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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.
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Benson Boone didn’t get the mystical, magical day he was hoping for when the Grammys unveiled its list of 2026 nominees Nov. 7.
In a hilarious Monday (Nov. 10) post on his Instagram Story, the pop star joked about getting snubbed by the Recording Academy, which did not recognize his song “Mystical Magical” in any of its categories for next year. Sharing a brightly lit selfie in which he stares straight into the camera, his eyes comically wide, Boone wrote, “Can’t believe moonbeam ice cream didn’t get a Grammy nom,” referencing one of the most meme-worthy lyrics in his Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hit.
The singer added, “it’s literally pure lyrical genius.”
The post comes a few days after the nominations ceremony, which revealed Kendrick Lamar as the 2026 frontrunner with a total of nine nods. Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Cirkut picked up seven nominations apiece, while Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and Leon Thomas earned six.
Boone, however, was shut out from the awards, despite the success of his album American Heart, which dropped in June and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Multiple songs from the LP charted on the Hot 100, including “Mystical Magical,” which reached No. 17.
Though the Washington native wasn’t recognized this year, he did score a best new artist nomination last year. That particular category was especially stacked in 2025, with Chappell Roan ultimately winning over Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, RAYE, Shaboozey and Teddy Swims. This year, Olivia Dean, KATSEYE, The Marias, Addison Rae, Sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and Lola Young will duke it out for the prize.
Boone is currently on tour in Europe, with his final show for the run slated for Nov. 18 in Stockholm. A couple of weeks later, he’ll perform on Dec. 4 slot at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates.
His trek recently hit a bump in the road when the American Idol alum was forced to cancel his show in Birmingham due to vocal issues. “I am so so sorry but I will not be able to perform tonight,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “I have tried everything I can to revive my voice, but I cannot give you the show I’d like to be able to give you with the condition of my throat right now. This is genuinely the crappiest feeling, I am so sorry. I promise you I will do everything in my power to make it up to you.”
Trending on Billboard Travis Scott has been shut out at the Grammy Awards for his 10 nominations throughout his career, but he’s not going to give up the chance to hoist a Grammy trophy on stage anytime soon. Explore See latest videos, charts and news The Houston native responded to a Nov. 7 post on […]
Trending on Billboard As Jamaica picks up the pieces in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa’s historic devastation, the global reach of their artists remains cause for celebration. On Friday (Nov. 7), the Recording Academy revealed the five nominees for best reggae album at the 2026 Grammy Awards — and Jamaican musicians snagged every single spot. […]
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There are few moments more immediately significant than an artist learning they’ve earned a Grammy nomination. For KATSEYE‘s Megan, that revelation arrived not during the live reveal or from celebratory screams, but in the glow of KATSEYE’s group chat.
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“I woke up a little bit later so I woke up to the group chat going crazy — that’s literally how I found out,” she tells Billboard exclusively during a phone interview just two hours after the Recording Academy announced the 2026 nominees in full. “It’s just me here right now, but the group chat is blowing up.”
With nods in best new artist and best pop duo/group performance, Megan says KATSEYE’s two nominations feel like a confirmation of the whirlwind experience the sextet has been on from their 2023 Dream Academy competition series to climbing up the Billboard Hot 100 as “Gabriela” reaches a new peak of No. 37 this week.
“It’s all settling in and I feel like I haven’t fully come to my — I don’t know — I feel like it hasn’t settled in fully that we are nominated for two Grammy Awards,” she adds. “It’s crazy, I literally woke up to the news. I think throughout the day it’s gonna settle a little bit more, but feeling super grateful.”
Megan
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With best pop duo/group performance, “Gabriela” is recognized in a stacked category in this year of superstar team-ups. KATSEYE is up against Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande‘s Wicked duet “Defying Gravity,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA‘s latest collab “30 for 30,” ROSÉ and Bruno Mars‘ multicultural smash “APT.” as well as “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters’ HUNTR/X group of Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami. Megan says the recognition is particularly significant for their position as a global girl group.
