Kendrick Lamar has emerged as the frontrunner in the 2026 Grammy Award nominations, with a chance to win up to nine awards. Among these nominations, three are for the top honors of the night: record, song, and album of the year. This marks the third instance where he has been simultaneously nominated in these major categories, and he and SZA are the first duo to receive two record of the year nominations.
With 22 Grammy wins and 66 nominations in his career, Lamar’s album “GNX” is his fifth consecutive studio album to be nominated for album of the year. If successful, he would become the first solo artist in Grammy history with this achievement. Notably, only two rap albums have won the top prize before, Lauryn Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1999 and Outkast’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” in 2004.
In the album of the year category this year, all nominees are first-time contenders for the award. Besides Lamar, other nominees include Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Justin Bieber’s “Swag,” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend.” This year also sees three rap albums vying for the award, as well as the second-ever all-Spanish language album nomination, Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” being the first in 2022.
Following Lamar, Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff, and Canadian producer-songwriter Cirkut are tied with seven nominations each. Lady Gaga is also in the running for song, record, and album of the year for the first time simultaneously. Meanwhile, Antonoff is nominated twice in the record, album, and song of the year categories, collaborating with Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter. Cirkut has nominations in record and song of the year for Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and Rosé and Bruno Mars’s “APT.,” along with album of the year and best dance pop recording.
Justin Bieber, Drake, and Kaytranada also received nominations, with The Weeknd notably absent this year after his boycott-ending performance last year. The best new artist category showcases a competitive field, with notable artists like Katseye, Olivia Dean, Leon Thomas, and Alex Warren contending. K-pop is making waves with Rosé from Blackpink being the first K-pop artist nominated for record of the year, and the film “KPop Demon Hunters” securing multiple nominations.
The 2026 Grammy Awards ceremony is set to air on Sun, Feb. 1, live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. For a comprehensive list of nominees, visit the official Grammy website.