This February will mark the 67th annual Grammy Awards. They will air on February 1st from 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. EST on CBS, Paramount+, YouTube, and several other streaming platforms. Nominations for the Awards were announced just recently.
For the 2026 Grammy Awards, only music released between August 31, 2024 and August 30, 2025 are eligible for an award.
What are the Grammy Awards?
The Grammy Awards are a prestigious annual music award ceremony held to honor the exceptional achievements in the music industry. A Grammy is one of the four major entertainment awards: the Emmy (television), the Grammy (music), the Oscar (film), and the Tony (theater), collectively known as the EGOT.
Category Placement Process
Because albums often blend between different genres, a screening committee of over 350 industry professionals including journalists, radio DJs, label executives, and music creators meets to decide what category each submission belongs in. According to the Grammy Award rules, an album must be at least 51% of a given genre to be eligible for a nomination in that category.
How does the voting process work?
Grammy nominations and winners are decided by members of the Recording Academy. However, who exactly is on this jury of people as well as how the voting process works is undisclosed. In 1999, journalist Robert Hillburn was able to get an unnamed member of the committee to speak, saying,
“The goal in each category is to take the 20 nominations that the members send forth and get the list down to a consensus of the seven or eight that we feel are the [best]. When we get that consensus, we stop. Each member of the committee then fills out a ballot, which isn’t tabulated that day. So when we leave the room, no one — including Mike Greene [former president of the Recording Academy] — knows the results. The only ones who know are the accountants when they tabulate it later” (LA Times).
This was the first and only time a member of the committee spoke about the process.
What is the origin of the Grammy Awards?
The first Grammy Awards were held in 1959 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) to create a music equivalent for the already-existing Emmy and Oscar Awards. The award was originally planned to be called the “Gramophone Awards” because of the gramophone trophy that winners would receive. However, the name was shortened to the “Grammy Award” after a naming contest.
What are the Grammy Award categories?
For the upcoming 2026 Grammy Awards, there will be a total of 96 award categories. In addition, two new categories are being added this year: Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover. Out of all the Grammy Award categories, the “big four” according to the Grammy website, are Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. These awards, open to all genres, are the most prestigious of the Grammy Award categories.
This Year’s ‘Big Four’ Nominations:
Record Of The Year
- DtMF – Bad Bunny
- Manchild – Sabrina Carpenter
- Anxiety – Doechii
- WILDFLOWER – Billie Eilish
- Abracadabra – Lady Gaga
- Luther – Kendrick Lamar With SZA
- The Subway – Chappell Roan
- APT. – ROSÉ, Bruno Mars
Album Of The Year
- DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS – Bad Bunny
- SWAG – Justin Bieber
- Man’s Best Friend – Sabrina Carpenter
- Let God Sort Em Out – Clipse, Pusha T & Malice
- MAYHEM – Lady Gaga
- GNX – Kendrick Lamar
- MUTT – Leon Thomas
- CHROMAKOPIA – Tyler, The Creator
Song Of The Year
- Abracadabra – Lady Gaga & collaborators
- Anxiety – Jaylah Hickmon (Doechii)
- APT – ROSÉ, Bruno Mars, & collaborators
- DtMF – Bad Bunny & collaborators
- Golden — From KPop Demon Hunters – (HUNTR/X:EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)
- Luther – Kendrick Lamar With SZA & collaborators
- Manchild – Sabrina Carpenter & collaborators
- WILDFLOWER – Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell)
Best New Artist
- Olivia Dean
- KATSEYE
- The Marias
- Addison Rae
- sombr
- Leon Thomas
- Alex Warren
- Lola Young
The “Best New Artist” category has long been controversial because the word “new” is unclear. Officially, the award is meant for artists that “achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and impacted the musical landscape during the year’s eligibility period.” In practice, though, this often includes artists who have been releasing music for a while. For example, The Marias formed back in 2016, yet they became popular in 2024 with their song “No One Noticed.”
Beyond the Awards
In addition to the awards given out, the Grammy Awards are renowned for their numerous musical performances. Ms. Grassia, who often enjoys watching award shows like the Grammys, emphasizes this, explaining that “The Grammys, to me, should always be a really big concert. I almost feel like there should be less awards given out, just focus on sharing some great music and putting on great performances.”
Furthermore, the iconic red carpet walks are always something to look forward to about the Grammys. There are no rules to what artists can wear to the Grammys; looks are often viewed as performance art, and artists often collaborate with designers to create interesting pieces. “They always take a lot of risks, which are some of my favorite kinds of red carpet looks, whenever I’m watching one of these shows,” says Ms. Grassia.
Each year, the Grammys bring viewers together through performance, creativity, and celebration of musical excellence and artistic expression in the music industry. Be sure to watch them this February!
