State Champ Radio Grammys
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A Grammy Celebration of Latin Music, a two-hour special “highlighting Latin music’s lasting impact and widespread influence in the United States,” is set to air Sunday, Dec. 28 (8-10 p.m. ET/PT) on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
NCIS actor and producer Wilmer Valderrama and singer/songwriter, actress and producer Roselyn Sánchez will co-host the show, which joins the short list of genre-specific Grammy-branded specials. A Grammy Salute to Gospel Music aired in 2006, followed by A Grammy Salute to the Sounds of Change in 2021, which focused on socially conscious music, and A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop in 2023.
The special features performances by a mix of Latin and pop stars, including Ángela Aguilar, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Gloria Estefan, Luis Fonsi, Maren Morris, Aymée Nuviola, Laura Pausini, Prince Royce and Jon Secada. The show will also feature three collaborations — Carín León and Nuno Bettencourt, who recently released “We Made It Look Easy/Hicimos Que Pareciera Facil”; Robin Thicke and Orianthi; and The Warning with Billy Idol and Steve Stevens. The show will also feature a performance by the cast of Broadway’s Buena Vista Social Club, which received 10 Tony nominations this year (winning four) and is currently nominated for a Grammy for best musical show album.
The show will feature interviews with Daddy Yankee, Emilio Estefan, John Leguizamo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Luis Miranda, Rita Moreno, Carlos Santana and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. Luis Miranda, who is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s father, is a Puerto Rican political consultant, activist and philanthropist. In 1977, Moreno, now 93, became the first Latin performer to win an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). In 2000, Santana’s band of the same name tied Michael Jackson’s record for the biggest one-night sweep of the Grammy Awards.
The special taped on Oct. 19 at the FiftyFive Creative Hub TV studio complex in Doral, Florida, near Miami. Former MTV executive José Tillán and Mason are executive producers. The POPGarage and GRAMMY Studios are producing.
The special will air a little more than a month before CBS airs its final Grammy Awards telecast before the Grammys move to Disney in 2027. Bad Bunny is one of the top contenders for album of the year at the Feb. 1 ceremony. He is also nominated for record and song of the year. The Marias, which perform songs in both English and Spanish, are nominated for best new artist.
CBS aired the Latin Grammys from 2000-2004, but the show moved to Univision starting in 2005.
Most Grammy-branded specials have been salutes to one artist, including The Beach Boys, Cyndi Lauper, the Bee Gees, The Beatles, Whitney Houston, Earth, Wind & Fire, Elton John, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Prince.
Paramount+ Premium plan subscribers will have access to stream A Grammy Celebration of Latin Music live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service, as well as on-demand. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will not have the option to stream live, but will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs.
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Elton John & Bernie Taupin’s current Grammy nomination (best song written for visual media for “Never Too Late”) is their first as a songwriting team in 54 years. They share the nod with Brandi Carlile and Andrew Watt. The song, which was written for the documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year.
It’s the first time John and Taupin have been nominated for a Grammy as a team since their music for the British-French teen romance Friends (no relation to the later smash TV series) was nominated for best original score written for a motion picture or a television special at the 1972 ceremony. (It lost to Isaac Hayes’ blockbuster Shaft soundtrack).
Amazingly, no John-Taupin collab has ever been nominated for song of the year. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” was nominated for record of the year at the 1975 ceremony, but not song of the year. Their Oscar-winning “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman failed to even land a nod for best song written for visual media.
Both John and Taupin have been nominated for songwriting collabs with other partners. John received four nominations for the 1995 ceremony for co-writing songs for The Lion King with Tim Rice. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “Circle of Life” were nominated for both song of the year and best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television. (The songs lost to Bruce Springsteen’s haunting “Streets of Philadelphia” from Jonathan Demme’s AIDS drama Philadelphia, an outcome that John, a longtime AIDS activist, was probably more than OK with.) John and Rice won best musical show album in 2001 for composing the score for Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida.
Taupin received a best country song nod for the 2003 ceremony for co-writing “Mendocino County Line” with Matt Serletic. Willie Nelson recorded the song with Lee Ann Womack for his 50th studio album, The Great Divide.
John broke through in 1970, but didn’t win his first Grammy until 1987, for his featured role on Dionne & Friends’ “That’s What Friends Are For.” He won his first Grammy for one of his own records in 1992 when “Basque” won best instrumental composition. He composed the instrumental for flute player James Galway.
John has won five Grammys, far fewer than you might imagine for an artist of his stature. Taupin has yet to win one. “I’ve never been a favorite of the Grammys, I have to say,” John told writer Chris Willman in a current cover story for Variety. “It’s been very rare that I’ve won anything.”
John’s husband, David Furnish, added: “Elton and Bernie have never won a Grammy — can you believe that? — as a pair of songwriters.”
John received a Grammy Legend Award in 2000 but has yet to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy. Taupin has yet to receive a Trustees Award (the equivalent award for non-performers). They have fared better in other prestigious honors programs. They received the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 2013, and are the reigning recipients of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
How does John and Taupin’s tepid Grammy showing compare with other legendary songwriting teams? Let’s start with the most fabled songwriting collaboration of them all – John Lennon and Paul McCartney. They received 10 Grammy nods in songwriting or composing categories.
