On Friday, Nov. 7th, news of one of the most anticipated events of the year was announced: the 2026 GRAMMY Nominees List. The GRAMMYs are set to take place on Sunday, Feb. 1st, 2026, live at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be broadcasted live on CBS and on demand on Paramount+.
With this exciting announcement, here are our top 10 anticipated category winner predictions.
#1: Best Alternative Music Album
Nominees:
- SABLE, fABLE
Bon Iver - Songs Of A Lost World
The Cure - DON’T TAP THE GLASS
Tyler, The Creator - moisturizer
Wet Leg - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
Hayley Williams
Anticipated Winner: Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, The Creator, a “goat” in the music industry, has extreme potential to dominate this category, as fans (alongside us) are anticipating! Don’t Tap The Glass amassed about 94 million streams on Spotify in its first week out, earning it a place of No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in its first week, and charting at No. 1 in several other countries. All eyes are on Tyler this year as he also has five other nominations.
#2: Best Rap Album
Nominees:
- Let God Sort Em Out
Clipse, Pusha T & Malice - GLORIOUS
GloRilla - God Does Like Ugly
JID - GNX
Kendrick Lamar - CHROMAKOPIA
Tyler, The Creator
Anticipated Winner: Kendrick Lamar
Receiving over 3 billion streams in total, Kendrick Lamar is a superstar when it comes to GRAMMY nominations, earning nine nominations this year alone. His lifetime total, though? 66 nominations with 22 wins! After the incredible Super Bowl performance he gave earlier this year, it’s no wonder that fans are rooting for Lamar to go home with another (few) GRAMMYs.
#3: Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (includes Film and TV)
Nominees:
- How To Train Your Dragon
John Powell, composer - Severance: Season 2
Theodore Shapiro, composer - Sinners
Ludwig Göransson, composer - Wicked
John Powell & Stephen Schwartz, composers - The Wild Robot
Kris Bowers, composer
Anticipated Winner: Sinners
Directed by infamous filmmaker Ryan Coogler, with music by Ludwig Göransson, this movie has grossed over $365.7 million worldwide, making $100 million in only nine days of its release in theaters. This ranks it as the fifth highest-grossing horror movie of all time at the World Box Office with a 97% critic review score. The soundtrack’s hit singles “I Lied To You,” “Pale, Pale Moon,” and “Last Time (I Seen The Sun)” alone have gathered over millions of streams worldwide.
#4: Best New Artist
Nominees:
Anticipated Winner: KATSEYE
Earning their very first GRAMMY nomination, global girl group KATSEYE (under famous Korean label, HYBE Entertainment, home of artists BTS and many others) has grabbed the world’s attention. They debuted at #92 on the Billboard Hot 100, ranked #39 on the Billboard Global, sold out our their first North American tour in under 30 minutes, and their hit single “Gnarly” surpassed 330 million streams on Spotify.
#5: Song of the Year
Nominees:
- “Abracadabra“
Lady Gaga, Henry Walter & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga) - “Anxiety“
Jaylah Hickmon, songwriter (Doechii) - “APT.”
Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas & Henry Walter, songwriters (ROSÉ, Bruno Mars) - “DtMF”
Marco Daniel Borrero, Scott Dittrich, Benjamin Falik, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Hugo René Sención Sanabria, Tyler Thomas Spry & Roberto José Rosado Torres, songwriters (Bad Bunny) - “Golden [From KPop Demon Hunters]”
EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X:EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI) - “luther”
Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Ink, Kendrick Lamar, Solána Rowe, Mark Anthony Spears & Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar with SZA) - “Manchild“
Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter) - “WILDFLOWER”
Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Anticipated Winner: “Golden”
Written by singer-songwriter EJAE, “Golden” has gathered 5.5 billion streams on Spotify alone compared to the rest of the movie’s incredible soundtrack. The song rides on the massive success of the Netflix original movie KPop Demon Hunters, which not only became the most watched animated film on Netflix, but also amassed over $18 million in the weekend-long theatrical singalong in theaters. It earned Netflix its first ever box office No. 1, and even charted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks.
