The 68th annual Grammy Awards were presented just nine days ago, so how can we already be thinking ahead to next year’s awards? Well, even though many execs who flew out to L.A. for the Grammys haven’t even filed their expense reports yet, we’re nearly halfway through the eligibility year for the 69th annual Grammy Awards – Aug. 31, 2025 through Aug. 30, 2026.
Last year at this point, four of the eight albums that were later nominated for album of the year had been released – Leon Thomas’ MUTT, Tyler, the Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA, Kendrick Lamar’s GNX and the eventual winner, Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos. A fifth eventual nominee, Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM, was just weeks away from its March 7 release. The other three nominated albums were both released during the summer: Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out and Justin Bieber’s Swag (both released on July 11) and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend (on Aug. 29, just one day before the close of the eligibility year).
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The 2026 Grammy telecast is already shaping up be a momentous one in Grammy history. As was first announced in October 2024, the show will be simulcast on ABC, Hulu and Disney+, marking the first time the show hasn’t aired on CBS since the second live telecast in 1972 (which, like the first, aired on ABC). And, as was first announced on Jan. 13, the show will have a new host for the first time since Trevor Noah first stepped into the role in 2021.
Here are early front-runners for album of the year and record of the year at the 69th annual Grammy Awards. They are listed in alphabetical order, as they will be on the Grammy nominations list this fall. (Last year, nominations were announced on Nov. 7.) They are followed by shortlists of other possibilities, also listed in alphabetical order.
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Album of the Year
Best bets
Brandi Carlile, Returning to Myself: This would be Carlile’s third solo studio album in a row to be nominated in this category, following By the Way, I Forgive You and In These Silent Days. Carlile produced this album, her eighth solo studio set, alongside Andrew Watt, Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon. Billboard 200 peak: No. 7.
Olivia Dean, The Art of Loving: This is the second studio album by the British singer who won best new artist on Feb. 1. Dean produced it alongside various producers including Julian Bunetta, Matt Hales, Leon Michels and John Ryan. Billboard 200 peak: No. 3.
Lana Del Rey, Stove:Release date TBD. This would be Del Rey’s third album to be nominated in this category, following Norman F—king Rockwell! and Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Jack Antonoff, Drew Erickson and Luke Laird produced the album, which is Del Rey’s 10th studio set.
Noah Kahan, The Great Divide: Release date: April 24. This would be Kahan’s first nomination in this category. He was up for best new artist at the 2024 ceremony. Gabe Simon and Aaron Dessner produced the album. If both this and Carlile’s album are nominated, Dessner could have two nominations in this category.
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Bruno Mars, The Romantic: Release date: Feb. 27. This would be Mars’ third album to be nominated in this category, following his 2010 debut, Doo-Wops and Hooligans, and his 2016 album 24K Magic, which won. (An Evening With Silk Sonic, his album with Anderson .Paak, very likely would have received a nod in 2023 had the pair not “gracefully, humbly… sexually” declined to submit it for consideration.) Mars and D’Mile produced the album, which is Mars’ fourth solo studio set.
Rosalía, LUX: Last year, the Recording Academy invited members of the Latin Recording Academy to join its ranks and nearly 1,000 took them up on the offer. Their votes helped Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos win album of the year and Buena Vista Social Club win best musical theater album. Given that, it’s hard to imagine them not renewing their Recording Academy memberships. Rosalía’s album has gotten rapturous reviews. The Spanish singer would become the first female artist to land an album of the year nod with a Spanish-language album. In 2020, Rosalía became the first artist who records in Spanish to land a best new artist nod. Rosalía is nominated for international artist of the year at the BRIT Awards on Feb. 28, where she is set to perform. Rosalía produced the album, her fourth studio set, alongside various producers, including Pharrell Williams and Nija Charles. Billboard 200 peak: No. 4.
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Harry Styles, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally: Release Date: March 6. This would be Styles’s second studio album in a row to be nominated, following Harry’s House, which won. Kid Harpoon, who was one of the producers of that album, also produced this set, which is Styles’ fourth solo studio album.
Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl: This would be Swift’s eighth nomination in this category, which is more than anyone else in Grammy history for strictly solo albums. That needs a little explanation: Frank Sinatra received eight nominations, but one was for a collab with Antonio Carlos Jobim. Paul McCartney had nine nominations and George Harrison had eight, but those total combine Beatles and post-Beatles albums. Swift produced the album, her 12th studio set, with Max Martin and Shellback. Swift’s last four regular studio albums – Folklore, Evermore, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department – were nominated in this category. If Showgirl also makes it, she’ll become just the second artist in Grammy history (following Kendrick Lamar) to be nominated with five consecutive studio albums. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (12 weeks).
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Other possibilities
Zach Bryan, With Heaven on Top; Cardi B, Am I the Drama?, J. Cole, The Fall-Off; Geese, Getting Killed; Ella Langley, Dandelion (April 10), RAYE, This Music May Contain Hope (March 27); Tame Impala, Deadbeat; Lola Young, I’m Only F—ing Myself
Record of the Year
Best bets
Olivia Dean, “Man I Need”: This would be Dean’s first nomination in this category. She performed an abridged version of the stylish song in the best new artist medley on this year’s Grammys. Hot 100 peak so far: No. 2.
Noah Kahan, “The Great Divide”: This would be Kahan’s first nomination in this category. The song was featured in an extended MasterCard ad on this year’s Grammy telecast. Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” which was featured in a similar ad on the 2025 Grammy telecast, landed a record of the year nod this year. Hot 100 peak so far: No. 6.
Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”: This would be Langley’s first nomination in this category, and the first for a core country artist performing a country record since Lady Antebellum won for “Need You Now” in 2011. Taylor Swift already had one foot out the door on her transition to pop when “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” was nominated at the 2013 ceremony. Maren Morris’ collab with Zedd and Grey on “The Middle,” nominated at the 2019 ceremony, was marketed as a pop record. Lil Nas X’s collab with Billy Ray Cyrus on “Old Town Road,” a nominee at the 2020 ceremony, was a hip-hop/country fusion. Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em,” a nominee at the 2025 ceremony, was a country foray by a pop superstar. Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week so far).
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Bruno Mars, “I Just Might”: This would be Mars’ eighth nomination in this category as an artist. In addition, he was nominated at the 2011 ceremony as a producer of Cee Lo Green’s “F—k You.” Only Beyoncé has had more nominations in this category as an artist (nine). Mars performed “I Just Might” on this year’s Grammys. He has performed just-released songs that went on to be record and/or song of the year nominees the following year four times – “Grenade,” “Locked Out of Heaven,” “That’s What I Like” and the Silk Sonic smash “Leave the Door Open.” Just as Grammy voters love Mars, so too do Grammy telecast producers, who keep giving him priceless promotional opportunities. Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (two weeks so far).
RAYE, “Where Is My Husband!”: This would be RAYE’s first nomination in this category. RAYE has received four Grammy nods, including one for best new artist at the 2025 ceremony. This irresistible record is a hoot. Deep trivia: More than six decades ago, there was a record of the year nominee about wives, Jack Jones’ suave “Wives and Lovers.” Unfortunately, the song is marred by a chauvinistic lyric that hasn’t aged well. Hot 100 peak so far: No. 13.
Rosalia featuring Yahritza y Su Esencia, “La Perla”: This would be Rosalia’s first nomination in this category. This would be the second Spanish-language song in as many years to be nominated in this category, following Bad Bunny’s “DtMF.” Hot 100 peak so far: No. 82.
Harry Styles, “Aperture”: This would be Styles’ second nomination in this category, following “As It Was” at the 2023 ceremony. A key line in the song is “we belong together,” which was the title of a Mariah Carey smash that was nominated in this category at the 2006 ceremony. Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week so far).
Taylor Swift, “The Fate of Ophelia”: This would be Swift’s seventh nod in this category – a category she has yet to win. (Though her record four album of the year wins probably help ease the sting.) Hot 100 peak so far: No. 1 (10 weeks).
Other possibilities
Brandi Carlile, “Church & State”; Sabrina Carpenter, “Tears”; Lana Del Rey, “White Feather-Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”; Sienna Spiro, “Die on This Hill”; Tame Impala, “Dracula”