Let’s also look at the nine collaborations that have received the Johnny Mercer Award from the SHOF. All but one has received at least one Grammy nod as a team. That one is the human hit factory known as Holland/Dozier/Holland, who collaborated on some of the biggest and best hits of the 1960s, including “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “I Can’t Help Myself” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” No Grammy nods for any of those songs? Please.
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, like John and Taupin, received two Grammy nods as a team. Looking at the other Mercer Award recipients, and listing them in ascending order in number of nods as a team, we find Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (four), Broadway scribes Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick (five), Burt Bacharach and Hal David (six), Broadway scribes Betty Comden and Adolph Green (eight), Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff (nine) and Marilyn and Alan Bergman (11).
This year’s other nominees for best song written for visual media are “As Alive as You Need Me to Be” from TRON:Ares (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross), “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick) and three songs from Sinners – “I Lied to You” (Ludwig Göransson & Raphael Saadiq), “Pale, Pale Moon” (Ludwig Göransson & Brittany Howard) and “Sinners” (Leonard Denisenko, Rodarius Green, Travis Harrington, Tarkan Kozluklu, Kyris Mingo & Darius Poviliunas). “Golden” also received a nomination for song of the year, so it’s probably the front-runner in this category.
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Fabrice Morvan might have a bone to pick with F. Scott Fitzgerald about that whole there are “no second acts in American lives” thing. Because the once-disgraced pop singer, who along with late partner Rob Pilatus was half of the face of 1990s dance pop duo Milli Vanilli, has just pulled off one of the most improbable second acts in music history.
Thirty-five years after being the first and so far, only, act to have a Grammy award revoked after it was revealed that the perfectly coiffed, fancy dancing duo did not sing a note on their best new artist-nominated debut 1988 album, Morvan recently landed his second Grammy nod for best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording for the audiobook of his memoir, You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli.
“To this day ain’t nobody in the history of music has gone through what I went through,” said Morvan, 59, who went from being a multi-platinum, arena-filling superstar with three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart to a late night punchline within two years when it was revealed that he and Pilatus were merely the images, but not the voices, on their LP. “Thirty-five years later you’re looking at a dude who got a Grammy nomination with his own voice! I found my own voice because of me being able to find the strength to tell my story. Wow. You can’t write that story!”
But, Morvan did and now he is up against some serious heavy-hitters in his category when the 68th annual Grammy Awards are handed out on Feb. 1. Among those he’ll be vying with for a Grammy are Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (Lovely One), comedian and former Daily Show host Trevor Noah (Into the Uncut Grass) and the Dalai Lama (Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama).
Billboard caught up with Morvan to talk about the shock nomination, what his plans are for Grammy night and why the book (and the potential feel-good Grammy redemption arc) is the start of what he hopes will be a robust second (or third) act. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity).
Even though Milli Vanilli’s music has remained popular, it’s been a lifetime since most people heard your name. Why did you write the memoir now?
People were enlightened about what really took place and the documentary [the 2023 doc Milli Vanilli, which this writer appeared in] was instrumental in rewriting the narrative… I looked at my kids and thought it would be nice to leave something for them so they could understand each and every chapter, a gift to them. The documentary was done, the book was done, but I still felt I had so much truth I haven’t spoken and I don’t want to throw nobody under the bus, but it was very personal. [It was about] my childhood and how I grew up, so people can understand the choices I made. As humans, everyone goes through trauma, especially Rob, who got into the music industry because he had no love at home and he got addicted to that love, which is the core of the story. [Pilatus, 32, died in 1998 of a suspected drug overdose.]
What’s it feel like to be Grammy-nominated again?
[Laughs.] It was never in our minds back then, “ay man, let’s get that Grammy!” That was never something we wanted. We knew the criteria for a Grammy was you have to 100-plus percent perform. When we sat in the front row, we were like, “lord, lord, lord, no!” I knew how awards ran and when they sit you there and you have that camera view and your name is about to be read… we never wanted that… To this day ain’t nobody in the history of music who has gone through what I have gone through.
Thirty-five years later you’re looking at a dude that got a Grammy nomination with his own voice! I found my voice and because of me being able to find the strength to tell my story. Wow. You can’t write that story! It’s a true story about storytelling and redemption and trauma and I haven’t given up. Stories are here to have us look at our humanity and because of that it brings us closer together and music does the same thing.
Are you shocked that Grammys gave you another chance after the scandal the first time?
It’s about storytelling and I’m one-hundred percent sure my peers, the voters that nominated me, all had a story — they all fell, they were all used by someone, a person who took advantage of them. If you look at the story you have black and white, but in between are shades of gray that people can understand. People who’ve gone through what I went through can identify the shades of gray. The physical, mental, financially being taken advantage of — some people have all three — back then we were voiceless, but now with social media you hear more stories and are like, “Damn! What happened to that person?”
What did you think when you found out?
It had the total opposite effect. I never go towards hype. I run away as far as I can until I can feel calm. Like someone very famous said, “I sizzle,” then I meditate on it and figure out what does that look like? What does it really mean? It means I touched a nerve at the core of the people exposed to the story, whether they read the book or not, and my peers, because I am not the first, or last one, to have been used and taken advantage of in the industry. But I became the poster boy, 100%.
You competition is pretty fierce: a Supreme Court justice, the Dalai Lama, Trevor Noah… what are your odds?
