AT A GLANCE
- Kendrick Lamar leads with nine Grammy nominations, including record, song, and album of the year.
- Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff, and Cirkut follow closely with seven nominations each.
- Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos earns six nominations, marking the second-ever all-Spanish album up for Album of the Year.
- The 68th Annual Grammy Awards will air February 1, 2026, live from Los Angeles.
Kendrick Lamar Leads 2026 Grammy Nominations, Followed by Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Cirkut
Kendrick Lamar continues his reign as the most dominant rapper of his generation, leading the 2026 Grammy Awards with nine nominations. The Los Angeles artist is up for record, song, and album of the year for his chart-topping album GNX and the SZA-assisted hit “Luther.” It’s the third time Lamar has been nominated in all three major categories simultaneously.
With 22 Grammy wins and 66 career nominations, Lamar now stands alone in Grammy history: GNX marks his fifth consecutive studio album to receive an Album of the Year nod — a record no artist has matched.
If he wins, GNX would be only the third rap album ever to take the top prize, joining Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Pop icon Lady Gaga and producers Jack Antonoff and Cirkut trail Lamar with seven nominations each. Gaga’s Mayhem marks her first time being nominated simultaneously for record, song, and album of the year. She’s also in the running for best pop solo performance (“Disease”), pop vocal album (Mayhem), dance pop recording, and traditional pop vocal album.
Antonoff, a three-time producer of the year winner, scored nods in multiple categories for his collaborations with both Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter. Meanwhile, Cirkut shares dual record and song of the year nominations for Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and Rosé and Bruno Mars’ duet “APT.”
Diverse Field for Album of the Year
The coveted Album of the Year lineup reflects a broad musical landscape, including:
- GNX — Kendrick Lamar
- Mayhem — Lady Gaga
- Man’s Best Friend — Sabrina Carpenter
- Debí Tirar Más Fotos — Bad Bunny
- Swag — Justin Bieber
- Let God Sort Em Out — Clipse, Pusha T & Malice
- Mutt — Leon Thomas
- Chromakopia — Tyler, the Creator
For the first time, three albums — GNX, Let God Sort Em Out, and Chromakopia — are nominated in both rap and album of the year categories.
Leon Thomas, who recently broke into the Billboard Top 10, earned six nominations including Best New Artist. He’s joined in that category by Katseye, Olivia Dean, The Marías, Addison Rae, sombr, Alex Warren, and Lola Young.
Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos continues to expand the reach of Spanish-language music, becoming only the second all-Spanish album nominated for the year’s top honor. K-pop star Rosé made history as the first K-pop artist nominated for Record of the Year with “APT,” her collaboration with Bruno Mars.
This year, the Recording Academy adds two new categories: Best Album Cover and Best Traditional Country Album. Nominees include Bad Bunny, Djo, Wet Leg, Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson, Charley Crockett, Margo Price, and Zach Top.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said the nominees “reflect today’s broad and diverse musical landscape,” celebrating both icons and emerging talent shaping the future of music.
The 68th Annual Grammy Awards will air live on February 1, 2026, from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on CBS and Paramount+.
