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ISLAMABAD: Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar lead the 2026 Grammy Awards nominations, dominating the top categories with critically acclaimed projects. Gaga earned multiple nominations across pop, dance and general fields, while Lamar continued his run as one of hip-hop&rsquo;s most respected and experimental voices. Both artists are frontrunners as the Recording Academy prepares to celebrate music&rsquo;s biggest night. Grammy Awards set for February The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place in February 2026 at <a data-fr-linked="true" href="//Crypto.com" style="font-size: 18px;">Crypto.com</a> Arena in Los Angeles, United States. The ceremony will recognize recordings released between October 2024 and September 2025. The Recording Academy announced its full list of nominees in November 2025, spanning more than 95 categories across pop, rap, R&amp;B, country, classical, and global music. Pop dominates major fields Lady Gaga&rsquo;s resurgence has made her one of this year&rsquo;s most-nominated artists. She received recognition for Record of the Year (&ldquo;Abracadabra&rdquo;), Song of the Year (&ldquo;Abracadabra&rdquo;), Album of the Year (&ldquo;MAYHEM&rdquo;), Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Dance Pop Recording, and Best Remixed Recording (for Gesaffelstein&rsquo;s remix of &ldquo;Abracadabra&rdquo;). Kendrick Lamar stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Gaga in the top fields. His album &ldquo;GNX&rdquo; and single &ldquo;luther,&rdquo; featuring SZA, earned him major nominations including Record of the Year and Album of the Year. The works showcase Lamar&rsquo;s signature blend of self-examination, political commentary and genre innovation. Other major nominees include Bad Bunny, who continues his global dominance with &ldquo;DeB&Iacute; TiRAR M&aacute;S FOToS&rdquo;; Sabrina Carpenter, whose &ldquo;Man&rsquo;s Best Friend&rdquo; and hit single &ldquo;Manchild&rdquo; earned nods in several categories; and Lisa, who expanded K-pop&rsquo;s global footprint with a string of hit releases. The architect of modern pop Behind many of the year&rsquo;s most celebrated recordings stands Jack Antonoff, one of the most prolific producers of his generation. The Grammy-winning songwriter and producer appears throughout this year&rsquo;s nomination list, credited on Sabrina Carpenter&rsquo;s &ldquo;Manchild&rdquo; and &ldquo;Man&rsquo;s Best Friend&rdquo; as well as Kendrick Lamar&rsquo;s &ldquo;GNX&rdquo; and &ldquo;luther.&rdquo; Antonoff&rsquo;s production style has defined much of 2020s pop music. His ability to shape personal narratives into chart-topping anthems has made him an indispensable collaborator for a wide range of artists. Over the past decade, Antonoff has worked with Taylor Swift (including hits &ldquo;Cruel Summer,&rdquo; &ldquo;Anti-Hero&rdquo; and &ldquo;The 1&rdquo;), Lana Del Rey, The 1975 and Lorde, helping to redefine the emotional scope of mainstream pop. Other standouts across categories Several other artists earned multiple nominations across different genres and categories. 1. &nbsp; &nbsp;Leon Thomas was recognized for his R&amp;B album &ldquo;MUTT,&rdquo; live performance &ldquo;MUTT &mdash; Live From NPR&rsquo;s Tiny Desk,&rdquo; and the song &ldquo;YES IT IS.&rdquo; 2. &nbsp; &nbsp;Producers Sounwave and Cirkut (Henry Walter) &mdash; frequent collaborators with Lamar and Gaga, respectively &mdash; were among the most frequently credited names on this year&rsquo;s ballots. 3. &nbsp; &nbsp;In classical categories, Gustavo Dudamel and Gabriela Ortiz each received multiple nominations A year of crossovers Cross-genre collabs and international partnerships defined the 2026 Grammy nominations. Tracks such as Billie Eilish&rsquo;s &ldquo;Wildflower,&rdquo; Bruno Mars and ROS&Eacute;&rsquo;s &ldquo;APT.&rdquo; and SZA and Kendrick Lamar&rsquo;s &ldquo;30 for 30&rdquo; saw pop, R&amp;B and hip-hop intersect. Lisa&rsquo;s work in the global categories, Bad Bunny&rsquo;s Latin-trap releases, and Jungkook&rsquo;s cross-market singles with Western producers also point to a mainstream industry increasingly shaped by international voices. Several major categories include collaborations that bridge multiple genres and audiences. Doja Cat&rsquo;s duet with Post Malone, The Weeknd&rsquo;s partnership with Giorgio Moroder, and Tate McRae&rsquo;s soundtrack single co-produced by Ryan Tedder all appear on this year&rsquo;s ballots. Across R&amp;B and electronic categories, acts like Leon Thomas, KAYTRANADA and Fred again.. brought dance-floor energy to traditionally vocal-driven formats.

