Kendrick Lamar leads Grammy award nominations with nine nods

The Grammys’ love continues for Kendrick Lamar. The rapper, who took home the most trophies at the 2025 music awards with five, leads the nominees for the 2026 awards.

Lamar is up for nine awards, including album of the year (for his most recent album, GNX), best rap album, record of the year and song of the year. He faces competition for the night’s top award – album of the year – from Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, Leon Thomas, Tyler, the Creator and Clipse, Pusha T & Malice.

Gaga follows Lamar with seven nominations, tied for second with producers Cirkut and Jack Antonoff. Other top nominees include Carpenter, Thomas, and next year’s Super Bowl half-time show performer, Bad Bunny, who each received six.

The Latin superstar, whose album Debí Tirar Más Fotos anchored a groundbreaking residency in his native Puerto Rico, is up for record of the year for DtMF, along with Carpenter for Manchild, Doechii for Anxiety, Billie Eilish for Wildflower, Lady Gaga for Abracadabra, Luther by Lamar and SZA, Chappell Roan for The Subway, and Bruno Mars and Rosé for APT.

Lamar’s Luther is also nominated for song of the year alongside Abracadabra, Anxiety, APT, DtMF, Wildflower, Manchild and the KPop Demon Hunters’ track Golden. The chart-topping track marks the first time an animated performer – Huntr/X: Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami – has been nominated for song of the year.

Roan, last year’s best new artist winner, announced this year’s nominees, including Olivia Dean, Katseye, the Marías, Addison Rae, sombr, Thomas, Alex Warren and Lola Young. Other presenters included Brandi Carlile, Carpenter, Doechii, Sam Smith, and Sharon, Jack and Kelly Osbourne, honoring the late metal legend Ozzy Osbourne.

Wet Leg, Perfume Genius, Bad Bunny, Djo and Tyler, the Creator became the first-ever nominees for best album cover, one of two new awards debuting this year.

Some of the year’s most omnipresent songs were not represented. There were no Grammy nominations for Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem, the year’s second-biggest album, though his team announced earlier this year that he would not submit his music for consideration in future. And Grammy mainstay Taylor Swift’s blockbuster album The Life of a Showgirl, released in October, fell outside the eligibility window, which ran from 31 August 2024 until 30 August 2025.

In announcing the nominees, the recording academy’s CEO, Harvey Mason Jr, said that the Grammys had “celebrated music’s very, very best” for 68 years. He noted that this year, 15,000 voting members listened to and accounted for 20,000 entries in 95 categories, making the Grammys “music’s most coveted award because it’s music people honoring music people”.

Lamar took home the most awards at last year’s ceremony, winning five awards, including record of the year and song of the year. The evening also saw Beyoncé, the most-awarded artist in Grammy history, win her first album of the year award, as well as best country album, for Cowboy Carter in a ceremony that paid tribute to those affected by the devastating California wildfires.

The 68th Grammy awards will take place on 1 February 2026 at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles, with a host to be announced.