Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga lead 2026 Grammy nominations

Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar lead the nominees for the 2026 Grammy Awards, while K-Pop has broken into the song of the year category for the first time.

For the second year in a row, Compton rapper Lamar has the most nominations - nine in total - including a coveted album of the year nod for the sleek, fiery GNX.

Gaga is also up for the main prize for Mayhem, a record that leans into her own history, and marks a return to her electro-pop roots. She has seven nominations overall.

Meanwhile, two K-Pop songs are shortlisted for song of the year: Rosé and Bruno Mars’ frothy pop hit APT, and Hunter/x’s Golden, the breakout hit from Netflix’s animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Both Gaga and Lamar have five previous nominations for album of the year, but neither has ever lifted the coveted gold gramophone in that category.

Lamar is the early frontrunner, coming off the back of multiple wins for his razor-sharp diss track Not Like Us at the 2025 Grammys.

If he manages to win album of the year next February, GNX would become the first rap album to secure the night’s main prize since Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004.

He faces competition from fellow rap maverick Tyler, The Creator with his wildly inventive Chromakopia; and reunited hip-hop duo Clipse, whose Let God Sort Em Out is their first release since 2009.

It is the first time in Grammy history that three rap albums have made the shortlist for album of the year.

Also nominated is Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny - who is separately set to headline next year’s Super Bowl half-time show.

He’s recognised for the musically ambitious Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which fuses live instrumentation with the hip-swaying pulse of reggaeton and more traditional Puerto Rican styles like plena.

It is only the second time an entirely Spanish-language album has been shortlisted for the prize. The first was Bad Bunny’s 2022 release Un Verano Sin Ti.

The ‘big four’ awards

Song of the year

• Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
• Doechii - Anxiety
• Rosé & Bruno Mars - APT
• Bad Bunny - DtMF (pictured)
• Hunter/x - Golden
• Kendrick Lamar feat SZA - Luther
• Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild
• Billie Eilish - Wildflower

Record of the year

• Bad Bunny - DtMF
• Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild
• Doechii - Anxiety
• Billie Eilish - Wildflower
• Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
• Kendrick Lamar feat SZA - Luther
• Chappell Roan - The Subway
• Rosé & Bruno Mars - APT

Album of the year

• Bad Bunny - Debí Tirar Más Fotos
• Justin Bieber - Swag
• Sabrina Carpenter - Man’s Best Friend
• Clipse, Pusha T & Malice – Let God Sort Em Out
• Lady Gaga - Mayhem
• Kendrick Lamar - GNX
• Leon Thomas – Mutt
• Tyler, the Creator – Chromakopia

Best new artist

• Olivia Dean
• Katseye
• The Marias
• Addison Rae
• Sombr
• Leon Thomas
• Alex Warren
• Lola Young

Rosé, who is one quarter of the phenomenally successful girl group Blackpink, is the first K-Pop idol to be shortlisted for any of the Grammys’ “Big Four” awards.

APT, which riffs on Toni Basil’s 1980s classic Mickey, is also nominated for best pop duet; while co-writer Amy Allen is up for songwriter of the year.

Huntr/x are the first animated band to snag a nomination in one of the main categories, although Damon Albarn’s cel-shaded band Gorillaz previously won best pop collaboration for their 2005 hit Feel Good Inc.

Sabrina Carpenter, who won two Grammys last year, has picked up a further six nominations for the 2026 ceremony, including best album, best pop album and song of the year for her rootin’-tootin’ country-pop crossover Manchild.

Alex Warren, whose devotional love song Ordinary is the year’s most popular single in the UK, has a best new artist nod but is otherwise overlooked.

Elsewhere, actor Timothee Chalamet is nominated for best compilation soundtrack, for his album of Bob Dylan songs from film biopic A Complete Unknown.

And the Dalai Lama is up against the autobiography of Milli Vanilli’s Fab Morvan, among others, in the shortlist for best audiobook.

British contenders

British stars Olivia Dean and Lola Young follow in the footsteps of Adele and Amy Winehouse with nominations in the best new artist category, where they will compete against US pop star influencer Addison Rae and global girl group Katseye.

Young’s hit Messy is also up for best pop solo performance.

Isle of Wight indie band Wet Leg are up for best alternative album (for Moisturizer) and best alternative song (Mangetout) - both prizes they previously won at the 2023 ceremony.

They’re also up for best album cover, a newly-created category for 2025.

The Cure are up for two awards after releasing their first new album for 16 years, while Cynthia Erivo also has two nominations including one for Defying Gravity, her Wicked duet with Ariana Grande.

Alt-pop artists FKA Twigs and PinkPantheress will go head-to-head for best dance album; while Doncaster-born Yungblud has received his first ever Grammy nominations - for best rock album (Idols), best rock song (Zombie) and best rock performance.

The latter recognises his live rendition of Black Sabbath’s Changes at Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell concert in Birmingham this summer. Fittingly, his nominations were revealed by Osbourne’s wife Sharon and son Jack.

Sir Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s collaboration, Who Believes in Angels has picked up a nomination for best traditional pop vocal album.

Girl group Flo, dance acts Disclosure and Fred Again, metal group Sleep Token, rapper Skepta and pop star Raye are among the other UK names to feature on the shortlists.

But Grammy favourites Coldplay were frozen out this year, with no nominations for their 10th album Moon Music. Many pundits had forecast they would make the best song shortlist for the tender ballad All My Love.

Who has the most nominations?

• Kendrick Lamar - nine
• Lady Gaga - seven
• Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Leon Thomas – six

Why isn’t Taylor Swift nominated?

This is the first time since 2006 that Taylor Swift hasn’t been eligible for the Grammys.

The star’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, was released in October, missing the cut-off point for nominations.

To qualify, a song or album must have been released between 31 August, 2024, and 30 August, 2025.

The Life of a Showgirl will therefore be eligible for the 2027 ceremony, and looks certain to secure Swift her eighth nomination for album of the year.

How are the Grammys decided?

Almost 23,000 entries were submitted for the 2026 Grammys awards.

The biggest field was for song of the year, which had 1,015 entries.

The least populated category was best compilation soundtrack for visual media, with just 48 entries.

Once the submissions are screened and verified, voting members take over. Nearly 15,000 musicians, critics and music industry professionals cast ballots to decide the final nominees.

After the publication of the shortlist, a final round voting will take place between 12 December and 5 January.

The winners will be announced at a star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles on 1 February 2026.

Source: BBC 

--Agencies