Kendrick Lamar is again leading the Grammy nominations. He earned nine nominations this year. That gives him an edge over Lady Gaga, who earned seven nominations.
The Grammy committee nominated both the Lamar’s GNX and Gaga’s MAYHEM for Album of the Year.
Despite the nominations, neither has ever won the Album of the Year at Grammy’s.
The other nominated albums for Album of the Year are Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos, Justin Bieber’s Swag, and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend.
For the first time, the Grammy committee nominated three rap albums for Best Album. In addition to GNX, they also nominated Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia and Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out.
Swift has won four Album of the Year Grammys, but The Life of a Showgirl is ineligible for a Grammy because it was released after the deadline.
Bad Bunny is also the first Latin artist to earn nominations in all three major categories. This year, he has nominations for Record, Song, Album of the Year.
The Album of the Year competition is close, said Billboard awards editor Paul Grein. “I think it’s between Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar,” he said. Grein slightly favors Lamar, who would be the first male rap artist to win. “I think he’ll do it,” he stressed. “But you can never discount Lady Gaga, who is loved by everyone.”
Two K-pop songs are competing in the Song of the Year category. These are ‘Golden’ from KPop Demon Hunters and ‘APT.’ by Rose and Bruno Mars. ‘Golden’ secured three nominations in total.
“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 earned nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Other contenders include Gaga’s ‘Abracadabra,’ Lamar and SZA’s ‘luther,’ and Bad Bunny’s ‘DtMF.’
The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place in February, and the world is eagerly waiting.
