The music industry’s top honors will be decided Sunday evening in Los Angeles when the Recording Academy presents the Grammy Awards. The live telecast will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ at 5 p.m. Los Angeles time (0100 GMT Monday). Trevor Noah returns as host for a sixth time and has indicated this will be his last Grammys hosting engagement.
Among the awards up for grabs, Album of the Year has attracted particular attention. Industry observers note the race is unusually close, with three artists - Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga - all in contention for an honor none of them has yet claimed. Last year’s Album of the Year went to Beyonce for "Cowboy Carter."
A tightly contested album category
Paul Grein, awards editor at Billboard, described the album category as "super tight." Bad Bunny is nominated for "Debi Tirar Más Fotos," marking a potential milestone as the first Spanish-language album to win Album of the Year since the Grammys began 68 years ago if he prevails. Kendrick Lamar is nominated for "GNX," and a Lamar victory would make him the first solo male rapper to win the award; to date only Lauryn Hill and the duo Outkast have taken the honor representing hip-hop. For Lady Gaga, nominated for "Mayhem," an Album of the Year win would be the first of her career despite more than two decades in the music business and a record of nominations.
Grein said he expects Lamar to win, noting Lamar took home five Grammys last year for the single "Not Like Us." At the same time, Grein suggested that current events may bolster backing for Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican rapper and performer, who is slated to headline the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show, recently omitted the continental United States from his concert tour because he said he feared federal agents enforcing U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies might arrest his fans. His Super Bowl selection has also drawn criticism from those who argue the National Football League championship game entertainment should be performed in English. "I think the culture wars work in his favor," Grein said. "There are people who will vote for him in part - not only for this reason, but in part - as a rebuke to President Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric."
Industry representation and voting changes
Record labels represented among the nominees include Universal Music Group, which represents both Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga, and the Puerto Rican label Rimas Entertainment, which represents Bad Bunny. Winners are chosen by roughly 15,000 voting members of the Recording Academy - a group made up of peers in the industry including artists, songwriters, producers and engineers.
The makeup of the Academy’s voting body has been adjusted over the past seven years to increase diversity. About 1,000 Latin Grammys voters became eligible to vote this year, and 73% of members have joined since 2019. Recording Academy Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr. said those changes were intended to reflect the growing popularity of music from a wider array of places and genres. "For us, the academy, we had to keep up with that," he said. "We have to make sure we are responsible and we’re honoring music regardless of where it comes from."
Other categories and representation
The Grammys also reflect genre diversity across major categories. KPop has a presence in the Song of the Year category, which honors songwriters. The track "Golden," from the Netflix movie "KPop Demon Hunters," is in contention in that category. It will face "APT.," a duet between KPop singer Rosé and Bruno Mars, which is also nominated for Record of the Year - an award for performers and producers. "APT." will compete for Record of the Year against Kendrick Lamar’s collaboration "luther" with SZA and Lady Gaga’s "Abracadabra."
In the Best New Artist category, R&B and soul musician Leon Thomas is viewed as a frontrunner. Thomas received six nominations in total, including an Album of the Year nomination for "Mutt." His competitors in the Best New Artist race include British soul-pop singer Olivia Dean and pop musician Alex Warren.
Performers, surprises and production notes
Scheduled performers on the telecast include Sabrina Carpenter, Addison Rae and all eight nominees for Best New Artist. Producers have indicated there will be surprise appearances among performers and presenters who have not been publicly announced.
The selection of winners rests with the Recording Academy voting membership, reflecting both peer recognition and recent efforts to broaden the Academy’s representational base. The ceremony’s lineup of nominees and performers, along with the surrounding cultural debates - including language and immigration-related controversies tied to touring and the Super Bowl stage - have added layers of public interest to what industry observers say is a close race for music’s top accolades.