I don’t look at the list. I told my story and was as vulnerable as possible. Understood early on, either I tell it all or why do this if I’m not going all the way? I was as vulnerable as possible and it touched a nerve about storytelling. I look at winning as when I meet someone in the streets and they say they read the book and it changed my life, that’s cool… Who would have thought?
Will you attend the Grammys and how do you think it will feel three decades later?
Oh man, of course. You know I’m gonna be there, I’ll look good too! Whatever happens out of the wreckage of Milli Vanilli I took whatever I could to reverse-engineer the DNA of what it was… I did the right thing, I listened to myself and kept going even through blind faith. You look at the company you’re in and for me it’s about inspiring the people who’ve been knocked down or misunderstood or judged, this is for you. It’s also in the name of Rob as well, for my family, for people who sometimes have no way out of that vicious circle you’re locked in because of life.
Do any feelings of shame or regret come with being in the Grammy spotlight again? Does it bring up difficult emotions?
No, because I’ve forgiven and forgiveness is such a magical tool. I advise anyone to forgive the ones who’ve hurted you, who’s abused you, who’ve taken advantage or you or otherwise you’ll keep going in vicious circles. When I was able to forgive them, forgive myself for letting it happen… I was able to forgive myself and I was able to walk out.
So maybe you won’t be in the front row this time, but what happens if your name is called?
[Big breath.] I don’t even know if that part is televised. But you know what I’m gonna do? When a situation gets very overwhelming I slow down everything and tune out everything around me. I would take that walk and thank the most important people in my life, my family, Rob and then it’s about the ones who’ve been misunderstood, underrated and underestimated. In the end, one thing I understood is it’s not about me, it’s about inspiring others. We’re nothing but a grain of sand… Just the fact that I’m nominated, in my heart I definitely won already. Just to be in the company of those people?! It’s never too late.
When we spoke a few years ago you promised this was not the last chapter for you. What is next?
I knew there would be more eyes on me this year, so right now I have out the single “Future Love” with Ray Slijngaard [2 Unlimited] and “Clothes Off” [a cover of Jermaine Stewart’s 1986 hit single “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off”] and I’m working on an Afrobeat record with James [BKS, the son of late Cameroonian sax giant Manu Dibango] due out in January called, if you can believe it, “Milli Vanity.” I’m also sitting on a couple of albums of material and something else might come out after the “Vanity” record. I’ve also released a reggaeton version of “Girl You Know It’s True” and an acoustic “Blame it on the Rain.” Also, I’m working on a deal with a company in New York to do 30-50 shows next year.
SZA’s SOS Deluxe: Lana, the deluxe edition of her 2022 album SOS, has set a new record as the album with the most tracks that have received Grammy nominations – a whopping nine tracks. These nominations have been spread out over four Grammy eligibility years. “Good Days,” which was released in December 2000, was nominated […]
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Jelly Roll has two major life updates. First, the country star is newly nominated for three Grammys. Second, his face is now bald.
In a chatty video posted to YouTube on Thursday (Nov. 20), Jelly took fans with him as he shaved his beard for the first time in years and shared how he “really feels” about the Recording Academy. After razoring off his facial hair with wife Bunnie Xo at his side in the bathroom, he went for a walk outside and talked to viewers one on one.
“By now, you have probably figured out that I look like a Ninja Turtle,” he said self-deprecatingly, explaining that before his recent weight loss, he felt he “was so obese, it was easier to cover what was happening here [with a beard].”
Jelly then fought back tears while addressing his 2026 nominations for best country duo/group performance for the Shaboozey duet “Amen,” best contemporary country album for Beautifully Broken and best contemporary Christian music performance/song for “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” “When I look at these nominations, all I see is God,” he said.
“I want to cry,” the singer continued. “Wow, country album of the year. It’s not even about the album or the nom. It’s about the name.”
Getting emotional, Jelly said that the title of his 2024 Billboard 200-topping LP represents “what’s happening in the world right now, I think, more than ever.”
“Win, lose, or draw, holy f—, dude, we won,” he added. “I know a lot of artists give the Grammys a lot of sh–, but the truth is I feel honored … Y’all make fun of me now and leave comments about my double chin.”
Jelly has now been nominated for a total of seven Grammys, earning his first nods in 2024 for best new artist and best country duo/group performance for his and Lainey Wilson’s “Save Me.” The following year, he scored nominations for best country song and best country solo performance for “I Am Not Okay.”
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Few phrases define the year in music and culture like Moliy’s scintillating directive to “shake it to the max.” The Ghanaian singer’s sultry voice reverberated across the globe, blending her own Afropop inclinations with Jamaican dancehall-informed production, courtesy of Miami-based duo Silent Addy and Disco Neil. Originally released in December 2024, Moliy’s breakthrough global crossover hit ascended to world domination, peaking at No. 6 on the Global 200, thanks to a remix featuring dancehall superstars Shenseea and Skillibeng. Simply put, “Max” soundtracked a seismic moment in African and Caribbean music in 2025.
Given its blockbuster success, “Shake It to the Max” was widely expected to be a frontrunner in several categories at the 2026 Grammys. In fact, had the song earned a nomination for either best African music performance or best global music performance, many forecasters anticipated a victory. So, when “Shake It to the Max” failed to appear on the final list of 2026 Grammy nominees in any category earlier this month (Nov. 7), listeners across the world were left scratching their heads — none more than gamma. CEO Larry Jackson.
