This year's (last year?) Grammy Awards marked a noticeable shift in the membership of the stuffy old Recording Academy – and, surprisingly, the awards ceremony on February 2 seemed to truly reflect it: weekendthe return of the President after a four-year boycott, as well as the presentation of prizes to such connoisseurs of the year as Doechi, Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter, Charlie XCX, Chappell Roan And Beyoncéwhich finally won Album of the Year (for a record that didn't deserve it, but still).
However, perhaps all of this was simply the result of a blockbuster year in pop music, because this year's (next year?) Grammy nominations certainly look lackluster in comparison. Interestingly, many of the same names – Doeci, Lamar, Carpenter and Roan – also appear on the list of 2026 nominees, but for decidedly lesser work.
All four of these artists are nominated for Record of the Year (for “Anxiety”, “Luther (feat. SZA)”, “Manchild” and “Metro”, respectively), with two nods to mediocre individual singles, and another to the lead single from Carpenter's not very successful album. Short and sweet follow up, Man's best friendand a late cycle single from Lamar GNKS.
Notably, the 2019 track “Anxiety,” taken from Gotye, was released due to fan demand, with the songwriter sharing it online as one of the first tracks she ever wrote. It's become very viral on TikTok: every time you come across it, you imagine a jump scare, thinking you might get Someone I Used to Know, but instead it's corny crap.
Of the three singles Roan has released since then The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princesswe all know “Good luck, baby!” by far the best; it was nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards, but did not win in any of those categories. (Roan instead won the “Best New Artist” award.)
Lamar was the one who topped both the Song of the Year and Record of the Year categories last time with “Not Like Us,” which received a whopping number of votes. five awards. His GNKS The album is now up for Album of the Year and Rap Album of the Year, the SZA collaboration is nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance, and the Lefty Gunplay-assisted “TV Off” is up for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. GNKS is a decent album, but of course none of its tracks had the cultural impact even close to that of Not Like Us.
Genre categories are disappointing at the best of times, let alone at the Grammys. Interesting, Tyler, the Creator — which released two different albums during the 2026 qualifying window — is up for Best Rap Album with CHROMA COPY and Best Rap Song (“Sticky”), as well as Best Alternative Music Album for DO NOT TAP THE GLASS. The rapper famously called the awards “racist” for nominating (and subsequently awarding) the 2019 stars. IGOR for best rap album of 2020.
Speaking of racists, it is, of course, good that Morgan Wallen declined to apply for the 2026 Grammy Awards.because the Recording Academy finally agreed to give it a couple of fruitless nominations (country song and country duo/group performance) in its latest iteration, and I got nervous for a second. (Vice versa, Chris Brown continues to receive nominations, so rest assured, the Grammys have no real morals.)
Speaking of boycotts, despite the Weeknd calling a truce with the Grammys, Hurry up tomorrow did not receive a single nomination. It's not a very good album by any means, but another shutout is still a little surprising since both parties made such a big deal about the olive branch – not that Grammy nominations were meant to be symbolic rather than based on the merits of the work at hand, but that seems to be the underlying theme of 2026 anyway.
The categories of rock, metal and alternative music vaguely overlap. Turnstile is up for awards in all three. At least there's more young blood in the Rock Albums category this time around; yes, literally Yungbludand also HAIM (for normal and not at all fatal I've had enough).
Three different songs (“Mirtazapine”, “Glum” and “Parachute”) from Hayley Williamsunconventionally released solo album Ego death at a bachelorette party (right at the end of the selection window I might add) are up for various awards, while the album as a whole is up for Best Alternative Music Album along with the aforementioned Don't knock on the glass, Medicine's Songs of the Lost World, Good Iver's SAND, TALEAnd wet foot's moisturizer.
However, my personal category of special interest is Best New Artist – and again, it's a weird one. It's interesting to see Olivia Dean And Addison Raeboth of whom released excellent albums this year were nominated. But really? shadow? Alex Warren (“Regular” guy)? KATSEYEa girl group created by HYBE and Geffen Records for a reality show that hasn't released an album yet? The remaining three nominees (Leon Thomas, Lola Young And Maria) are worthy prospects, but many people will be shocked by this Geese (and Cameron Winter's solo album, Heavy metal), were rejected.
If you're here to see CanCon, the recent Exclaim! cover stars Spiritbox claim the title of best metal performance with the song “Soft Spine”, and Kaytranada“Space Invader” was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (as well as its remix of Mariah Carey's “Don't Forget About Us” being nominated for Best Remixed Recording), and Tate McRae“Just Keep Watching” (from F1 soundtrack) won the award for Best Pop Dance Recording. But the real Canadian story is this: Justin Biebernominations for good enough atmospheric capture SWING (Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album), “Daisies” (Best Pop Solo Performance) and “Yukon” (Best R&B Performance), ft. Dijoncontending for the title of Producer of the Year.
Overall, it looks like we may have gotten too excited too quickly that the 2025 Grammy Awards will clear the slate and set a new precedent by restructuring the Recording Academy's membership to make it more equitable. Bye Lady Gaga's MADNESS While it may have fallen a bit short of recapturing its former glory, it's nice to see its prominence among the 2026 nominations – except that opinion is softening HarlequinNominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
This is an example of how the Grammys' embrace of genre-bending artists by nominating different tracks in different categories, while generally a good idea, gets messy; Of course, Lady Gaga released both of these albums during the qualifying period, but they differ greatly in quality. Purpose Joker: Folie à Deuxembarrassing accompaniment only undermines MADNESSachievements.
Well at least we can all find solace in the release Taylor Swift's The life of a dancer no nomination window? We have a lot to look forward to in 2027. In the meantime, you can check out the full list of 2026 Grammy nominees. Here.
