Lamar and Gaga lead 2026 Grammy nominations

Rapper Kendrick Lamar topped the list of Grammy contenders for the second straight year on Friday with nine nominations, outpacing the seven nods for pop superstar Lady Gaga in the race for the music industry's top honours.

Lamar's GNX and Gaga's MAYHEM will compete for the coveted album of the year trophy at the Grammy Awards 2026 ceremony in February. Neither artiste has won the honour despite multiple nominations in the category.

Others nominated in the album field include Bad Bunny for the Spanish-language Debí Tirar Más Fotos, Justin Bieber for Swag and Sabrina Carpenter for Man's Best Friend. The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift, who has claimed album of the year an unmatched four times, was not in the running because it was released after this year's Grammy eligibility window closed.

Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican musician who will perform at next year's Super Bowl halftime show, received six nominations in total including for record, song and album of the year.

Two KPop songs landed in the field for song of the year, an award given to songwriters. They are Golden from the soundtrack of smash Netflix movie KPop Demon Hunters and APT. by Rose and Bruno Mars.

APT. also was nominated for record of the year, a trophy given to producers and performers. Others on the list included Gaga's Abracadabra, luther by Lamar and SZA, and DtMF by Bad Bunny.

In the best new artist category, Olivia Dean and KATSEYE will compete with Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and others. Thomas, an R&B and soul musician, also received an album of the year nomination for Mutt.

Grammy winners will be chosen by the roughly 15,000 voting members of the Recording Academy and announced at a red-carpet ceremony in Los Angeles on February 1.