“With any award or nomination, it means so much to us because we work so, so hard,” she says. “So, it’s like all of the hard work, those long hours and all the dedication are really paying off. But especially for the best pop duo/group [performance], we really do rely so much on each other; we are literally sisters at the end of the day. So, being able to get nominated with my five best friends is literally a dream come true. It’s the best feeling ever. And especially with what we represent globally, it means so much to each and every one of us. We’re just like so excited and so happy about everything.”
That happiness doesn’t just extend to KATSEYE’s nods, but also to her fellow best new artist nominees, which include friends of the band like Addison Rae, sombr and Alex Warren.
“It’s insane that we’re even in the same category — it’s literally crazy,” the Honolulu native adds. “But yeah, Addison, sombr, even Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, Lola [Young], every single one of them, they’re literally all amazing and we all look up to them in our own ways. We’re so new, so to even be in the same category as these amazing artists is so, so cool. But to be able to share the nomination with some of our friends like Addison, sombr and Alex, it’s really, really cool and I’m proud of each and every one of them as well.”
As for the whole group, KATSEYE shared the following statement on their social media following the Grammy nominations reveal: “We can’t even believe this is real life!! two nominations?! thank you to the Recording Academy we are truly humbled, and congrats to all the nominees today, you inspire us! we wouldn’t be here without our EYEKONS — words can’t describe how grateful we are to you.”
The 68th Annual Grammy Awards will take place Sunday, Feb. 1, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Before that, KATSEYE dropped a new teaser clip today as well, seemingly hinting at something special coming on Nov. 11, tagging the Valorant video game and its accompanying esports league in the caption. Watch below:
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Thirty-five years after being half of the first (and, to date, only) act to have a Grammy Award revoked, Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli landed a second Grammy nod on Friday (Nov. 7) – best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording for You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli.
Milli Vanilli, the red-hot pop duo of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, was crowned best new artist on Feb. 21, 1990, beating out Neneh Cherry, Indigo Girls, Soul II Soul and Tone Loc. The award was presented by legendary songwriter Kris Kristofferson and rapper Young M.C., who also won a Grammy that night for best rap performance for his hit “Bust a Move.”
Their win was expected: By that point, their debut album Girl You Know It’s True had topped the Billboard 200 for eight weeks and had spawned five top five singles on the Billboard Hot 100 – the title track, “Baby Don’t Forget My Number,” “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You,” “Blame It on the Rain” and “All or Nothing.” They performed “Girl You Know It’s True” on the live telecast, making them the only best new artist nominees who performed on the show that year.
There had already been rumblings that Morvan and Pilatus had not actually sung on the album; that they were merely hired because they had the right look to push the act’s upbeat pop/dance/R&B confections to the top of the charts. But it was hard to know if the rumors were true or merely the product of jealousy because of the duo’s outsized success.
On Nov. 14, 1990, their producer, Frank Farian, confessed that Morvan and Pilatus had not sung on the records and announced that he was firing them. Five days later, the Recording Academy announced that it had revoked the duo’s Grammy. Ever since, the academy has acted like Milli Vanilli never existed. If you call up Milli Vanilli in the academy’s awards look-up tool, you will get no results. Their list of best new artist winners skips from Tracy Chapman, who won in 1989, to Mariah Carey, who won in 1991. If you call up Pilatus on the look-up tool today, it shows that this new nomination is his first.
The academy may wish Milli Vanilli never existed, or that its voting members had chosen another best new artist winner that year, but they did, in fact, win. To pretend otherwise is revisionist history.
Who might have won best new artist if Milli Vanilli hadn’t taken the prize? Soul II Soul won in two categories that night – best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Back to Life” and best R&B instrumental performance for “African Dance.” Indigo Girls won in one category – best contemporary folk recording for Indigo Girls. Tone Loc was nominated for best rap performance for “Funky Cold Medina.”
Will Morvan win on Feb. 1? The competition is tough, and almost comically eclectic. The other nominees are The Dalai Lama for Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness The Dalai Lama; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for Lovely One: A Memoir; comedian and five-time Grammy host Trevor Noah for Into the Uncut Grass; and Kathy Garver, an actress who played the oldest child on the 1960s sitcom Family Affair, for Elvis, Rocky & Me: The Carol Connors Story.
Morvan was part of the Grammy process last year when the documentary Milli Vanilli was entered for best music film, but it wasn’t nominated. The doc was directed by Luke Korem and produced by Korem and Bradley Jackson.
