The Recording Academy officially announced the nominations for the 68th Grammy Awards via live stream on November 7th, kicking off the highly anticipated music industry’s biggest night of 2026. Kendrick Lamar leads the pack with nine nominations, including nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for his single Luther, and his seventh nomination for Album of the Year for his album GNX. He will compete for Album of the Year against Billie Eilish’s Wildflower, Doechii’s Anxiety, Sabrina Carpenter’s Manchild, and 4 other albums. Meanwhile, Cirkut, Jack Antonov, and Lady Gaga each received seven nominations, making them the most nominated artists this year (after Lamar of course).
This year’s Grammy nominations brought several surprises, most notably Rosé’s breakthrough. The South Korean singer Rosé received three nominations for her collaboration with Bruno Mars on APT., including two of the Grammys’ main six, general field categories Record of the Year and Song of the Year. This milestone made her the first and only South Korean female artist in K-pop history to be nominated for a Grammy Award, marking a significant step forward in the global recognition of K-pop.
However, the nominations also sparked widespread discussion about the omissions of some other well-known artists. The Weeknd went home empty-handed, while the only nomination Drake received is Best Melodic Rap Performance. Lorde’s critically acclaimed album Virgin, despite receiving unanimous praise from critics and fans, failed to receive any nominations, which some industry insiders speculated may be related to her past public clashes with Grammy judges.
To celebrate diverse musical expression, the 68th Grammy Awards added two new categories: Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover. Some argue that splitting the Best Country Album award into two separate awards—Best Traditional Country Album and Best Contemporary Country Album—is a terrible idea, especially considering that some artists’ styles don’t quite fit into either category, nor could they possibly be categorized into them. We’ll see later whether the Best Country Album award will be restored to a separate award.
The awards ceremony, a full-day event at the Peacock Theatre, paying tribute to pioneers in the music industry, will be streamed live on the Recording Academy’s official platform on February 1st. We can’t wait to see who brings home those coveted awards!
