NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The 2026 Grammy Award nominees<\/a> are here, and who else but Kendrick Lamar<\/a> leads this year\u2019s crop with nine nods on the strength of 2024\u2032s \u201cGNX?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s an exciting lineup, but like every year, there were a few artists who made the coveted list Friday and a few who didn\u2019t. Snubs and surprises are in no short supply in 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The 2026 Grammy Awards will air Feb. 1 live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s Lamar\u2019s world, but he\u2019s 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 \u201cGNX,\u201d Clipse, Pusha T & Malice\u2019s \u201cLet God Sort Em Out\u201d and Tyler, the Creator\u2019s \u201cChromakopia.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the past, the Grammys have been criticized over a lack of diversity \u2014 artists of color and women left out of top prizes; rap and contemporary R&B stars ignored. Is this symbolic of a new shift?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite the hip-hop attention in the album of the year category, rap\u2019s missing in the list of best new artist nominees this year. The same is true of country. Don\u2019t get it twisted \u2014 Katseye,<\/a> Olivia Dean, The Marias, Addison Rae, sombr, Leon Thomas,<\/a> Alex Warren and Lola Young make a great list \u2014 but what about Ella Langley? Megan Moroney?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A favorite of the Recording Academy, Billie Eilish<\/a> is up for two trophies this year: song and record of the year, both for her track \u201cWildflower.\u201d 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. \u201cWildflower\u201d was released in May 2024, on her last album, the critically acclaimed \u201cHit Me Hard and Soft.\u201d<\/a> So, why is Eilish allowed to compete again in 2026?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s another rule that states \u201ctracks from an album released during last year\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are a few exceptions. The rule excludes several categories, including all the classical ones. But because \u201cWildflower\u201d was not previously entered \u2014 and it was entered as an album track \u2014 it is eligible. Will that ruin others\u2019 opportunity to take home one of the top prizes? Only time will tell.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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\u00e9 won best country album at the 2025 Grammy Awards<\/a> for \u201cCowboy Carter.\u201d)<\/a> It was unclear how the two categories would differ from one another \u2014 and it is still unclear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The traditional country category includes Charley Crockett\u2019s \u201cDollar A Day,\u201d Lukas Nelson\u2019s \u201cAmerican Romance,\u201d Willie Nelson\u2019s \u201cOh What A Beautiful World,\u201d<\/a> Margo Price\u2019s \u201cHard Headed Woman\u201d and Zach Top\u2019s \u201cAin\u2019t In It For My Health.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And in the contemporary country category is Kelsea Ballerini\u2019s \u201cPatterns,\u201d<\/a> Tyler Childers\u2019 \u201cSnipe Hunter,\u201d Eric Church\u2019s \u201cEvangeline vs. The Machine,\u201d Jelly Roll\u2019s \u201cBeautifully Broken\u201d and Miranda Lambert\u2019s \u201cPostcards from Texas.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Is it that the latter leans more \u201ccrossover\u201d country? You decide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And let the record show Morgan Wallen didn\u2019t submit his hit album, \u201cI\u2019m the Problem\u201d<\/a> for consideration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the 2025 Grammy Awards, The Weeknd<\/a> performed for the first time since 2017. As many may recall, back in 2020, he slammed the Grammys, calling them \u201ccorrupt\u201d<\/a> after he landed zero nominations despite a megahit album. \u201cYou owe me, my fans and the industry transparency,\u201d he wrote on social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the 2025 event, Grammys CEO Harvey Mason jr.<\/a> introduced The Weeknd by stating that he understood the criticism and listed all the things the academy has done to fix it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d he said. \u201cOver the past few years, we have listened, we\u2019ve acted and we\u2019ve changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, in 2026, The Weeknd\u2019s \u201cHurry Up Tomorrow\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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\u2019s \u201cRight Place, Wrong Person,\u201d<\/a> J-Hope\u2019s \u201cHope on the Street, Vol. 1,\u201d and Jimin\u2019s \u201cMuse\u201d among them. (As a boy band, BTS has received five nominations across its career.) This year, that changes somewhat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ros\u00e9, perhaps best known as one-fourth of the juggernaut girl group BLACKPINK,<\/a> is the first K-pop artist to ever receive a nomination in the record of the year field for \u201cAPT.,\u201d her megahit with Bruno Mars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Song of the year \u2014 which is awarded to a track\u2019s songwriters, which sometimes includes the performer but not always \u2014 also features \u201cGolden\u201d from the \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d soundtrack.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n You read that correctly. The actor<\/a> is up for best compilation soundtrack for visual media for \u201cA Complete Unknown,\u201d<\/a> for his portrayal of the great Bob Dylan. But competition is stiff: He\u2019ll have to beat out \u201cWicked,\u201d \u201cKPop Demon Hunters,\u201d \u201cSinners\u201d and \u201cF1 the Album.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n He\u2019s 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 \u201cMusic By John Williams.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bad Bunny<\/a> is a top nominee this year, making history with his critically acclaimed album \u201cDeb\u00ed Tirar M\u00e1s Fotos.\u201d<\/a> 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 \u201cUn Verano Sin Ti.\u201d<\/a> Harry Styles\u2019 \u201cHarry\u2019s House\u201d won that year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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\u2019s \u201c111XPANTIA,\u201d which this year became the highest charting m\u00fasica 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\u2019s collaborative EP with Grupo Frontera, \u201cMala M\u00eda\u201d is nominated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On Monday, it was announced<\/a> that all Latin Grammy voting members<\/a> were invited to join the Recording Academy as part of its 2025 new member class. It\u2019ll take time to see the results, but perhaps an evolving, diversifying electorate could result in more openness to Latino performers in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/690e2e6c150000d4129c29c7.jpeg?cache=CEDOSq4Exx&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp)
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/figure>\nHip-hop heavyweights get recognized in the top prize<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
The best new artist category leaves out rap and country<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Billie Eilish is back<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
New country categories confuse<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What\u2019s up with The Weeknd?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Make way for K-pop<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet gets first Grammy nomination<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Is the Grammys\u2019 future Spanish? Or is it just the Bad Bunny effect?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Jack Antonoff returns<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n