Four big questions ahead of the 2026 Grammy Awards show

Here are four big questions — and answers — ahead of the event.

What's new at the 2026 Grammys?

A lot! A best album cover category is back for the first time in 53 years. Best country album has been renamed to best contemporary country album and a best traditional country album category has been added.

“In this case, we got a proposal that wanted an additional country category. It made its way through the proposal process — again, voted on by members, evaluated by members, submitted by members but ultimately voted on my members — and we deploy what the members ask for,” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. tells The Associated Press.

When the change was announced, some viewed it as backlash to Beyoncé’s 2025 win for best country album. “It's not accurate,” says Mason jr. “It's something we've been talking about for a number of years.”

Also, in the last few years, the Grammy Awards have made a concerted effort to diversify its electorate. Last year, all Latin Grammy voting members were invited to join the Recording Academy.

“The idea was to make sure that the academy and the Grammys are representative of what’s going on in music,” says Mason jr. “Making sure that our membership was diverse around genre and geography and everything was really important to us. We acknowledged that Latin music is huge and it’s omnipresent in the industry at this point.”

What can we expect from the performances?

Surprises and variety, says Mason jr. “The new up-and-coming group is so incredible. The legends and the icons are so, so special to have around. And then the superstars, having some of them on our stage, and that mixture, I think, makes for a really fun show.”

Winston is a bit more specific: “18 or 19" performances, he counts, “In 3 ½ hours. Yeah, so it’s packed. … We keep it tight and sharp and we put less other stuff in the show this year so we can have a bit more music.”

“We definitely try to maximize the music performances on the show,” adds Kapoor. “It's something that we challenge our team with every year.”

And on an abridged timeline. Rehearsals start Thursday for Sunday's live event. It's “Thursday afternoon, all day Friday, all day Saturday, and that’s it,” Kapoor continues. “Everything that you see, those 19 performances, all happen between Thursday afternoon and Saturday evening. And it’s kind of one of the most amazing processes you’ve ever seen, and it’s absolutely insane how much work we get done, and how cooperative the artists are.”

The artists confirmed to perform so far are Clipse, Pharrell Williams, Sabrina Carpenter and all of the best new artist nominees: Katseye, Olivia Dean, Leon Thomas, Addison Rae, Sombr, Lola Young, The Marías and Alex Warren.

Who might make history at the 2026 Grammys?

So many people. Kendrick Lamar leads nominations with nine, including an album of the year nod. If he wins for “GNX” — or if Tyler, the Creator's “Chromakopia” or Clipse's “Let Got Sort Em Out” wins — it will be only the third time a rap album has taken home the top prize, following Outkast in 2004 for “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” and Lauryn Hill in 1999 for “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”

If Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” wins album of the year, it will be the first all-Spanish-language album to do so. It is only the second time an all-Spanish-language album has been nominated for the top prize. The first was also a Bad Bunny release — in 2023, for “Un Verano Sin Ti.” Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” won that year.

No K-pop artist has ever won a Grammy, but that may change. Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” and the “KPop Demon Hunters” track “Golden” are both nominated for song of the year, a first for any K-pop act. “APT.” is also up for record of the year, also a K-pop artist first.

There are also a number of intriguing first-time nominees. Timothée Chalamet is up for best compilation soundtrack for visual media for “A Complete Unknown.” Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and the Dalai Lama are up for audio book, narration and storytelling recording. Steven Spielberg is also nominated in the music film category, for “Music By John Williams.”

“There’s history that could be made across the board,” Winston says.

That competitiveness — and excitement — will be reflected in the show’s production.

“This year we are just going to enjoy great performances and great music and tight races,” he continues. “We’re leaning very much into just making these music performances spectacular and also trying to push the boundaries in how we shoot them as well for a live show.”

After 2025’s wildfires, how will the Grammys transform?

“We were living in hotels,” Winston reflects on the 2025 Grammys. “In this office, looking at the fires on the hills literally right there outside this window … there was no rundown because we didn’t know what we had. So, it’s just a very different year for us.”

Logistically, he says, this year his team has been able to “really appreciate the ability to finesse performances.”

Kapoor says the fires taught his team “just how flexible we can be.”

“And … we got to spotlight what else the Recording Academy does. Because so much of their work is actually helping people,” he adds.

Relief efforts were at the heart of the show, including highlighting small businesses affected by the wildfires.

“The fires last year brought some incredible challenges but also presented an amazing opportunity for us to see how we can amplify our work and our mission,” Mason jr. said. “Which is to serve people, to serve music people, to serve the world.”

MusiCares — the Recording Academy’s philanthropic arm, which helps music professionals who need financial, personal or medical assistance — announced that it directed more than $15 million toward fire relief efforts.

“The good thing about the organization as we stand now is there is never a business-as-usual mindset,” Mason jr. adds. “Everything every year gets looked at. It gets improved.”

For more coverage of the Grammy Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards.