Superstars Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga are primed to make historical past on Sunday in Los Angeles on the 68th Grammy Awards, honoring the most effective in music.
All three are angling so as to add to their trophy cupboards by taking residence the gala’s most coveted award, Album of the Year, for the primary time.
Lamar, the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper who gained 5 gramophones final yr, has 9 nominations this time round — probably the most of any artist — together with for Record and Song of the yr.
Pop chameleon Lady Gaga and Puerto Rico’s Bad Bunny are also competing in all three classes.
Also nominated for the highest album prize are: pop princess Sabrina Carpenter; R&B singer-songwriter Leon Thomas; Tyler, the Creator; hip-hop duo Clipse (Pusha T and Malice); and pop famous person Justin Bieber — along with his first studio effort in 4 years.
Lamar is nominated this yr for his album “GNX,” which incorporates the one “Luther” that includes R&B artist SZA. The 38-year-old has gained 22 Grammys throughout his profession.
Lady Gaga, Bieber and Carpenter are set to carry out, with extra acts anticipated to be confirmed earlier than Sunday.
Bad Bunny’s scorching streak
Standing in Lamar’s approach for Album of the Year is Bad Bunny, who’s at the moment on a world tour in help of his album “Debi Tirar Mas Fotos” (I Should Have Taken More Photos).
“It was a very exciting album,” musicologist Lauron Kehrer informed AFP.
“It touched on so much in terms of thematic material and musical material,” Kehrer mentioned, pointing to the allusions to decolonization and use of conventional Puerto Rican rhythms.
The 31-year-old Latin megastar, born Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, will headline the Super Bowl halftime present every week after the Grammys, the place he’s up for six awards.
Last yr, he accomplished a three-month residency in his native Puerto Rico and hosted the season opener of “Saturday Night Live.”
His “Un verano sin ti” (2022) was the primary Spanish-language album nominated for Album of the Year honors. A win on Sunday would give Bad Bunny one other point out within the historical past books.
Lady Gaga, 39, made a splashy comeback to touring with “Mayhem,” her assortment of pop bangers with a darkish edge that embraces her dramatic facet. She has seven nominations.
She has 14 Grammys to her identify, however a win for Album of the Year would full her hat trick of high awards.
She took Record and Song of the Year honors seven years in the past for the soundtrack hit “Shallow,” from “A Star is Born” — which additionally earned her an Oscar.
This time round, Song of the Year — which honors songwriting — is a crowded class that features Carpenter’s “Manchild” and “Golden” from the Netflix animated smash hit “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Many pundits consider the energetic Ok-pop hit will triumph.
Up for finest new artist are Alex Warren, lady group Katseye, Britain’s Olivia Dean, TikTok dancer-turned-singer Addison Rae, The Marias, sombr, Lola Young and Thomas — who was already a Grammy winner two years in the past for producing a music by SZA.
For musicologist Kehrer, the infusion of rap, reggaeton and Ok-pop within the high Grammy classes displays adjustments within the composition of the Recording Academy’s voting group.
More than 3,800 new members have been admitted. Half of these new members are age 39 or youthful, and 58 p.c of them are folks of shade, the academy says.
Invitations had been additionally supplied to all members of the Latin Recording Academy.
“The Grammys are more reactionary than anything else,” mentioned Kehrer. “These artists winning those major awards is more of an indication of climate, rather than trying to move or change the climate.”
The Grammy Awards will as soon as once more be hosted by comic Trevor Noah.
The major broadcast begins at 5 p.m., however most of the 95 awards might be handed out at a pre-gala occasion.
© 2026 AFP