The Winner Takes it All

The 2026 Grammy Awards Released Their Nominations

Photo from Heute.at / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

On Friday, Nov. 7, The Grammys released their nominations for the 2026 Grammys. After facing backlash from last year's event, fans hoped this year’s panel would recognize smaller artists. However, almost all the songs nominated for Song of the Year were produced by a popular artist or participated in a social media trend. 

The two most applied for categories are Best New Artist and Song of the Year, both of which grew from last year. Best New Artist had 337 applications, which is 14 more than the 323 of 2025. Song of the year saw 1,015 applicants, topping last year's 978. 

Best New Artist recognizes an artist who has not won a Grammy and recently gained popularity.  Noteworthy nominees include Olivia Dean, who became popular with her song “Man I Need,” Alex Warren who sang “Ordinary,” Lola Tung with her song “Messy” and Sombr, who released his first studio album this year. 

Song of the Year is a coveted award that acknowledges the nominated songs’ lyrical composition, and is awarded to the songwriter. “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Golden” from Sony Animation's “K-Pop Demon Hunters” and “Wildflower” by Billie Eilish are some of the top nominees.