grammys last year with Cowboy Carter, finally winning Album of the Year after years of being snubbed. She also won Best Country Album, and this year, the Recording Academy has split that award into two categories: Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album, a move that has unsurprisingly proved controversial.
While Swift typically cleans up at any awards ceremony she’s part of, her most recent album, The Life of a Showgirl, falls outside this year’s eligibility window due to its October 3 release date.
The winners will be announced at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 1, at the Crypto.com area in Los Angeles, and will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. The host has yet to be announced (Trevor Noah has been the emcee of the ceremony for the past five years, from 2021 to 2025).
Below, a list of the major category 2026 Grammy nominees:
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Bad Bunny
SWAG, Justin Bieber
Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Bad Bunny
SWAG, Justin Bieber
Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter
CHROMAKOPIA, Tyler, the Creator
SONG OF THE YEAR
“Abracadabra,” Lady Gaga
“Anxiety,” Doechii
“DtMF,” Bad Bunny
“Golden,” KPop Demon Hunters
“luther,” Kendrick Lamar w/ SZA
“Manchild,” Sabrina Carpenter
“WILDFLOWER,” Billie Eilish
RECORD OF THE YEAR
“Abracadabra,” Lady Gaga
“luther,” Kendrick Lamar w/ SZA
“The Subway,” Chappell Roan
“APT.” Rosé and Bruno Mars
“DtMF,” Bad Bunny
“Manchild,” Sabrina Carpenter
“Anxiety,” Doechii
“WILDFLOWER,” Billie Eilish
BEST NEW ARTIST
Olivia Dean
Katseye
The Marias
Addison Rae
sombr
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren
Lola Young
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
“Daisies,” Justin Bieber
“Manchild,” Sabrina Carpenter
“Disease,” Lady Gaga
“The Subway,” Chappell Roan
“Messy,” Lola Young
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
“Defying Gravity,” Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
“Golden,” HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI
“Gabriela,” Katseye
“APT.” Rosé and Bruno Mars
“30 for 30,” SZA w/ Kendrick Lamar
BEST RAP ALBUM
Let God Sort Em Out, Clipse, Pusha T and Malice
Glorious, GloRilla
God Does Like Ugly, JID
GNX, Kendrick Lamar
Chromakopia, Tyler, The Creator
BEST RAP PERFORMANCE
“Outside,” Cardi B
“Chains & Whips,” Clipse, Pusha T & Malice f/ Kendrick Lamar & Pharrell Williams
“Anxiety,” Doechii
“tv off,” Kenrick Lamar f/Lefty Gunplay
“Darling, I,” Tyler, the Creator f/ Teezo Touchdown
BEST CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY ALBUM
Patterns, Kelsea Ballerini
Snipe Hunter, Tyler Childers
Evangeline Vs. The Machine, Eric Church
Beautifully Broken, Jelly Roll
Postcards From Texas, Miranda Lambert
BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE
“Nose on the Grindstone,” Tyler Childers
“Good News,” Shaboozey
“Bad As I Used to Be,” Chris Stapleton
“I Never Lie,” Zach Top
“Somewhere Over Laredo,” Lainey Wilson
BEST ROCK ALBUM
private music, Deftones
I Quit, HAIM
From Zero, Linkin Park
NEVER ENOUGH, Turnstile
Idols, YUNGBLUD
BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE
“U Should Not Be Doing That,” Amyl and The Sniffers
“The Emptiness Machine,” Linkin Park
“NEVER ENOUGH,” Turnstile
“Mirtazapine,” Hayley Williams
“Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back To The Beginning,” YUNGBLUD f/ Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman, II
BEST R&B ALBUM
BELOVED, GIVĒON
Why Not More? Coco Jones
The Crown, Ledisi
Escape Room, Teyana Taylor
MUTT, Leon Thomas
BEST R&B PERFORMANCE
“YUKON,” Justin Bieber
“It Depends,” Chris Brown f/ Bryson Tiller
“Folded,” Kehlani
“MUTT (Live From NPR’s Tiny Desk),” Leon Thomas
“Heart Of A Woman,” Summer Walker