“It pains me to have to acknowledge this, because Harvey Mason, Jr. is a longtime personal friend, and I also don’t attribute any of this directly to him,” Jackson tells Billboard in an exclusive statement. “But I found it to be deeply disappointing that [the Recording Academy] subjectively chose to disqualify Moliy’s “Shake It to the Max (Fly)” remix – one of the biggest songs in the world this year – from the Best Global Music Performance and African Music categories.”
The “Shake It to the Max” remix arrived within the 2026 Grammys eligibility period on Feb. 21, with new verses from Shenseea and Skillibeng, and a revised intro from Moliy, which satisfies the Recording Academy’s definition of a “new recording.” As per the 68th Grammy Awards Rules & Guidelines, “new recordings” are defined as material that has been recorded within five years of the release date.
Beyond the performance and production criteria, the “Max” remix also holds a unique ISRC (International Standard Recording Code), a globally recognized digital identifier assigned to distinct sound recordings and music videos, confirming it as its own distinct master recording. The remix is also the only version of “Max” that has ever been submitted for Grammy consideration, which complies with the Recording Academy’s rule that “only one version/mix of a recording is eligible in the GRAMMY process in any year.”
Due to its fusion of Ghanaian Afropop and Jamaican dancehall, gamma. submitted the “Shake It to the Max” remix for consideration in the best global music performance category. On Sept. 20, the Recording Academy notified the Jackson-founded label that the song was deemed ineligible in that category but remained eligible for best music video and song and record of the year. The Academy did not allow the “Max” remix to compete in a different genre category, despite compelling arguments for the song fitting within the parameters of pop, melodic rap or African music.
“It really is unfortunate that ‘Shake It to the Max’ isn’t eligible in the best African music performance and best global music performance categories this year,” the Recording Academy says in an exclusive statement to Billboard. “We all acknowledge it is a massive song with significant cultural impact. Unfortunately, but quite simply, it was submitted as a remix, and as per our longstanding and published rules, remixes are just not eligible in these categories. Regardless, our goal is always to honor, respect and fairly represent creators and the music they make — so we will keep working to improve our entry processes and eligibility guidelines.”
According to gamma., the Recording Academy notified the label of the song’s ineligibility on Sept. 20. The gamma. team tried to appeal the decision from Sept. 20-26, looping in Jackson on Oct. 1 — who then notified Mason Jr. on Oct. 2, the day before first-round voting began.
“To be disqualified because we decided to call it a remix instead of ‘Part Two’ in our submission process is an interesting choice,” Jackson says. “This is especially odd, given the fact that 50% of it is a new composition… The answer of ‘That’s just the way we do things, and that’s just the rule’ doesn’t feel respectful toward what these artists achieved.”
In addition to topping U.S. Afrobeats Songs (26 weeks), Rhythmic Airplay and World Digital Song Sales, the “Max” remix also reached the top 10 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (No. 8), helping the song reach No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 — one of the best showings for a 2020s dancehall track on Billboard’s marquee singles ranking. Crowned one of the defining songs of the summer by Spotify, “Max” also garnered remixes from Sean Paul, Major Lazer and more major artists.
Notably, “Shake It to the Max” is not the first time a global crossover collaboration — even one initially dubbed a remix — lit up the nominations ballot. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” which received a Justin Bieber remix three months after the release of the original, earned nominations for best pop duo/group performance and record and song of the year at the 2018 Grammys, ultimately losing all three. The word “remix” does not appear in the title of “Despacito” on any publicly available GRAMMY-related documents or media, despite appearing in the song’s title across DSPs. A similar naming convention was utilized for Ariana Grande’s “The Boy Is Mine.” On DSPs, the Grammy-nominated version of the song featuring Brandy and Monica includes the word “remix” in the title.
There is also a Grammy category specifically for remixes. The best remixed recording category honors “remixed recordings (‘remixes’) where the remixer takes previously recorded and released material and creatively adds to, alters or transforms it in such a way as to create a new and unique performance.” The 68th Grammy Awards Rules & Guidelines also state that “the addition of a vocal performance by a featured artist without substantive change to the original music recording is not eligible as a remix.” The Skillibeng and Shenseea-assisted “Max” remix does not substantively change the music of the original track beyond the addition of new vocal performances by featured artists, so it would not have been eligible to compete in this category.
“How symbolically discouraging is it for up-and-coming artists from Africa or the Caribbean that such an undeniable global success may have a likelihood of not being honored by the Academy in the future because of rigid conventionalism,” Jackson continues. “The concept of it all is at best devoid of any common sense or any fluidity in thought, and at [worst], screams the lack of leverage that independent artists and independent music companies systematically have against the machine.”
Moliy signed to gamma., a fast-growing independent media company rivaling major labels in areas like music distribution, in 2024. At the 2026 Grammys, hundreds of indie artists will compete for golden gramophones, including Durand Bernarr, Destin Conrad and Shaboozey — though they’re still in the minority in the ceremony’s biggest categories compared to artists on majors.
Despite two global smashes in “Max” and Full Blown & Yung Bredda’s “The Greatest Bend Over” this year, Caribbean music continues to be sidelined at the Grammys. While this year’s all-Jamaica best reggae album lineup is cause for celebration (non-Caribbean winners have courted controversy as recently as 2022), the region’s myriad culture-driving, arena-headlining sounds (soca, konpa and bouyon, chief among them) remain overlooked.
