By Quinlan Cooke ’29

Staff Writer

On Friday, Nov. 7, the nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards were announced. The Grammys are awards given to musicians and other musical artists. This award ceremony is run by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, also commonly referred to as the Recording Academy. This ceremony happens every year, and the eligibility period for the 2026 ceremony ran from Aug. 31, 2024, through Aug. 30, 2025. The nominations for the ceremony for the coming year have brought many surprise snubs and repeat nominations.

There are over 75 Grammys in all, but only some are televised in a ceremony, and there are a “big four” categories that are most coveted. These categories are listed as 1. Record of the Year, 2. Album of the Year, 3.Song of the Year, and 4. Best New Artist. There are other categories that have to do with genre, music videos, composers and producers, but they are not televised on prime time.

Artists, songs, albums and producers are not chosen at random. To be nominated, the artist’s label or a member of The Recording Academy has to submit the music they want to be considered. The Recording Academy then sifts through all the considerations, narrowing things down. They verify if the submission fits the categories submitted to, and if they are “worthy” of nomination in said categories. Some artists try to campaign for nomination and release posters or billboards with what they want nominated, while others do not say anything under the chance that their submission is not nominated.

This year, the lack of nominations for The Weeknd comes as a shock to many. In 2021, he announced a boycott of the ceremony after his releases that year were not nominated. The lack of nominations is especially notable after his surprise performance at the 2025 Grammys ended his boycott of the ceremony. His album “Hurry Up Tomorrow” was eligible and submitted for consideration, but was ultimately rejected.

Jack Antonoff was nominated for seven categories this year, but he was not nominated for the category most would associate with him: Producer of The Year, Non-Classical. Two nominations for record and album of the year—“Manchild” and “GNX,” respectively — were produced by Antonoff. He is also under two of the other “big four” categories, with two nominations for each category. It is a shock that someone with so many nominations in such big categories would be passed up for the position of Producer of The Year, Non-Classical.

Alt-pop duo, Twenty One Pilots, was also noticeably missing from the 2026 nomination lineup. While their most recent album, “Breach,” was a month shy of eligibility, they had two singles submitted for consideration for several categories. “The Line” was released in November of 2024 as a single featured in the series “Arcane,” and the lead single for “Breach”—“The Contract”— did not garner any nominations. “The Contract” made it to #33 on pop charts, but it hit #1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart. Some believe the duo is blacklisted from future Grammys, as they accepted their most recent award by stripping down to their boxers when they stood up to walk to the stage. Despite this, I am still holding out hope for 2027.

The most surprising lack of nomination this year, in my eyes, has to do with Gigi Perez. Her “Sailor Song” charted wildly and still gets radio play; it even made an entrance onto the Billboard Hot-100, and was vastly popular on TikTok. During the summer of 2025, Perez opened for Grammy-winner Hozier — known for his song “Take Me to Church”— on tour.

While “Sailor Song” did not meet the criteria to be nominated on its own, it was released one month shy of the eligibility period, Perez’s album “At the Beach, In Every Life” does. This album, released April 25, 2025, houses the song “Fable.” “Fable” also became a hit, with radio play and TikTok fame. It also made it to the charts, peaking at 55, and it stayed charting for 7 weeks total.

Perez submitted for consideration for 5 categories, and was not selected for any of them. I find this to be criminal, especially considering those nominated for Best New Artist. For a few, I could not name any songs they have sung, and I do not believe that they have had the same radio impact.

Nevertheless, despite several snubs, many of the nominations were well deserved and happily received by both artists and fans. Truthfully, the Grammys will never leave everyone happy; everyone will always have something to say about them. If this weren't the case, there would be no show.

Abigail McKeon ’26 contributed fact checking.