The 2026 Grammy nominations arrive with bold shifts and surprise contenders

8 November 2025

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images, 2; Michael Owens/Getty Images

The nominations for the 68th Grammy Awards 2026 were unveiled on November 7 2025, and they reveal both the familiar power players and fresh voices reshaping the musical landscape. Kendrick Lamar leads the field with nine nominations his highest tally yet while Lady Gaga, producers Cirkut and Jack Antonoff each follow with seven nods. Meanwhile Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and Leon Thomas all earned six nominations apiece.

In the General Field categories the marquee awards of the ceremony there are standout nominations that reflect the evolving sound of mainstream music. For Record and Song of the Year the list includes Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Billie Eilish’s “WILDFLOWER,” Doechii’s “Anxiety” and Kendrick Lamar with SZA on “luther.” The Album of the Year contenders span a similarly wide spectrum, with Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Justin Bieber’s SWAG, Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend, Gaga’s MAYHEM, Lamar’s GNX, Thomas’s MUTT and Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA all in the running.

Beyond the usual suspects, what is particularly notable this year is the nomination of a new crop of artists and the introduction of new categories. The Best New Artist list features Olivia Dean, Katseye, The Marías, Addison Rae, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and Lola Young, signalling a broader definition of breakthrough talent. The inclusion of genre-diverse categories such as Best Album Cover and Best Traditional Country Album (replacing the former Best Country Album) underscores the grating pressure the awards are facing to keep pace with streaming era releases and shifting musical tastes.

Looking at the styles and genres recognized this year, the nominations underscore a steady erosion of genre boundaries. Hip-hop remains dominant with Lamar and others, Latin and global music continue to break into categories previously reserved for English-language pop, and surprising entries such as the animated K-pop group HUNTR/X* for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance highlight a willingness to embrace non-traditional acts.

There are notable absences as well. Streaming juggernauts and legacy artists who might have seemed spoilt for nominations this year are mostly missing, either because their releases fell outside the eligibility window (Aug. 31 2024–Aug. 30 2025) or they chose not to submit. Taylor Swift, for example, whose album arrived just after the cutoff, is absent from contention.

From an industry perspective the timing of the nominations reveals several under-currents. The convergence of big names such as Gaga, Lamar and Bad Bunny with next-generation creators like Thomas and Katseye demonstrates a transitional moment in popular music. At the same time the Academy appears to be responding to critiques of exclusion by broadening categories and recognising visuals (Album Cover), roots (Traditional Country) and global sounds. The nominees list spanning pop, rock, rap, R&B, Latin, global music, country and beyond reads like a cross-section of today’s musical output.

For fans, the list offers both validation and surprise. Seeing familiar favourites is reassuring, but the departures from formula signal a moment of reinvention. For artists, the nominations bring both pressure and opportunity to win, of course, but also to be seen. For the Grammys themselves the nominations are a litmus test of relevance: can this institution reflect what’s genuinely happening in music or will it lag behind?

In short, the 2026 nominations reflect where music is right now: hybrid, global, boundary-pushing and rooted in creators of all kinds. Whether the winners will mirror the same diversity remains to be seen, but the list of nominees alone is already a conversation starter. And for all the data points and category rewrites the biggest takeaway may be that no one genre or demographic holds the express ticket to success this year. The music world is wide open.