Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga lead 2026 Grammy nominations

LOS ANGELES - Rapper Kendrick Lamar topped the list of Grammy contenders for the second straight year on Nov 7 with nine nominations, outpacing the seven nods for pop superstar Lady Gaga in the race for the music industry’s top honours.

Lamar’s GNX and Gaga’s MAYHEM will compete for the prestigious album of the year trophy at the Grammy Awards 2026 ceremony in February.

Neither artist has won the honour despite multiple nominations in the category.

Others nominated in the album field include Bad Bunny for the Spanish-language Debí Tirar Más Fotos, Justin Bieber for Swag and Sabrina Carpenter for Man’s Best Friend.

Three rap albums are in contention. In addition to GNX, Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia and Let God Sort Em Out, from the duo Clipse, were nominated.

The Life Of A Showgirl by Taylor Swift, who has claimed album of the year an unmatched four times, was not in the running because it was released after this year’s Grammy eligibility window closed.

Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican musician who will perform at 2026’s Super Bowl halftime show, received six nominations including for record, song and album of the year. He was the first Latin artist to be nominated in the three major categories in the same year.

For the album prize, “I think it’s between Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar,” Billboard awards editor Paul Grein said.

Grein said he gave the edge to Lamar, who would be the first solo male rap artist to land the prize.

“I think he’ll do it,” Grein said, “but you can never discount Lady Gaga, who is loved by everyone.”

Two K-pop songs landed in the song of the year field, an award given to songwriters. They are the chart-topping Golden from the soundtrack of KPop Demon Hunters, the most-watched movie in the history of Netflix, and APT. by Rose and Bruno Mars.

Golden received three total nominations.

“Never did I imagine this level of success,” said Rei Ami, one of the voices behind the fictional Demon Hunters group HUNTR/X.

“It’s really hard for all of us to process still.”

APT. also was nominated for record of the year, a trophy given to producers and performers, and best pop duo/group performance. Others on the list included Gaga’s Abracadabra, luther by Lamar and SZA, and DtMF by Bad Bunny.

In the best new artist category, Olivia Dean and KATSEYE will compete with Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and others. Thomas, an R&B and soul musician, also received an album of the year nomination for Mutt.

Grammy winners will be chosen by the roughly 15,000 voting members of the Recording Academy and announced at a red-carpet ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb 1. REUTERS

Key nominees for the 2026 Grammy Awards

Album of the Year

Debi Tirar Mas 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

Record of the Year, recognising overall performance on a song

DtMF - Bad Bunny

Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter

Anxiety - Doechii

Wildflower - Billie Eilish

Abracadabra - Lady Gaga

luther - Kendrick Lamar with SZA

The Subway - Chappell Roan

APT. - Rose and Bruno Mars

Song of the Year, recognising songwriting

Abracadabra - Lady Gaga, Henry Walter & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga)

Anxiety - Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii)

APT. - Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Roget Chahayed, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas & Henry Walter, songwriters (Rose, Bruno Mars)

DtMF - Marco Daniel Borrero, Scott Dittrich, Benjamin Falik, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Hugo Rene Sencion Sanabria, Tyler Thomas Spry & Roberto Jose Rosado Torres, songwriters (Bad Bunny)

Golden [From KPop Demon Hunters] - EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)

luther - Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Ink, Kendrick Lamar, Solana Rowe, Mark Anthony Spears & Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar with SZA)

Manchild - Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)

Wildflower – Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

Best New Artist

Olivia Dean

KATSEYE

The Marias

Addison Rae

sombr

Leon Thomas

Alex Warren

Lola Young

Best Pop Solo Performance

Daisies - Justin Bieber

Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter

Disease - Lady Gaga

The Subway - Chappell Roan

Messy - Lola Young

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Defying Gravity - Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande

Golden [From KPop Demon Hunters] - HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI

Gabriela - KATSEYE

APT. - Rose, Bruno Mars

30 For 30 - SZA with Kendrick Lamar

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 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 Music Video

Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter

So Be It - Clipse

Anxiety - Doechii

Love - OK Go

Young Lion - Sade

Best Global Music Album

Sounds Of Kumbha - Siddhant Bhatia

No Sign of Weakness - Burna Boy

Eclairer le monde - Light the World - Youssou N’Dour

Mind Explosion (50th Anniversary Tour Live) - Shakti

Chapter III: We Return to Light - Anoushka Shankar featuring Alam Khan & Sarathy Korwar

Caetano e Bethania Ao Vivo - Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethania

Artists with Most Nominations

Kendrick Lamar - 9

Lady Gaga - 7

Bad Bunny - 6

Leon Thomas - 6

Sabrina Carpenter - 6

AFP