NEW YORK (AP) — Taking center stage in the 2026 Grammy Awards nominations announced on Friday, Kendrick Lamar emerges as the frontrunner, much like us all.

The acclaimed rapper is competing for nine accolades at the February event, including record, song, and album of the year. This marks the third instance where he’s simultaneously vying for these major awards. His nominations also extend to categories like pop duo/group performance, melodic rap performance, rap song, and rap album. Impressively, he has secured two nods in the rap performance category alone.

Lamar, basking in the triumph of his hit album “GNX” from the previous year, boasts an impressive career tally of 22 Grammy wins out of 66 nominations. “GNX” stands as his fifth successive studio album to contend for album of the year, a feat unmatched by any other artist. Should he clinch the award, it would mark his first victory in this prestigious category. This honor would make it only the third rap album to secure the top award, following the footsteps of Outkast’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” in 2004 and Lauryn Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1999.

Trailing Lamar, Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff, and Canadian producer/songwriter Cirkut each garnered seven nominations.

For Lady Gaga, this year could be a milestone as she competes for song, record, and album of the year for the first time all at once. Her nominations also extend to categories such as pop solo performance, pop vocal album, dance pop recording, and traditional pop vocal album, adding to her chances of winning big.

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.

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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