The Grammy Award 2026 nominations were released on Friday 7 November. The music awarding body largely got it right, in my humble opinion, but a few categories like ‘Best New Artist’ will always rub me the wrong way.

What did the Grammys get right?

Bad Bunny’s DtMF has definitely been ‘Record of the Year’ with its promenance throughout summer 2025. Other category nods to Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s luther and (as much as I got sick of this latter song) ROSÉ and Bruno Mars on APT. deserve recognition.

‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS’ from Bad Bunny converted me to him this year and absolutely deserves an ‘Album of the Year’ nod; the LP is a party from beginning to end with a celebration of Puerto Rican identity and culture. Lady Gaga’s ‘MAYHEM’ was like a second ‘Born This Way’ moment in returning to her former style of music and battling this with the two versions of herself in her live tour performances. Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX’ was phenomenal throughout (also up for ‘Best Rap Album’) and I’m so parasocially proud of Leon Thomas with ‘MUTT’ and his overall six nominations, charting a huge rise since his days playing Andre in Nickelodeon’s ‘Victorious’.

Since the ‘Best New Artist’ award won’t be changing its title anytime soon, Addison Rae, Leon Thomas, and The Marias are my favourites – with honourable mentions for Olivia Dean and KATSEYE.

‘Best Pop Duo/Group Performance’ nominees Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for Defying Gravity is extremly deserved from Wicked. Sza and Kendrick Lamar for 30 for 30 and KATSEYE for Gabriela (the song of my Alicante trip) are also brilliant choices.

Lady Gaga receives another ‘MAYHEM’ nomination for ‘Best Pop Vocal Album’ which is more suited than album of the whole year. Miley Cyrus’ ‘Something Beautiful’ (an LP that had whispers of Grammy nominations since its release) is a great contender with its stunning production of the eponymous track. However, I can see Sabrina taking this category due to its definition, for albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new pop vocal recordings.

I’m stoked that Tame Impala are nominated with End of Summer for ‘Best Dance/Electronic Recording’ with equal winning contenders, Fred Again.. and Skepta’s collaboration, Victory Lap.

‘Best Dance Pop Recording’ has been the biggest category for first time nominations of late. This year it includes deserved nods to Zara Larsson on Midnight Sun, PinkPantheress with Illegal (my favourite), and Lady Gaga’s Abracadabra. Tate McRae has also recieved her first Grammy nomination with this category, then Selena Gomez (let’s fly over the fact of her singing) and benny blanco fill out the rest of the list.

Fred Again.. ‘Ten Days’ is my favourite for ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’, and Hayley Williams recieved solo nominations for ‘Best Rock Performance’ and ‘Best Alternative Music Perfomance’, going up against one of my favourite tracks of the year in the latter category – Wet Leg on mangetout.

SZA Crybaby and Leon Thomas VIBES DON’T LIE nominated in the ‘Best Traditional R&B Performance’ is perfection.

I’m so pleased for FLO to be nominated across the pond for their debut album ‘Access All Areas’ for the ‘Best Progressive R&B Album’ category – this album is hugely underrated and an R&B vocal masterclass, when it comes on shuffle in my playlists I forget how brilliant and intricate the interludes themselves are. The girls need to go where they’re appreciated and recognised.

Last notable win for me is my favourite Coco Jones, nominated for ‘Best R&B Album’ with her debut ‘Why Not More?’ which follows her EP I got to interview her on. Leon Thomas’ ‘MUTT’ is nominated again in this category – strong contenders in all the R&B categories overall.

What did the Grammys get wrong? Who got snubbed?

Sabrina Carpenter is brilliant in her witty and styled persona, her musicality and natural humour, but ‘Man’s Best Friend’ cannot be ‘Album of the Year’, surely. The album’s short lived and has a lot of tracks that merge into one or don’t stand out – unless you can be bias to the country-pop twang of it all. There are at least two tracks I have a soft spot for (Sugar Talking and House Tour) but these aren’t in its entirety and the latter is because it’s catchy. The only way I can see that this album made the category is because it was an accidental catalyst for moral panic and discourse with its orginal cover.

The ‘Best New Artist’ category will always bring the same response, “they’re not a new artist!” when select nominees have been followed for years before. This year that’s my gripe with my indie Puerto Rican and American favourites, The Marias. The group has been releasing hidden gems since their EPs (popular on Tumblr landscapes) in 2017 and 2018, ‘Superclean, Vol. I’ and ‘Superclean, Vol. II’. Tracks like I Don’t Know You, Only in My Dreams, Cariño, ABQ, and Over the Moon massed high plays on Spotify from the early EPs. Then came Hold it Together, Jupiter and Care For You with more singles in 2020. The group has brought out consistent articulate tracks and are just now receiving recognition for best new artist almost a decade later. Other nominees in the same category (Lola Young, Olivia Dean and Leon Thomas) were releasing music earlier than 2024-2025 too, but its fair to say that the indie popularisation was there for The Marias before breaking into the pop mainstream globally. However, ‘Best New Artist’ is defined as an artist whose eligibility-year release(s) achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape. This essentially means that the category is assigned to applauding artists for breaking into the pop mainstream, tapping into the zeitgeist – and adding to it – which I think limits and confines what great music should be, besides its impact. It almost trivialises and waters down recognising real talent. We see many talented musicians just trying to break into the music industry in the first place, from talent shows, TikTok and YouTube. If we’re relying on the everyday person to recognise talent when we all have different preferances, how accurate can it really be? And does it become a popularity contest? On the other hand, I understand that the level of impact and culture shift that a musician makes shows how they can be the next ‘great’, which would make them fitting for the award.

Teyana Taylor did… something with ‘Escape Room’. This something should not be recognised enough to be nominated in ‘Best R&B Album’, even in popular opinion, the album was met with plenty question marks. Ms Taylor included a plethora of A-list names in the features of the LP which created excitement but then the actual listening part falls flat. I understand the album was a healing process from her breakup, but these don’t always make for the best musical perfomances if it’s not your usual go to.

Tyler, the Creator has been nominated for CHROMAKOPIA (Album of the Year) and ‘DON’T TAP THE GLASS’ (Best Alternative Music Album) but I feel has been snubbed on the latter, more favourable album’s separate tracks. Tracks like the collaboration with Yebba, I’ll Take Care of You and Madison McFerrin on Don’t You Worry Baby are synonymous to Tyler’s sound and only he can bring us the mix of dance, hip hop and rap like this.

It’s safe to say I’ll be tuned in for the 2026 Awards to see the winners as an invested fan of most of the artists nominated this time round. The Grammys are also on a fan favourite streak following Charli XCX’s sweep for BRAT this past year.

The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday 1 February.

You can view the full nominations list here.