2026 Grammy Awards nominations: Kendrick Lamar leads list of music contenders – National

List of nominations for 2026 Grammy Awards the red-hot rapper was revealed Kendrick Lamar leads the pack.

Lamar is up for nine prizes at the February ceremony: record, song and album of the year (the third time he's been nominated simultaneously in those major categories), as well as pop duo/group performance, melodic rap performance, rap song and rap album. He was also nominated twice in the rap performance category.

Not like us The rapper has 22 Grammy wins and a total of 66 nominations. His album GNKS this is his fifth studio album in a row to be nominated for Album of the Year, something no other artist has ever done. If he wins, it will be his first win in this category. And it will be only the third rap album to win the top prize, following Outkast in 2004. Speakerboxx/Love Below and Lauryn Hill in 1999 for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Lamar's nine nominations for his album GNKS are part of a wave of hip-hop albums competing in the top categories, including Tyler, the Creator's Chromocopy And Let God deal with them by Clipse, Pusha T and Malice.

Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian producer-songwriter Circut follow Lamar with seven nominations each.

Circut twice claimed the title of “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year” – for Lady Gaga. Abracadabra and Rosé and Bruno Mars APT. — as well as album of the year and best pop dance recording.

Other top nominees include Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Leon Thomas and Justin Bieber.

Bad Bunny I should have taken more photos This is only the second time an all-Spanish-language album has been nominated for the top prize. This happened three years after the release of Bad Bunny. Summer without you became the first Spanish-language album to be nominated in the Album of the Year category.

This year's nominees were announced during a live video broadcast featuring a slew of talent including Dochia, Gayle King, Karol G, Lizzo, Mumford & Sons, Sabrina Carpenter, Sam Smith, David Foster, Chappell Roane and more.

Only recordings commercially released in the United States between August 31, 2024 and August 30, 2025 are eligible for nominations.

This year, the Grammy Awards made changes to the Best Country Album category after Beyoncé historical victory in the categories “Best Album” and “Best Country Album” at the 2025 Grammy Awards for Cowboy Carter. This category has now been split into two, creating the Best Traditional Country Albums category. The existing Best Country Album category was renamed Best Contemporary Country Album.

The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place on February 1st live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The owner has not yet been announced.

A list of nominees in the main categories can be found below.

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Album of the Year

I should have taken more photosBad Bunny
SwingJustin Bieber
Man's best friend Sabrina Carpenter
Let God deal with themClipse, Pusha T and Malice
chaosLady Gaga
GNKSKendrick Lamar
MattLeon Thomas
ChromocopyTyler, the Creator

Record of the year

DtMFBad Bunny
ManchildSabrina Carpenter
AnxietyDoechi
wild flowerBillie Eilish
AbracadabraLady Gaga
LutherKendrick Lamar and SZA
APT.Rose and Bruno Mars
MetroChappell Roan

Song of the Year

AbracadabraLady Gaga
Anxiety, Doechi
APT.Rose and Bruno Mars
DtMFBad Bunny
Gold [From KPop Demon Hunters]HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Noona, Rei Ami
LutherKendrick Lamar and SZA
ManchildSabrina Carpenter
wildflowerBillie Eilish

Best Music Video

Young LionSade
ManchildSabrina Carpenter
So be itClip
AnxietyDoechi
LoveOK, go

Best Pop Solo Performance

DaisiesJustin Bieber
ManchildSabrina Carpenter
DiseaseLady Gaga
MetroChappell Roan
Sloppy, Lola Young

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Defying gravityCynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
Gold [From KPop Demon Hunters]HUNTER/X: EJAE, Audrey Nouna, Rei Ami
GabrielaKatseye
APT.Rose, Bruno Mars
30 for 30SZA and Kendrick Lamar

Best Pop Vocal Album

SwingJustin Bieber
Man's best friend Sabrina Carpenter
Something beautifulMiley Cyrus
chaosLady Gaga
I Tried Everything Except Therapy (Part 2)Teddy Swims

Best New Artist

Olivia Dean
Katseye
Maria
Addison Rae
Shadow
Lola Young
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren

Best Rap Performance

Outside, Cardi B
Chains and whipsClipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams
AnxietyDoechi
TV is off, Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay
Darling, I Tyler, the Creator featuring Tizo Touchdown

Best Melodic Rap Performance

Proud of me Fridayy featuring Meek Mill
from the bottom of my heartJID featuring Ty Dolla $ign and 6Lack
LutherKendrick Lamar and SZA
We MayTerrace Martin and Kenyon Dixon featuring Rapsody
Someone loves meParty Next Door and Drake