Even though “Max” will not get the chance to compete for a Grammy, hopefully its absence at the 2026 ceremony encourages the Academy to fine-tune their rules regarding remix submissions — and better serve and honor Caribbean artists and music.
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Nelson Riddle was one of the finest arrangers in music history. He received Grammy nominations for arranging Frank Sinatra’s “Witchcraft,” “Nice ‘n’ Easy” and “Call Me Irresponsible” and won two Grammys for arranging the title tracks of Linda Ronstadt’s albums What’s New and Lush Life, in which she explored the Great American Songbook. And that just scratches the surface of Riddle’s vast discography. Riddle died in October 1985 at age 64, amid his career resurgence working with Ronstadt.
So, the fact that Riddle was nominated for a Grammy on Nov. 7 was surprising, to say the least. He’s up for best arrangement, instruments and vocals for his arrangement of “How Did She Look?” from Seth MacFarlane’s Lush Life: The Lost Sinatra Arrangements.
The Recording Academy doesn’t allow recordings by artists who have been dead for more than five years on the grounds that those recordings aren’t, by definition, “new recordings.” (From the academy’s Rules & Guidelines handbook: “New recordings’ is defined as material that has been recorded within five years of the release date and not previously released.”)
So, an unearthed recording by, say, Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald could not be nominated for a Grammy. Here’s how seriously the Recording Academy takes this five-year rule: When The Beatles’ “Now and Then” won a Grammy for best rock performance in 2024, only Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr received Grammys. John Lennon and George Harrison, who died in 1980 and 2001, respectively, did not. Lennon and Harrison had both worked on the track – Lennon wrote and recorded the original version in 1977; Harrison added overdubs and guitar tracks when the surviving Beatles worked on it in 1995 (only to shelve it until 2003).
But that five-year rule doesn’t specify that arrangements must have been written within the last five years. So, Riddle’s old arrangements qualify – on a technicality.
In answer to our question about why Riddle was eligible, an academy spokesperson said “The arrangement was recorded for the first time on a newly recorded album released this year, making him eligible.”
MacFarlane’s Lush Life: The Lost Sinatra Arrangements consists of a dozen arrangements that Sinatra had planned to perform but never got around to. The arrangements were written by Riddle and two other top-flight arrangers of that era, Billy May (who died in 2004) and Don Costa (who died in 1983).
The Recording Academy’s interpretation of its five-year rule seems inconsistent. Lennon and Harrison were not nominated for their contributions to “Now and Then” because their contributions to the recording were more than five years in the past. By the same token, Riddle’s contribution to MacFarlane’s recording (his arrangement) was more than five years in the past. The fact that it was recorded and released for the first time in 2025, while interesting, seems beside the point.
Nonetheless, the nomination allows Riddle to set a new record for the longest span of Grammy nominations. He received two nominations at the very first Grammy ceremony in 1959 — best arrangement for his stylish work on Sinatra’s “Witchcraft” and best musical composition first recorded and released in 1958 (over 5 minutes duration) for “Cross Country Suite.” He won in the latter category.
John Williams and Barbra Streisand are runners-up to Riddle for the longest span of Grammy nominations. Both are nominated again this year. Williams is nominated for best music film for Music by John Williams, 64 years after he received his first nod for best sound track album or recording of score from motion picture or television for Checkmate. Streisand is nominated for best traditional pop vocal album for The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2, 62 years after she received her first three nods for The Barbra Streisand Album and its standout track, “Happy Days Are Here Again.”
The other nominees for best arrangement, instruments and vocals are Jacob Collier for his own track “Keep an Eye on Summer”; Cody Fry for his own track “What a Wonderful World”; Clyde Lawrence, Gracie Lawrence & Linus Lawrence for Lawrence’s “Something in the Water (Acoustic-Ish)” (the eight-piece band features Clyde and Gracie; Linus is their younger brother); and Eric Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick, Nate Smith (not the country hitmaker) and Amanda Taylor for “Big Fish,” which they recorded as Nate Smith featuring säje (säje being the other four names here).
Nominated participants: Big Jay, La Paciencia, MAG & Tainy, producers; Antonio Caraballo, Josh Gudwin, Luis Amed Irizarry & Roberto José Rosado Torres, engineers/mixers; Marco Daniel Borrero, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Marcos Efrain Masis, Jay Anthony Nuñez & Roberto José Rosado Torres, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
Notes: Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer, Latin/Español, made the case for Bunny’s album beautifully in her story announcing the Latin Grammy winners: “Bad Bunny, the big favorite, walked away with the all-important album of the year win for his acclaimed DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, the collection that took him back to his Puerto Rican roots, spurred a love fest with his island and its traditions, spawned his record-breaking residency and ultimately paved the road for his upcoming Super Bowl LX halftime show performance.”
The Recording Academy announced on Nov. 3 that it had extended invitations to all voting members of the Latin Recording Academy to join their membership as well. Many took them up on the offer. That infusion of new voters could help Bunny win album of the year on his second try.
Also, the racist backlash that followed the announcement that Bunny was set to headline the Super Bowl halftime show could work in his favor in Grammy voting, as voters seek to show that they have his back.
There’s a precedent for Grammy voters taking the political climate into account in their voting. The Chicks, then known as Dixie Chicks, swept the Grammys in 2007 – including album, record and song of the year – at least in part because voters were signaling that they supported the group in their war of words with then-President George W. Bush.
