Every year since May 4, 1959 to February 1, 2026, the music industry awards artists, bands, podcasts, audiobooks, musicals, and other forms of audible sound and with trophies in specific genres called Grammys. These golden titles are awarded at the yearly award show called, fittingly enough, The Grammys. Each nominee is told in advance if they have been nominated for one of these 24k gold, hand-cast gramophone trophies, and to even get nominated is an honor in itself.
There are many categories a songwriter and/or a singer can get nominated for; however, most people tune into the Grammys for four specific categories. These categories are; Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. These categories give nominated artists from any genre a chance to win a huge named award.
Everyone listens to music, whether that be country, pop, rap, or other niche genres. Songs from our favorite artists help motivate and inspire us. This year’s winner for Song of the Year was Billie Eilish, with her song “Wildflower”. With her, these artists were also nominated for the award: Lady Gaga (“Abracadabra”), Doechii (“Anxiety”), Rosé & Bruno Mars (“APT”), Bad Bunny (“DtMF”), Hunter/x (“Golden”), Kendrick Lamar feat. SZA (“Luther”), and Sabrina Carpenter (“Manchild”).
Generation after generation, new artists pop up and take the global music industry by storm, whether that be introducing a new mix of genres or revitalizing a classic one. The Best New Artist award shows the upcoming generations’ new “trending” artists and what they do right to keep the music industry in an always-young atmosphere. The winner for 2026’s Best New Artist was none other than the British jazz-pop artist, Olivia Dean. Other nominees for the category were Katseye, The Marias, Addison Rae, Sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, and Lola Young.
Many may think that the Record of the Year category is based on the physical vinyl records people can buy. However, the meaning behind the category looks at the song’s achievements and honors the performing artist, producer, recording engineer, and mixer. The winner of this category was Kendrick Lamar (ft. SZA) with their song “Luther”. Other nominees include: Bad Bunny (“DtMF”), Sabrina Carpenter (“Manchild”), Doechii (“Anxiety”), Billie Eilish (“Wildflower”), Lady Gaga (“Abracadabra”), Chappell Roan (“The Subway”), and Rosé & Bruno Mars (“APT”).
Nominated a total of sixteen times and having won six Grammys as of 2026, Bad Bunny, with his album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos”, won Album of the Year at the 2026 Grammys. Along with Bad Bunny, these artists were also nominated for album of the year: Sabrina Carpenter (“Man’s Best Friend”), Lady Gaga (“Mayhem”), Leon Thomas (“Mutt”), Justin Bieber (“Swag”), Clipse (“Let God Sort ‘Em Out”), Kendrick Lamar (“GNX”), and Tyler, the Creator (“Chromakopia”). Surprisingly enough, Bad Bunny is the first Latin-American artist ever to win Album of the Year at the Grammys.