Best Rap Song

AnxietyDoechi
The birds don't singClipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring John Legend and Voices of Fire
StickyTyler, the Creator featuring GloRilla, Sexy Red and Lil Wayne
TGIFGloRilla
TV is turned offKendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay

Best Rap Album

Let God deal with them Clips, Pusha T and Malice
gloriousGloRilla
God likes uglyROAD
GNKSKendrick Lamar
ChromocopyTyler, the Creator

Best R&B Performance

YukonJustin Bieber
It dependsChris Brown featuring Bryson Tiller
Folded, Get down
Matt (Live from NPR's Tiny Desk), Leon Thomas
Heart of a womanSummer Walker

Best Traditional R&B Performance

We are hereDurand Bernard
UptownLakha Hathaway
Love you tooLedisi
CrybabySZA
Vibes don't lie Leon Thomas

Best R&B Song

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FoldedGet down
Heart of a womanSummer Walker
It dependsChris Brown featuring Bryson Tiller
overqualifiedDurand Bernard
Yes it isLeon Thomas

Best R&B Album

Beloved, Giveon
Why not more?Coco Jones
Crown, This dish
Quest roomTeyana Taylor
MattLeon Thomas

Best Pop Dance Recording

The bluest flameSelena Gomez and Benny Blanco
AbracadabraLady Gaga
Midnight sun Zara Larsson
Just keep watchingTate McRae
IllegalPink Panther

Best Dance/Electronic Music Album

EusexFKA Twigs
Ten days Fred again…
Imagine this PinkPanther
Inhale/ExhaleRufus Du Sol
Damn Skrillex, you think it's Andy Warhol, but it's not!! <3 Skrillex

Best Rock Album

Private musicDeftons
I've had enoughChaim
From scratch, Linkin Park
Never enoughTurnstile
Idols, Yungblud

Best Rock Song

As alive as you want me to beNine inch nails
CaramelSleep token
gloomyHale Williams
Never enoughTurnstile
ZombieYungblud

Best Rock Performance

You shouldn't do thisEmil and the Sniffers
Void Machine, Linkin Park
It's never enough Turnstile
Mirtazapine, Hayley Williams
Changes (Live from Villa Park) Back to top, Yungblud featuring Nuno Betancourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman, II

Best Metal Performance

Night TerrorDream Theater
tearGhost
AppearanceSleep token
Soft spineSpiritbox
BirdsTurnstile

Best Alternative Music Album

Sand, FableBon Iver
Songs of the Lost WorldMedicine
Don't knock on the glassTyler, the Creator
MoisturizerWet foot
Ego death at a bachelorette partyHayley Williams

Best Contemporary Country Album

Patterns, Kelsea Ballerini
Snipe hunterTyler Childers
Evangeline vs the machineEric Church
Beautifully broken Jelly Roll
Postcards from TexasMiranda Lambert

Best Traditional Country Album

A dollar a day Charlie Crockett
American romanceLukas Nelson
Oh what a wonderful worldWillie Nelson
A woman with a strong head Margo Price
This is not for my healthZach Top

Best Country Solo Performance

Nose on the grindstoneTyler Childers
Good newsShabuzi
Bad as I used to beChris Stapleton
I never lieZach Top
Somewhere over LaredoLaney Wilson

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group

A song worth singingMiranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton
Pioneer, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainie Wilson
Love me like beforeMargo Price and Tyler Childers
Amen, Shabuzi and Jelly Roll
Honky Tonk Hall of FameGeorge Strait, Chris Stapleton

Best Country Song

Bitinsky listTyler Childers
Good news, Shabuzi
I never lieZach Top
Somewhere over LaredoLaney Wilson
A song worth singingMiranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton

Best Latin Pop Album

Our thing Raw Alejandro
Bogota (Deluxe), Andres Cepeda
TropicoketaKarol G
SongwriterNatalia Lafourcade
So what now?Alejandro Sanz

Best Comedy Album

Deadly yearsBill Burr
PostmortemSarah Silverman
Lonely ladyAli Wong
What happened was…Jamie Foxx
Your friend Nate Bargatze, Nate Bargatze

Best Musical Theater Album

Buena Vista Social Club
Death becomes her
Gypsy
Just in time
Maybe a happy ending

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The full list of 2026 Grammy Award nominees can be found on the official Grammy Awards website..

— With files from The Associated Press

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