#6: Best Pop Solo Performance
Nominees:
- “DAISIES”
Justin Bieber - “Manchild”
Sabrina Carpenter - “Disease”
Lady Gaga - “The Subway”
Chappell Roan - “Messy”
Lola Young
Anticipated Winner: Lola Young
Promising British singer Lola Young’s “Messy” has reached an astonishing number of 950 million streams on Spotify, a majority of them coming from fans’ discoveries on TikTok. The song also charted at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the US Adult Pop Airplay, #1 on both the Billboard Pop Airplay and Billboard Rock & Alternative Airplay, and #2 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
#7: Best Metal Performance
Nominees:
- “Night Terror”
Dream Theater - “Lachryma“
Ghost - “Emergence”
Sleep Token - “Soft Spine”
Spiritbox - “BIRDS”
Turnstile
Anticipated Winner(s): Sleep Token or Spiritbox
Sleep Token’s “Emergence,” off of their album Even In Arcadia, received over 118 million streams on Spotify, debuting at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the UK Rock & Metal Chart.
Spiritbox is no stranger to excellence as this is their third time being nominated for a GRAMMY award, with songs “Cellar Door” and “Jaded” also having been in the Best Metal Performance category in years past. “Soft Spine,” off of the infamous Tsunami Sea album (debuting at #1 on Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums, #2 on Current Rock Albums, and #26 on the Billboard 200) earned over 20 million streams on Spotify.
#8: Best Rock Song
Nominees:
- “As Alive As You Need Me To Be”
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails) - “Caramel”
Vessel1 & Vessel2, songwriters (Sleep Token) - “Glum“
Daniel James & Hayley Williams, songwriters (Hayley Williams) - “NEVER ENOUGH”
Daniel Fang, Franz Lyons, Pat McCrory, Meg Mills & Brendan Yates, songwriters (Turnstile) - “Zombie”
Dominic Harrison & Matt Schwartz, songwriters (YUNGBLUD)
Anticipated Winner: Sleep Token
Sleep Token is a name everyone is becoming super familiar with. Emerging out of the UK, the band’s popularity has surpassed extensive levels of success. They sold out the entirety of their US Even In Arcadia tour (grossing around $1.4 million per show). “Caramel” itself earned over 3.1 billion streams on Spotify, placed at #34 on Billboard Hot 100, landed at #1 on the UK Rock & Metal Chart, charted at #6 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, and reached #46 on the Billboard Global 200.
#9: Best Música Urbana Album
Nominees:
- DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
Bad Bunny - Mixteip
J Balvin - FERXXO VOL X: Sagrado
Feid - NAIKI
Nicki Nicole - EUB DELUXE
Trueno - SINFÓNICO — En Vivo
Yandel
Anticipated Winner: Bad Bunny
Being the first Hispanic artist ever to be nominated in all three categories of Record, Song, and Album of the Year, Bad Bunny is paving the way for future all-Spanish-language album and song nominees. DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS won the hearts of millions worldwide — enough to solidify Benito’s spot as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performer. The album earned well over 50 million streams on Spotify. In addition, it charted at No. 1 in multiple countries, and earned an amazing streak of No. 1 spots on the following charts: Billboard 200, Billboard Independent Albums, Billboard Top Latin Albums, and Billboard Latin Rhythm Albums.
#10: Best R&B Album
Nominees:
Anticipated Winner: Leon Thomas
You may recognize this actor-turned-singer from the hit Nickelodeon show Victorious, but Leon Thomas is known in the hearts of many as a sensual and impressive R&B singer-songwriter. His album MUTT gained over 316 million streams on Spotify and placed at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, #35 on Billboard 200, and #30 on UK R&B Albums. Thomas has rightfully earned six nominations for this year’s award show, and will most likely continue to win more and more awards. For him, this is just the beginning!
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