Grammy 2026 Nominees: Top Categories and Artists to Watch

The 2026 Grammy nominations are out, and the music world is buzzing. From breakout sensations to chart-topping icons, the biggest names in music are competing for one of the industry’s most prestigious honors. The Grammys, presented annually by the Recording Academy, recognize excellence across all genres—from pop and hip-hop to rock, country, and classical—celebrating standout performances, songwriting, production, and more.

Music’s most anticipated season is officially underway. Here’s our list of the top categories and nominees everyone will be watching.

Album of the Year

• DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS — Bad Bunny
• SWAG — Justin Bieber
• Man’s Best Friend — Sabrina Carpenter
• Let God Sort Em Out — Clipse, Pusha T & Malice
• MAYHEM — Lady Gaga
• GNX — Kendrick Lamar
• MUTT — Leon Thomas
• CHROMAKOPIA — Tyler, the Creator

Best Spoken Word Poetry Album

• A Hurricane in Heels: Healed People Don’t Act Like That (Partially Recorded Live @City Winery & Other Places)— Queen Sheba
• Black Shaman — Marc Marcel
• Pages — Omari Hardwick & Anthony Hamilton
• Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño & Friends at Treepeople — Saul Williams, Carlos Niño & Friends
• Words for Days Vol. 1 — Mad Skillz

Best Musical Theater Album

• Buena Vista Social Club
• Death Becomes Her
• Gypsy
• Just In Time
• Maybe Happy Ending

Best R&B Album

• Beloved — Giveon
• Why Not More? — Coco Jones
• The Crown — Ledisi
• Escape Room — Teyana Taylor
• Mutt — Leon Thomas

Best Rap Album

• Let God Sort Em Out — Clipse, Pusha T & 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 featuring Kendrick Lamar & Pharrell Williams
• “Anxiety” — Doechii
• “TV Off” — Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay
• “Darling, I” — Tyler, the Creator featuring Teezo Touchdown

Best Melodic Rap Performance

• “Proud of Me” — Fridayy featuring Meek Mill
• “Wholeheartedly” — JID featuring Ty Dolla $ign & 6Lack
• “Luther” — Kendrick Lamar with SZA
• “WeMaj” — Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon featuring Rapsody
• “Somebody Loves Me” — Partynextdoor & Drake

Best Rap Song

• “Anxiety” — Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)
• “The Birds Don’t Sing” — Gene Elliott Thornton Jr., Terrence Thornton, Pharrell Williams & Stevie Wonder, songwriters (Clipse, Pusha T & Malice featuring John Legend & Voices of Fire)
• “Sticky” — Aaron Bolton, Dudley Alexander Duverne, Gloria Woods, Dwayne Carter Jr., Janae Wherry, Tyler Okonma & Rex Zamor, songwriters (Tyler, the Creator featuring GloRilla, Sexyy Red & Lil Wayne)
• “TGIF” — Lucas Alegria, Dillon Brophy, Yakki Davis, Gloria Woods, Jess Jackson, Ronnie Jackson, Mario Mims & Jorge M. Taveras, songwriters (GloRilla)
• “TV Off” — Jack Antonoff, Larry Jayy, Kendrick Lamar, Dijon McFarlane, Sean Momberger, Mark Anthony Spears & Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay)

Best Metal Performance

• “Night Terror” — Dream Theater
• “Lachryma” — Ghost
• “Emergence” — Sleep Token
• “Soft Spine” — Spiritbox
• “Birds” — Turnstile

Best Rock Album

• Private Music — Deftones
• I Quit — Haim
• From Zero — Linkin Park
• Never Enough — Turnstile
• Idols — Yungblud

Song of the Year

• “Abracadabra” — Henry Walter, Lady Gaga, Andrew Watt (Lady Gaga)
• “Anxiety” — Jaylah Hickmon (Doechii)
• “Apt.” — Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Henry Walter, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas (Rosé, Bruno Mars)
• “DtMF” — Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Scott Dittrich, Benjamin Falik, Roberto José Rosado Torres, Marco Daniel Borrero, Hugo René Sención Sanabria, Tyler Thomas Spry (Bad Bunny)
• “Golden” — Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick (Hunter/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami)
• “Luther” — Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Ink, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Kendrick Lamar, Mark Anthony Spears, Solána Rowe, Kamasi Washington (Kendrick Lamar with SZA)
• “Manchild” — Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff, Sabrina Carpenter (Sabrina Carpenter)
• “Wildflower” — Billie Eilish O’Connell, Finneas O’Connell (Billie Eilish)

Best New Artist

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

Best Pop Vocal Album

• Swag — Justin Bieber
• Man’s Best Friend — Sabrina Carpenter
• Something Beautiful — Miley Cyrus
• Mayhem — Lady Gaga
• I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 2) — Teddy Swims

Best Pop Solo Performance

• “Manchild” — Sabrina Carpenter
• “Daisies” — Justin Bieber
• “Disease” — Lady Gaga
• “The Subway” — Chappell Roan
• “Messy” — Lola Young

Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical)

• Amy Allen
• Edgar Barrera
• Jessie Jo Dillon
• Tobias Jesso Jr.
• Laura Veltz

Producer of the Year (Non-Classical)

• Dan Auerbach
• Cirkut
• Dijon
• Blake Mills
• Sounwave

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 Traditional Country Album

• Dollar a Day — Charley Crockett
• American Romance — Lukas Nelson
• Oh What a Beautiful World — Willie Nelson
• Hard Headed Woman — Margo Price
• Ain’t in It for My Health — Zach Top

Grammy 2026 Nominees: Top Categories and Artists to Watch was originally published on kysdc.com