While the story of Milli Vanilli’s rise and fall is amusing in some respects — there was endless mockery of them on the popular sketch variety show In Living Color and by such talk show hosts as Arsenio Hall and David Letterman — one must not forget that one of the members of the duo, Rob Pilatus, died young (in his early 30s) and tragically. Pilatus was found dead in April 1998 from an alcohol and prescription drug overdose. The death was ruled accidental.
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She did it! After generating Grammy buzz for months with smash hit single “APT.” featuring Bruno Mars, ROSÉ has now secured nods for both song and record of the year, as well as best pop duo/group performance.
In a video posted by one of the BLACKPINK star’s friends, which ROSÉ reposted on her Instagram Story, we get to see how she reacted to the news — as well as the tense few moments that led up to it. In the clip, she and her pals watch the Friday (Nov. 7) nominations ceremony while on a group FaceTime call. As the names are listed off for record of the year recognition, ROSÉ says nervously, “Are we not going to get it?”
“Aw, maybe we’re not going to get it,” she adds, hiding behind her fists clenched with anticipation.
When ROSÉ and Mars’ names come on screen, the K-pop star and her friends absolutely lose it. Letting out loud, wordless cheers, she says in disbelief, “Oh my god!”
The reaction clip comes shortly after the full list of 2026 Grammy nominations was unveiled Friday morning, revealing Kendrick Lamar as the frontrunner with nine nods and Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Cirkut as having the second-most with seven apiece. ROSÉ’s song and record of the year honors are particularly special, however, as they mean she’s made history as the first K-pop musician to ever score one, much less two, Big Four nominations as a lead artist.
“It’s still a dream for me,” the New Zealand native recently told The Hollywood Reporter of winning a Grammy someday. “It’s still a fantasy — a moment that proves to myself so many things.”
Grammy-wise, this year was huge for K-pop in general. In addition to ROSÉ’s triumphs, KPop Demon Hunters earned nominations for song of the year, best song written for visual media and best pop group performance for Billboard Hot 100 topper “Golden,” as well as best compilation soundtrack for visual media.
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It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and Leon Thomas leads the pack.
On Friday, the singer woke up to a whopping six 2026 Grammy nominations, including album of the year, for his breakthrough sophomore album Mutt.
“Thank you God, my team, every collaborator, every producer, family, friends and most especially my fans, I couldn’t have done it without you,” he wrote in an Instagram caption for a graphic listing his nominations. “I got a show tonight and I’m gonna continue working harder on this next album.”
In addition to album of the year, Thomas — who won his first Grammy in 2023 thanks to his production contributions to SZA’s “Snooze” — also earned a nomination for best new artist. Poetically, his two general field nominations come 15 years after Victorious, the television series that established him as a Gen Z child star, premiered on Nickelodeon. Thomas earned his first Grammy nod back in 2020 in the best rap song category for his work on Rick Ross and Drake’s “Gold Roses.”
Mutt also earned a nomination for best R&B album, while several tracks were individually recognized, including “Yes It Is” (best R&B song), “Vibes Don’t Lie” (best traditional R&B performance), and the NPR Tiny Desk live version of “Mutt” (best R&B performance).
Six Grammy nominations cap a whirlwind breakthrough year for Thomas. Outside of earning his first Hot 100 top 10 hit as a performer with “Mutt” (No. 10), the multi-hyphenate also won best new artist at the BET Awards, made his late night TV debut on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and shared a new funk-forward EP titled PHOLKS. Last week, he played Austin City Limits and kicked off his headlining Mutts Don’t Heel Tour at Dallas’ House of Blues. The R&B star’s new trek will visit venues across the U.S., Europe and Australia, before concluding on April 19 at Perth’s Metro City.
In Thomas’ Billboard cover story, his manager, Jonathan Azu, remarked, “I hope he’s the guy with the Lauryn Hill photo [holding multiple trophies]. Every year, there’s somebody and I hope it’s him. He is a man of his peers, and I think over the past year he has proven to them that he’s here to stay.”
Looks like Leon Thomas is one step closer to re-creating that iconic photograph. Check out the “Mutt” singer’s reaction to his 2026 Grammy nominations below.