Entertainment

The Recording Academy announced its full list of nominees in November 2025, spanning more than 95 categories across pop, rap, R&B, country, classical, and global music.

Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar lead 2026 Grammy nominations

Aleena Zara Malik

Culture

Pakistan’s music scene has gone global, from Arooj Aftab’s Grammy wins to Taurees Habib’s historic achievement. Artists like Meesha Shafi, Ali Sethi, and Xulfi continue pushing boundaries, solidifying Pakistan’s influence in global music culture

Grammy beyond borders: Pakistani artists redefine global music

ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;Grammy award-winning country songwriter Brett James, whose string of top hits includes &ldquo;Jesus, Take the Wheel&rdquo; by Carrie Underwood and &quot;When the Sun Goes Down&rdquo; by Kenny Chesney, died in a plane crash in North Carolina, authorities said Friday. He was 57. The small plane with three people aboard crashed Thursday afternoon &ldquo;under unknown circumstances&rdquo; in the woods in Franklin, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a preliminary report. There were no survivors, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said in a statement. James was on a Cirrus SR22T, which was registered to him under his legal name of Brett James Cornelius, according to information provided by the FAA. It was not known if he was the pilot. The patrol confirmed his death. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board said they will investigate the crash. The other two people on the plane were Melody Carole and Meryl Maxwell Wilson, the patrol confirmed. The plane had taken off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville. James was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020. The organization posted an online statement of mourning. A native of Oklahoma City, James left medical school to pursue a music career in Nashville, according his biography on the Hall of Fame&#39;s site.His first No. 1 hit was &ldquo;Who I Am&rdquo; in 2001, by Jessica Andrews. &ldquo;Jesus, Take the Wheel,&quot; which he co-wrote for Underwood, earned the 2006 Grammy for Best Country Song, among other honors. James had more than 500 of his songs recorded, for albums with combined sales of more than 110 million copies, according to his Grand Ole Opry biography online. Other artists who sang his songs include Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Nick Jonas and Meghan Trainor.&nbsp;Additional hits include &ldquo;Cowboy Casanova&rdquo; by Underwood, &ldquo;Out Last Night&rdquo; by Chesney and &ldquo;Summer Nights&rdquo; by Rascal Flatts.&nbsp;&ldquo;Heartbroken to hear of the loss of my friend Brett James tonight,&rdquo; country singer Jason Aldean posted on X. &ldquo;I had nothing but love and respect for that guy and he helped change my life. Honored to have met him and worked with him.&rdquo; James recorded his own album in 2020.&nbsp;&ldquo;At my stage in life, I&rsquo;m not going to write about driving around in pickup trucks, chasing girls,&rdquo; he was quoted as saying on the Opry site. &ldquo;It needed to feel more classic, lyrically. They all wound up being love songs, but hopefully love songs with a twist, that haven&rsquo;t all been written before.&rdquo;

Brett James, from left, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson hold their award for best country song, "Jesus Take the Wheel," at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. (AP)

The singer had more than 500 of his songs recorded, for albums with combined sales of more than 110 million copies.

Articles tagged with "Grammy awards"

Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar lead 2026 Grammy nominations

Grammy beyond borders: Pakistani artists redefine global music

Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James dies in plane crash