NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The are here, and who else but leads this year’s crop with nine nods on the strength of 2024’s 鈥淕NX?鈥�
It’s an exciting lineup, but like every year, there were a few artists who made the coveted list Friday and a few who didn’t. Snubs and surprises are in no short supply in 2026.
The 2026 Grammy Awards will air Feb. 1 live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Hip-hop heavyweights get recognized in the top prize
It’s Lamar’s world, but he’s sharing it. This year, for the first time, there are three releases nominated in both the rap album and album of the year categories. Those are 鈥淕NX,鈥� Clipse, Pusha T & Malice鈥檚 鈥淟et God Sort Em Out鈥� and
In the past, the Grammys have been criticized over a lack of diversity 鈥� artists of color and women left out of top prizes; rap and contemporary R&B stars ignored. Is this symbolic of a new shift?
The best new artist category leaves out rap and country
Despite the hip-hop attention in the album of the year category, rap’s missing in the list of best new artist nominees this year. The same is true of country. Don’t get it twisted 鈥� Olivia Dean, The Marias, Addison Rae, sombr, Alex Warren and Lola Young make a great list 鈥� but what about Ella Langley? Megan Moroney?
Billie Eilish is back
A favorite of the Recording Academy, is up for two trophies this year: song and record of the year, both for her track 鈥淲ildflower.鈥� That make come as a surprise to some award show devotees: Only recordings commercially released in the U.S. between Aug. 31, 2024 through Aug. 30, 2025 were eligible for nominations. 鈥淲ildflower鈥� was released in May 2024, on her last album, the critically acclaimed So, why is Eilish allowed to compete again in 2026?
There’s another rule that states 鈥渢racks from an album released during last year鈥檚 eligibility period are eligible in the current eligibility period, provided the same tracks were not entered the previous year and the album did not win a Grammy.鈥�
There are a few exceptions. The rule excludes several categories, including all the classical ones. But because 鈥淲ildflower鈥� was not previously entered 鈥� and it was entered as an album track 鈥� it is eligible. Will that ruin others’ opportunity to take home one of the top prizes? Only time will tell.
New country categories confuse
There were a few changes to the Grammys this year, one of which was the creation of a best traditional country album category, while the existing best country album category has been renamed best contemporary country album. (Beyonc茅 won best country album at the for It was unclear how the two categories would differ from one another 鈥� and it is still unclear.
The traditional country category includes Charley Crockett’s 鈥淒ollar A Day,鈥� Lukas Nelson’s 鈥淎merican Romance,鈥� Margo Price’s 鈥淗ard Headed Woman鈥� and Zach Top’s 鈥淎in’t In It For My Health.鈥�
And in the contemporary country category is Tyler Childers’ 鈥淪nipe Hunter,鈥� Eric Church’s 鈥淓vangeline vs. The Machine,鈥� Jelly Roll’s 鈥淏eautifully Broken鈥� and
Is it that the latter leans more 鈥渃rossover鈥� country? You decide.
And let the record show Morgan Wallen didn鈥檛 submit his hit album, for consideration.
What’s up with The Weeknd?
At the 2025 Grammy Awards, performed for the first time since 2017. As many may recall, back in 2020, he after he landed zero nominations despite a megahit album. 鈥淵ou owe me, my fans and the industry transparency,鈥� he wrote on social media.
At the 2025 event, introduced The Weeknd by stating that he understood the criticism and listed all the things the academy has done to fix it.
鈥淲e have completely remade our membership, adding more than 3,000 women voting members. The Grammy electorate is now younger, nearly 40% people of color, and 66% of our members are new since we started our transformation,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ver the past few years, we have listened, we鈥檝e acted and we鈥檝e changed.鈥�
However, in 2026, The Weeknd’s 鈥淗urry Up Tomorrow鈥� album was eligible and submitted for Grammy consideration in over a dozen categories, including album, song and record of the year. He does not appear on the 2026 nominations list.
Make way for K-pop
Last year, K-pop was absent from the 2026 Grammys major categories. It seemed odd, to fans of the genre, especially considering the prolific output from BTS members who released solo material: RM鈥檚 J-Hope鈥檚 鈥淗ope on the Street, Vol. 1,鈥� and Jimin鈥檚 鈥淢use鈥� among them. (As a boy band, BTS has received five nominations across its career.) This year, that changes somewhat.
Ros茅, perhaps best known as one-fourth of the juggernaut is the first K-pop artist to ever receive a nomination in the record of the year field for 鈥淎PT.,鈥� her megahit with Bruno Mars.
Song of the year 鈥� which is awarded to a track鈥檚 songwriters, which sometimes includes the performer but not always 鈥� also features 鈥淕olden鈥� from
Timoth茅e Chalamet gets first Grammy nomination
You read that correctly. is up for best compilation soundtrack for visual media for for his portrayal of the great Bob Dylan. But competition is stiff: He’ll have to beat out 鈥淲icked,鈥� 鈥淜Pop Demon Hunters,鈥� 鈥淪inners鈥� and
He’s not the only shocking first-time nominee: Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and the Dalai Lama are up for audio book, narration and storytelling recording. Steven Spielberg is also nominated in the music film category for 鈥淢usic By John Williams.鈥�
Is the Grammys’ future Spanish? Or is it just the Bad Bunny effect?
is a top nominee this year, making history with his critically acclaimed album It is only the second all-Spanish language album to be nominated in the album of the year category. The first? Well, that was also Bad Bunny: in 2023, for Harry Styles鈥� 鈥淗arry鈥檚 House鈥� won that year.
It brings up a few questions. Are the Grammys recognizing more Spanish-language music, or is Bad Bunny an exception? Notably absent from the 2026 nominees list is Fuerza Regida’s 鈥�111XPANTIA,鈥� which this year became the highest charting m煤sica Mexicana album. And at one point, it was No. 2 on the Billboard 200 right underneath Bad Bunny, marking the first time two Spanish-language albums held both top positions. Instead, Fuerza Regida’s collaborative EP with Grupo Frontera, 鈥淢ala M铆a鈥� is nominated.
On Monday, that all were invited to join the Recording Academy as part of its 2025 new member class. It’ll take time to see the results, but perhaps an evolving, diversifying electorate could result in more openness to Latino performers in the future.
Jack Antonoff returns
Last year Antonoff did not receive a nomination in the category, and that unfortunate trend continues this year. It was unusual because previously, he took it home three years in a row. (Dan Nigro, known for his work with Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo, took home the trophy in 2025.)
But it’s not all doom and gloom: This year he’s tied for the second most Grammy nominees, largely recognized for his work with Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter, with seven.
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