The 8 Singles Most Likely to Receive Grammy Nods for Record of the Year

Previous record of the year nods: 0

Hot 100 peak: No. 6

Notes: Abrams teamed with Aaron Dessner and Julian Bunetta to produce this single, which became her first top 10 hit on the Hot 100. Bunetta was nominated in this category at the ceremony earlier this year for producing Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.” This would be Abrams’ second nod in a Big Four category after her best new artist nomination two years ago.

“That’s So True” is also vying for a nod for best pop solo performance.

Previous record of the year nods: 1

Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week)

Notes: Carpenter, who was nominated for this award at this year’s ceremony with “Espresso,” could return to the finals with this amusing lead single from Man’s Best Friend. She teamed with Jack Antonoff to produce the smash, which became her second No. 1 on the Hot 100. This would be Antonoff’s fourth nod in this category, following fun.’s “We Are Young” (featuring Janelle Monáe) and Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” and “Fortnight” (the latter, featuring Post Malone).

“Manchild” is also vying for a nod for best pop solo performance, a category in which Carpenter won earlier this year for “Espresso.” If she wins again in February, she’ll be first person to win in this category two years running since Adele in 2012-13 with “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire to the Rain (Live).”

Previous record of the year nods: 0

Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (eight weeks)

Notes: In addition to its potential role as a K-pop history-maker, this is vying to become the first song by an animated act to receive a record of the year nod since The Chipmunks’ “The Chipmunk Song,” which was nominated at the first Grammy ceremony in 1959.

“Golden” is also vying for a nod for best pop duo/group performance.

Previous record of the year nods: 3

Hot 100 peak: No. 13

Notes: This would be Gaga’s fourth nomination in this category, following “Poker Face,” “Shallow” (with Bradley Cooper) and “I Get a Kick Out of You” (with Tony Bennett). Gaga produced the single with Cirkut (who was nominated in this category at the ceremony earlier this year for co-producing Charli xcx’s “360”) and Andrew Watt (nominated four years ago for co-producing the Justin Bieber smash “Peaches,” featuring Daniel Caesar and GIVĒON).

“Abracadabra” is also vying for a nod for best dance pop recording.

Previous record of the year nods: four for Lamar; three for SZA

Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (13 weeks)

Notes: As noted above, Lamar and SZA are vying to become the first occasional duet partners to receive two record of the year nominations. They were nominated seven years ago for “All the Stars.”

This would be Lamar’s fifth nod in this category, which would establish a new record for a hip-hop artist. He’s currently tied with Jay-Z with four nods each in the category. Lamar’s previous record of the year nods, in addition to “All the Stars,” are for “Humble.” in 2018, “The Heart Part 5” in 2023 and “Not Like Us” in 2025, which won.

If this collab wins, Lamar would become the fourth artist to win back-to-back awards in this category, following Roberta Flack (“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1973 and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” in 1974), U2 (“Beautiful Day” in 2001 and “Walk On” in 2002) and Billie Eilish (“Bad Guy” in 2020 and “Everything I Wanted” in 2021).

This would be SZA’s fourth record of the year nod. Her previous nods, in addition to “All the Stars,” are for “Kiss Me More” (collab with Doja Cat) in 2022 and “Kill Bill” in 2024.

The people in Lamar’s camp were savvy in not also entering his solo smash “Squabble Up.” Both could have been nominated, since one is solo and one is a collab, but that would have split Lamar’s votes in the final round.

“Luther” contains a sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 rendition of “If This World Were Mine,” which was originally performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. So, why is “Luther” likely to receive a record of the year nod, when I said earlier that voters sometimes dock records (such as Doechii’s “Anxiety”) that lean heavily on samples? It helps that “If This World Were Mine” is an older sample and is much less familiar to modern audiences than the Gotye smash.

If you’re wondering how many record of the year nominations Vandross, the namesake of “Luther,” received, the correct answer, sadly, is none. (He won song of the year in 2004 for “Dance With My Father,” a co-write with Richard Marx.)

“Luther” is also vying for a nod for best melodic rap performance, a category in which Lamar has won twice – for “These Walls” (featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat) in 2016 and “Royalty” (featuring Rihanna) in 2018.

Previous record of the year nods: 1

Hot 100 peak: No. 3

Notes: Roan was nominated in this category at the ceremony earlier this year for “Good Luck, Babe!” and performed “Pink Pony Club” on the telecast, where she won best new artist. Dan Nigro produced this single. It would be his fourth nod in this category in the past five years, following “Good Luck, Babe!” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “driver’s license” and “vampire.”

“The Subway” is also vying for a nod for best pop solo performance. Roan was nominated in the category at the ceremony earlier this year for “Good Luck, Babe!”

Previous record of the year nods: 0 for ROSE; six for Mars

Hot 100 peak: No. 3

Notes: This would be Mars’ seventh record of the year nod, following “Nothin’ on You” (collab with B.o.B) in 2011, “Grenade” in 2012, “Locked Out of Heaven” in 2014, “Uptown Funk!” (collab with Mark Ronson) in 2016, “24K Magic” in 2018, and “Leave the Door Open” (collab with Anderson .Paak as Silk Sonic) in 2022.

“Uptown Funk!,” “24K Magic” and “Leave the Door Open” all won this award. If “APT.” also wins, Mars would become the first artist to win four times in the history of the category. He’s currently tied with Paul Simon with three wins each. (Simon won for “Mrs. Robinson” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” both with Simon & Garfunkel, and for his solo hit, “Graceland.”) But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Mars co-produced “APT.” with Cirkut, Omer Fedi and Rogét Chahayed, all of whom are also past nominees in this category.

If both “Luther” and “APT.” are nominated, this will be the first time in four years that two or more collaborations by artists who usually record solo have been nominated for record of the year in the same year.

“APT.” is also vying for a nomination for best pop duo/group performance. Mars won in that category earlier this year with “Die With a Smile,” his smash duet with Lady Gaga. He also won in 2016 with “Uptown Funk!” with Ronson.

Previous record of the year nods: 0

Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (10 weeks)

Notes: This power ballad was a global smash, also topping the Official U.K. Singles Chart for 13 weeks and the Billboard Global 200 for 10. Its extra-“Ordinary” success may be capped off by a nomination in this category. Co-writer Adam Yaron produced Warren’s single.

“Ordinary” was Billboard’s official Song of the Summer. Twenty past Song of the Summer champs went on to receive Grammy nods for record of the year. The very first Song of the Summer, Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volaré),” was also the very first Grammy winner for record (and song) of the year. Strangely, none of the next 19 Song of the Summer champs to land record of the year nods – from Carpenters’ “(They Long to Be) Close to You” in 1971 to Harry Styles’ “As It Was” in 2023 – actually won the award. Will “Ordinary” break the previously unknown Song of the Summer Curse? Stay tuned.

(To be clear, there is no Song of the Summer Curse. But it’s odd that so many Song of the Summer champs have been nominated for record of the year and only one has won. Go figure.)

“Ordinary” is also vying for a nod for best pop solo performance.