{"id":97666,"date":"2025-10-01T20:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/97666\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T20:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:41:08","slug":"grammy-nominations-predictions-2026-kendrick-gaga-sabrina-carpenter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/97666\/","title":{"rendered":"Grammy Nominations Predictions 2026: Kendrick, Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLast year at this time, fans were excited that the 2025 Grammys<\/a> looked to be a real horse race, with super-divas Beyonc\u00e9, Billie Eilish<\/a>, Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan all destined to compete in the top categories. But what a difference a year makes: After such a blockbuster-packed slate, it\u2019s not surprising that the 2026 Grammys will not have that kind of competitive heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut although the months between September 2024 and August 2025 may have been light on the kind of superstar releases that seem preordained for Grammy sweeps, plenty of other contenders have emerged \u2014 and in such circumstances, obvious choices are in short supply.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf it\u2019s a clear and present front-runner you want, there\u2019s really only one: Kendrick Lamar<\/a>. That would be a more exciting development if he hadn\u2019t dominated the 2025 Grammys just seven months ago, with five wins, including song and record of the year, for his smash \u201cNot Like Us.\u201d If he does it again on Feb. 1, 2026, any headlines along those lines will have a serious tinge of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. And it\u2019s certainly possible: His most recent release cycle, which includes several singles and his \u201cGNX\u201d album (including the likely top song of the year, the SZA duet \u201cLuther\u201d), straddles two eligibility periods. Grammy voters might be tempted to spread the love and give top awards to somebody else this time, just to mix it up \u2014 except he\u2019s so far ahead, it\u2019s hard to assess who the nearest dark horse might be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tGrammy followers do love redemption stories, so even though it might be considered a bit of a yawn for Lamar to dominate across categories yet again, there is still one \u201che\u2019s overdue\u201d narrative in play. He has never won album of the year, despite having had four of his previous albums nominated (and he picked up an album of the year nomination as a featured star of the \u201cBlack Panther\u201d soundtrack and a Beyonc\u00e9 record). In any case, a Lamar triumph will still come as good news to most Grammy veterans \u2014 they arguably have a lot of catching up to do on hip-hop, and a Lamar sweep would help fill that bucket.<\/p>\n

\n\tApart from Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter<\/a> slipped in a strong album right under the Aug. 30 eligibility wire, \u201cMan\u2019s Best Friend,\u201d to join her \u201cManchild\u201d single in putting some heat into those races. Otherwise, pop\u2019s greatest luminaries were mostly off-cycle. Swift and Bey released nothing during the eligibility period. Eilish will be eligible for \u201cWildflower,\u201d a late-breaking single from a previously eligible album. Roan released two non-album singles (or at least non-album-for-now), \u201cThe Giver\u201d and \u201cThe Subway\u201d; either one could\u2019ve been a contender, but it\u2019s the latter being submitted in top categories to avoid vote-splitting.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut there are some strong contenders from superstar artists who haven\u2019t always been Academy pets in recent years. Lady Gaga<\/a> is foremost among them, with the extremely well-reviewed \u201cMayhem\u201d likely to go places that \u201cChromatica\u201d (which was released at the height of the pandemic) did not. Could similarly strong kudos for her U.S. tour push her to a surprise victory in a top division time? That\u2019s a vindication story that would really make millions of viewers happy. As for some of the other possible nominations, it will be fascinating to see what kind of love Justin Bieber\u2019s low-key \u201cSwag\u201d era gets from voters, whether Latin music is allowed back into the big house with major noms and whether Alex Warren can pick up some Grammy gold to go along with his multiplatinum single, \u201cOrdinary.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYet again, Variety is forecasting the likely nominees in the Grammys\u2019 top four all-genre categories. Barring any ties, there will be eight artists or tracks nominated in each of these four divisions (versus five for all the down-ballot categories). In each case, we more than doubled our possible luck by supplementing the eight picks with an additional 10 possibilities, to cover a wide range of outcomes. Keep in mind that the Grammys are the least predictable of all the major entertainment awards, with usually at least one or two picks in each major category that no one saw coming. Set your calendars for when the nominations are announced on Nov. 7 to see how we fared.<\/p>\n

\n\tALBUM OF THE YEAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0 Eight leading contenders, listed alphabetically:<\/p>\n