The trio experienced a severe backlash after lead singer Natalie Maines harshly criticized Bush during a 2003 concert in London. Her comment (“Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas”) led to country radio boycotts and a shutout for the group in the 2006 CMA Awards nominations. The Chicks’ sweep of all five of their Grammy nominations was widely seen as Recording Academy members using their votes to support the band and take a stand against what we can now see was an early example of cancel culture. From the Grammy stage, Maines said: “I think people are using their freedom of speech with all these awards. We get the message.”
If Bunny wins, he’ll become just the second artist to win in the same year that he or she performed at the Super Bowl halftime show. If I gave you 30 guesses to name the first performer to do this, you probably still wouldn’t get it, so I’ll just tell you: Tony Bennett participated in the multi-artist halftime show in January 1995, a little more than one month before he won album of the year for MTV Unplugged.
Whether he wins or just misses this year, Bunny is getting closer to winning the top award. In 2023, when he was first nominated in this category for Un Verano Sin Ti, Bunny was thought to be a bit further back in the pack. Harry Styles’ Harry’s House won the award; Beyoncé’s Renaissance is assumed to have come in second; and Bunny’s album probably fought it out for third place with Adele’s 30 and Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.
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When the Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Friday (Nov. 7), details were scant in the category of best compilation soundtrack for visual media. The five nominated soundtracks were identified, but the only individual named was Timothée Chalamet for singing Bob Dylan’s songs on the soundtrack to A Complete Unknown.
On Tuesday (Nov. 11), the academy announced the rest of the credits in the category. Ryan Coogler landed his third career Grammy nod as one of the compilation producers for Sinners (along with Ludwig Göransson and Serena Göransson). Coogler was nominated in that same category two years ago for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. He was also nominated for best song written for visual media for co-writing “Lift Me Up” for that film.
Coogler wasn’t nominated in the latter category this year, but three songs from Sinners were – “I Lied to You,” “Pale, Pale Moon” and the title song. Only two other films have ever had three or more nominees for best song written for visual media since the category was introduced at the 1988 ceremony. Waiting To Exhale had three in 1997; Barbie had four two years ago.
Coogler is also very likely to receive Oscar nods for Sinners, which he directed, wrote and co-produced. He has received two Oscar nods to date – best picture as a producer of Judas and the Black Messiah and best original song for “Lift Me Up.”
The additional nomination brings Ludwig Göransson’s nominations count for this year to five, all for work on Sinners. He is also nominated for best song written for visual media (“Pale, Pale Moon” and “I Lied to You”) best score soundtrack for visual media (includes film and television) and best instrumental composition (“Why You Here / Before the Sun Went Down”). This ups Göransson’s career Grammy nominations count to 20. It’s the first nod for his wife, Serena Göransson.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were also named as nominees for best compilation soundtrack for visual media for Wicked. They were nominated last week for best pop duo/group performance for the musical’s most famous song, “Defying Gravity.” Erivo received an additional nomination last week for best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella for “Be Okay,” a song from her second studio album, I Forgive You. The additional nod brings Grande’s career Grammy nominations total to an even 20; Erivo’s to five.
Both stars received Oscar nominations for their roles in Wicked and may receive Oscar nods for Wicked: For Good. If they do, they’ll join a short list of actors who have received two nods for playing the same role in different films.
Stephen Schwartz was also named as a nominee for best compilation soundtrack for visual media for Wicked. He had received two other nominations for his work on the film last week – best score soundtrack for visual media (includes film and television) and best instrumental composition for “Train to Emerald City.” This ups his career nominations tally to 18.
The Recording Academy waits until the nominations are announced to fully research the nominees in this category and determine who meets their eligibility criteria. The 68th annual Grammy Awards will be presented on Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Here’s the complete list of nominees for best compilation soundtrack for visual media, with full credits added:
A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet; Nick Baxter, Steven Gizicki & James Mangold, compilation producers; Steven Gizicki, music supervisor
F1® The Album, Various Artists; Brandon Davis, Joe Khoury & Kevin Weaver, compilation producers; David Taylor & Jake Voulgarides, music supervisors
KPop Demon Hunters, Various Artists; Spring Aspers & Dana Sano, compilation producers; Ian Eisendrath, music supervisor
Sinners, Various Artists; Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson & Serena Göransson, compilation producers; Niki Sherrod, music supervisor
Wicked, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande (& Wicked Movie Cast); Stephen Oremus, Stephen Schwartz & Greg Wells, compilation producers; Maggie Rodford, music supervisor
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The nominations for the upcoming 68th Annual Grammy Awards were announced on Friday (Nov. 7) — giving us three months before the Feb. 1 awards to debate who will win, who will get shut out, and who was unduly snubbed altogether.
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The most frequently called name for the nominations unsurprisingly belonged to Kendrick Lamar, who was already a big winner at the 2025 awards for his “Not Like Us,” and has nine nominations for 2026, most for his massively successful GNX album and its singles “Luther” and “TV Off.” Artists right behind Lamar include Lady Gaga, with seven nominations, and Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter with six nominations — with all four artists competing in each of the album, record and song of the year categories.
How’d the Recording Academy do with capturing the year that was in this crop of nominees? And in what areas does it still need work? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
1. On a scale of 1-10, how well would you say the 2026 Grammy nominations did at capturing the best and brightest from the past year in music?
