Kendrick Lamar leads 2026 Grammy nominations, followed by Lady Gaga,
Jack Antonoff and Cirkut
[November 08, 2025]
By MARIA SHERMAN
NEW YORK (AP) — Not like us? More like him: Kendrick Lamar leads the
2026 Grammy Award nominations, announced 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 22 Grammy career wins and 66 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 2004 for “Speakerboxxx/The Love
Below” and Lauryn Hill in 1999 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 score potential 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 most 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 Rosé 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 “Debí Tirar Más 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 “Debí Tirar Más 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 2023, 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.
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This combination of photos show Jack Antonoff, left, Kendrick Lamar,
center, and Lady Gaga. (AP Photo)
 Only recordings commercially
released in the U.S. between Aug. 31, 2024 through Aug. 30, 2025
were eligible for nominations. The final round of Grammy voting,
which determines its winners, will take place Dec. 12 through Jan.
5.
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 Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.”
Rosé, 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.
Some may be surprised to see Eilish included in the bunch, as
“Wildflower” was released on her spring 2024 album, “Hit Me Hard and
Soft,” ahead of the eligibility window. However, there is a
Recording Academy rule that allows albums released 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 few 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 always — 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 community so vibrant and this year’s nominees remind us of the
incredible talent that is driving music forward,” said Recording
Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. in a statement. “From emerging talent
to influential icons, these nominees reflect today’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, PinkPantheress, JID and Timothée
Chalamet. You read that correctly.
The 2026 Grammy Awards will air Feb. 1 live on CBS and Paramount+
from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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