Kendrick Lamar leads 2026 Grammy nominations, followed by Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Cirkut

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK AP Not like us More like him Kendrick Lamar leads the Grammy Award nominations informed Friday The rapper is up for nine trophies at February s ceremony record song and album of the year marking the third time he s had simultaneous nominations in those big categories as well as pop duo group performance melodic rap performance rap song and rap album He s also nominated twice in the rap performance category Lamar who is riding the success of last year s blockbuster GNX album has Grammy career wins and nominations GNX is his fifth consecutive studio album to be nominated for album of the year something no other artist has ever done If it wins it will be his first win in the category And it will be only the third rap album to win the top prize following Outkast in for Speakerboxxx The Love Below and Lauryn Hill in for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Lady Gaga Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer songwriter Cirkut follow Lamar with seven nominations each Lady Gaga is up for song record and album of the year her first time receiving nominations in all three categories simultaneously She could also count anticipated wins in the pop solo performance pop vocal album dance pop recording and traditional pop vocal album categories Antonoff is nominated in the record album and song of the year categories twice for his work with Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter He s also nominated for rap song for the first time That s for tv off with Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay Antonoff and Cirkut will face off in the producer of the year non-Classical category If Antonoff wins he will tie Babyface s record of majority of career wins in the category with four That s not all Cirkut is up for both record and song of the year twice for Lady Gaga s Abracadabra and Ros and Bruno Mars APT as well as album of the year and best dance pop recording In addition to Lady Gaga s Mayhem and Lamar s GNX the album of the year category is rounded out by Carpenter s Man s Best Friend Bad Bunny s Deb Tirar M s Fotos Justin Bieber s Swag Clipse Pusha T Malice s Let God Sort Em Out Leon Thomas Mutt and Tyler the Creator s Chromakopia This is the first time three albums have been up for both rap album and album of the year GNX Let God Sort Em Out and Chromakopia Additionally Bad Bunny s Deb Tirar M s Fotos is only the second time an all-Spanish language album has been nominated for the top prize The first was also a Bad Bunny release in for Un Verano Sin Ti Harry Styles Harry s House won that year Carpenter Bad Bunny Leon Thomas and Serban Ghenea all boast six nominations Andrew Watt Clipse Doechii Sounwave SZA Turnstile and Tyler the Creator have five each Only recordings commercially circulated in the U S between Aug through Aug were eligible for nominations The final round of Grammy voting which determines its winners will take place Dec through Jan In the best new artist category global girl group Katseye Olivia Dean The Marias Addison Rae sombr Leon Thomas Alex Warren and Lola Young will all go head-to-head The record of the year category is made up of Bad Bunny s DtMF Carpenter s Manchild Doechii s Anxiety Billie Eilish s Wildflower Lady Gaga s Abracadabra Lamar and SZA s luther Chappell Roan s The Subway and Ros and Bruno Mars APT Related Articles Robert Plant thrills Shubert crowd Grammy Museum announces Selena exhibit with items displayed outside of Texas for the first time Bizarrap Daddy Yankee to headline halftime show at NFL s first-ever challenge in Spain Duke Levine turns up Super Sweet Sounds of the s Grammy voting explained How nominees and winners are picked Ros perhaps best known as one-fourth of the juggernaut girl group BLACKPINK is the first K-pop artist to ever receive a nomination in the record of the year field Specific may be surprised to see Eilish included in the bunch as Wildflower was disclosed on her spring album Hit Me Hard and Soft ahead of the eligibility window However there is a Recording Academy rule that allows albums circulated during the previous ceremony s eligibility period to be considered provided the same tracks were not entered the previous year and the album did not win a Grammy with a limited exceptions By that rule Eilish s Wildflower which was not previously entered is eligible Song of the year an award for a track s songwriters which sometimes include the performer but not inevitably is made up of an almost identical list to record of the year except Roan is replaced by Golden from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack The Grammy Awards are our opportunity to honor the people who make this society so vibrant and this year s nominees remind us of the incredible talent that is driving music forward mentioned Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr in a declaration From emerging talent to influential icons these nominees reflect in contemporary times s broad and diverse musical landscape and I am excited to celebrate them in the coming weeks ahead There are a number of first-time nominees as well this year including Tate McRae Zara Larsson and PinkPantheress The Grammy Awards will air Feb live on CBS and Paramount from the Crypto com Arena in Los Angeles