Katie Atkinson: 8. Honestly, it feels like there is far less to debate than in previous years. The conversations I’ve been having following the nominations have been more nitpicky than anything else — like, why “Golden” for song of the year but not record? And why “The Subway” for record but not song? (The reality is, both deserve recognition, wherever they’re placed.) There also aren’t really any eyebrow-raising inclusions in the big four like previous years. It’s pretty refreshing overall!
Eric Renner Brown: 8. Do I wish that MJ Lenderman, last year’s biggest indie-rock breakout, had scored a nomination (or several) with his September 2024 album Manning Fireworks? Of course. But generally – and realistically – speaking, the Grammys delivered a respectable slate of nominees for the 2026 awards. The major categories recognize a wide swath of acclaimed mainstream artists, and the genre categories are solid surveys of their respective types of music (even if I can’t help but laugh at Haim vying against four hard-rock groups for best rock album). Also refreshing: for a third straight year, the Grammys didn’t nominate a deluxe edition of an album for album of the year, which it did several times from 2020 to 2022.
Kyle Denis: Honestly, a solid 8. Virtually every star who had a true breakthrough over the past year appears on the final nominations list — but a complete shutout for Ravyn Lenae and “Love Me Not” is absolutely inexcusable. It’s also a shame that BigXThaPlug didn’t get any looks.
Paul Grein: I give them an 8.5. The nominations hit just about all the right notes, expect for overlooking one key genre yet again. We’ll get to that.
Andrew Unterberger: At the risk of being boring, an 8 sounds about right. This was the first year in recent memory where none of the nominees in the big four categories set off a hearty round of guffaws across my various chats and social media feeds. Even the nominations I strongly disagree with I can’t say I was terribly surprised by. Really, the biggest complaint you could have about these nominees is that they were perhaps a bit too predictable.
2. Which artist or work’s omission from one or all of the big four categories did you find the most surprising?
Katie Atkinson: Surprising but not unwelcome: I definitely expected Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” to be up for song or record of the year. While Warren did score a best new artist nod, his 10-week Hot 100 No. 1 breakthrough smash left empty-handed in the big four and beyond. Aside from “Ordinary,” I also felt confident that Ravyn Lenae would be in the best new artist field. While her breakthrough single “Love Me Not” was ineligible because it was released in summer 2024, the timing of her big hit seemed like it would send her sailing into that category.
Eric Renner Brown: The Grammys whiffed by completely snubbing Lorde for an album that’s one of the year’s better pop records – and her best record in more than a decade (Lorde fans, sorry, Virgin is better than Melodrama!). But while I don’t think it should have been nominated, what I found most surprisingly was the general field omission of Elton John and Brandi Carlile’s collaborative Who Believes In Angels?, which had Grammy contender written all over it.
Kyle Denis: Outside of Ravyn Lenae and BigXThaPlug in best new artist and “Love Me Not” in record and song of the year, I was also surprised (but not disappointed) to see Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” left out of the genreal field.
Paul Grein: Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” is the kind of stately power ballad that in years past would have been a surefire record and song of the year nominee. It topped the Hot 100 for 10 weeks. Warren even won best new artist at the VMAs, even though fellow nominee Sombr seemed a more MTV-ish choice. My runner-up surprise is that HUNTR/X’s “Golden” was nominated for song of the year but not record of the year. I would have figured it would be the other way around.
Andrew Unterberger: Just because of the context around The Weeknd’s Grammy history — with him essentially swearing off the Recording Academy after being totally shut out from the nominations in 2021, and then making his big conciliatory return to the stage at last year’s awards — it was pretty surprising to not see his Hurry Up Tomorrow or “Timeless” recognized in the big four, or anywhere else. Although considering the snub only received a fraction of the outcry that his After Hours-era bagel did four years earlier, perhaps that’s telling of the relative esteem that the public holds Tomorrow in.
3. Outside of the Big Four, which of the genre categories do you find the most interesting?
Katie Atkinson: I’ve got to go for best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording for the sheer variety of nominees. There’s five-time Grammy host Trevor Noah (Into the Uncut Grass), 1960s child star Kathy Garver (Elvis, Rocky & Me: The Carol Connors Story), Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (Lovely One: A Memoir), the Dalai Lama (Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness The Dalai Lama), and finally Fab Morvan’s return to the Grammys after his best new artist statue was revoked following Milli Vanilli’s lip-sync scandal (You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli). It doesn’t get more all over the map than that.
Eric Renner Brown: The country, Americana, and folk categories. These genres were conspicuously overlooked in the general field, and reading through these genre category nominations shows how mistaken that was. From new-school talents like Tyler Childers, Billy Strings and Zach Top to chart-toppers like Jelly Roll and Eric Church to legends like Willie Nelson and Mavis Staples, this music had a strong year that deserved greater general field recognition. But seeing who prevails in these stacked genre categories will still be entertaining.
Kyle Denis: Interestingly, I think best dance pop recording is one of the most competitive categories at the 2026 ceremony. I’d be happy if any of those songs won, but I’m definitely rooting for Zara Larsson (“Midnight Sun”) and Pinkpantheress (“Illegal”). I also think best progressive R&B album is a highlight between the girl group (FLO) and Black queer (Durand Bernarr and Destin Conrad) representation. It was also dope to see that the best album cover category didn’t solely prioritize A-listers.
Paul Grein: The nominees for best music film include everyone from new-wave greats Devo (Devo), reeling in their first Grammy nomination in 41 years, to genre-blending Brit singer-songwriter RAYE (Live at the Royal Albert Hall), who is a Grammy nominee for the second year in a row. Two of the nominated films – Music by John Williams and Pharrell Williams’ Piece by Piece – were on the longlist for Oscar nominations for documentary feature film last year. The fifth nominee is Relentless, an aptly titled documentary of songwriter Diane Warren, who has amassed 16 Oscar nominations but still has the hunger of a twenty-something newbie looking for her first nod.
Andrew Unterberger: The rock nominations this year are wild. Amyl and the Sniffers for best rock performance? Tyler, the Creator for best alternative music album — with his dance album, no less? Turnstile in the rock, alternative and metal categories? Lotta surprises — and some questions to be had for sure — but it’s much more entertaining than the usual march of legacy acts we see in the rock categories, anyway.
4. The Recording Academy has taken great efforts to update and diversify its membership recently. Do you think these Grammy nominations show that the Recording Academy is still missing proper representation in any particular genre/demographic/area? If so, where?
Katie Atkinson: The album of the year field seems to reflect those efforts, with three rap albums, a Spanish-language album and an R&B album taking up more than half the field. The real test will be who comes out on top in that category, considering each of those five nominees would be a first-time winner in the category.
Eric Renner Brown: Even a few years ago, this album of the year slate would’ve been unimaginable: a majority of nominees are people of color, and three rap albums got nods. The general field feels more representative of mainstream music than ever, even if the limited number of available nominations means that something will always feel excluded.
That said, in the general field, the lack of country music is disappointing – as is the lack of dance/electronic, beyond Lady Gaga’s heavily dance-influenced album Mayhem and its lead single “Abracadabra.” For well over a decade dance music has helped to define the musical mainstream, and artists nominated in the dance/electronic categories this year – including Disclosure, Fred Again.., Skrillex and FKA twigs – are bona fide stars who deserve more visible recognition.
Kyle Denis: The Academy still has work to do with bolstering their Caribbean representation. In a year that spun out genuine crossover Caribbean hits like Moliy, Silent Addy & Disco Neil’s “Shake It to the Max” and Full Blown & Yung Bredda’s “The Greatest Bend Over,” a complete shut out for Caribbean music (outside of best reggae album) is indefensible.
Paul Grein: Country is under-represented year after year. The Academy needs to make building up its country membership a priority. To their credit, it is transparent in releasing statistics on its voting membership. Unfortunately, that just confirms the problem: Just 7% of the total voting membership aligns with country, a percentage topped by 11 other genres, including such more specialized forms as jazz (16% of Grammy voters align with that genre) and classical (10% alignment). (Voters can check off more than one genre.)
On the day the nominations were announced, Melinda Newman wrote a must-read essay for Billboard.com, “Country Continues to Be the Grammys’ Poor Relation.” I hope the academy reads it and takes it to heart. They can and need to do better here.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s country. It just goes to show you that for as many incredible strides as the genre has made as a crossover genre on streaming — and even occasionally on radio — it still is often ignored altogether in a lot of pop spaces. Sure, maybe country’s shutout in best new artist was due in part to overcrowding between Ella Langley, Zach Top and Megan Moroney, with no one of those country candidates obviously outshining the other two. But that didn’t seem to affect Lola Young, Sombr or The Marias, three alt-rock-leaning acts who have had remarkably less trouble finding pop-world embrace, each of whom received BNA nominations. The contrast is stark.
5. Without getting into too many category specifics, which artist do you think is likely going to end up being the big winner on Grammy night in February?
Katie Atkinson: The obvious answer is Kendrick Lamar, who enters with nine nods and won five earlier this year. But another strong contender could be Leon Thomas. Even though I don’t see him walking away with album of the year come Feb. 1, I think there’s a clear path for him to win in his other five categories – which could set him up to be the next contender for one of those famous Grammy juggling photos, a la Norah Jones, Lauryn Hill or Adele.
Eric Renner Brown: Coming off a seismic, lauded 2025 – and with a Super Bowl halftime show booked for February – this feels like Bad Bunny’s year to make a run, especially in the album of the year category, where Debí Tirar Más Fotos is arguably the strongest nominee. At the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kendrick Lamar’s arms loaded up with trophies: His “Not Like Us” record and song of the year wins earlier this year proved he can triumph in general field categories, his cultural and commercial stock is as high as it’s ever been thanks to his own Super Bowl appearance and the 13-week Hot 100 No. 1 “Luther,” and the Pulitzer-winner has never won album of the year – nor has any hip-hop artist in over two decades.
Kyle Denis: This is a fight to the bitter end between Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny — and, right now, I think Benito has the edge.
Paul Grein: I predict that Kendrick Lamar is headed for a seven-Grammy sweep, which would be just one shy of the record of eight Grammys in one night shared by Michael Jackson and Santana. That would hoist Lamar’s career Grammy total to 29 awards, more than any other rapper in history. (That title is currently held by Jay-Z with 25 wins.) Leon Thomas is probably headed for a five-Grammy night. He seems like the front-runner to win best new artist and to clean up in the R&B categories.
Andrew Unterberger: I could find arguments to make for Lady Gaga or Bad Bunny — and who knows, maybe they’ll convince me over the course of the next three months. But for right now, my gut still says Kendrick Lamar is the guy everyone likes, and who everyone wants to see win. And I think he’ll do a whole lot of that on February 1.
