When the nominees for the 68th Grammy Awards were announced in November, most of the media attention focused on the ‘big four’ awards: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Best New Artist. While these categories saw nominations for the likes of Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter, one of the best things about the Grammy Awards is the recognition given to artists in more niche genres, as well as writers and producers.
For example, the Davido Grammy nomination for Best African Music Performance continues the momentum he has been building over recent years and helps to further spotlight Afrobeats, while Linkin Park’s nominations in the Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Album categories highlight a successful comeback after the tragedy of Chester Bennington’s death. For a poet or comedian, it can be a rare chance to share the stage with global music icons.
The Grammy Awards can be invaluable to the brands of musicians, poets and spoken word artists. The use of “Grammy Award-winning” in branding can easily be the difference between selling a record or concert ticket and failing to do so. Here, we take a look at some of the stories away from the ‘big four’ awards at the Grammys.
New Award Categories and Changes
This year, the Recording Academy made some interesting and noteworthy changes to the Grammy Awards, including the introduction of some new categories and changes to existing ones. Perhaps the most significant of these changes relate to the country music awards categories. The Best Country Album award has been changed to the Best Contemporary Country Album, while a Best Traditional Country Album category has been added.
The Best Traditional Country Album award is focused on music that adheres to more conventional country music song structures, themes and sounds. It includes specific styles, like outlaw country and western music. The Best Contemporary Country Album category is intended to celebrate music that remains relevant to the legacy of country music, but which also embraces more modern music styles, song structures and lyrical themes.
This broadly follows the same pattern that the Grammys have been using for blues music, where there are distinct categories for the Best Traditional Blues Album and Best Contemporary Blues Album.
It is in a country music category that one of the most unique and fascinating battles will take place. The legendary Willie Nelson is nominated in the Best Traditional Country Album category for his 77th solo studio album, entitled ‘Oh What a Beautiful World’. In the same category, Lukas Nelson is nominated for his first ever studio album, ‘American Romance’. This means that a father and son will be competing for the same award at very different stages of their careers.
The other new category this year is Best Album Cover, which recognises album artwork. This award has existed in the past, but had evolved into the Best Recording Package award. Now, these are two distinct categories. The Best Recording Package category takes into account the entire visual presentation of an album. These awards recognise the artists, art directors and other creatives behind physical presentation, rather than the musical performer.
Latin, African, Reggae and New Age
A great part of the Grammy Awards is the recognition it provides for musicians from different parts of the world. For example, artists like Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, Los Aterciopelados and Los Wizzards are among the contenders for the Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, potentially gaining a new audience as a result of their nominations.
One of the biggest names promoting Afrobeats music on a global scale over recent years has been Davido. He has previously received Grammy nominations in the categories of Best Global Music Performance, Best African Music Performance and Best Global Album. This year, he is nominated in the Best African Music Performance category for ‘With You’ ft Omah Lay and this is regarded as a serious contender to take home the award.
The nomination builds on the momentum Davido has been building year after year, dating back to his 2011 breakout hit ‘Dami Duro’. The Nigerian-American has been on a mission to increase the awareness and understanding of Afrobeats music, especially in the western world. His personal brand has been on the rise and whether it is his music, his partnership with the technology-driven online casino Stake.com, or his award nominations, he is continually gaining even more recognition around the world, pushing innovation and positively representing Nigerian music and artistry.
Alongside Davido in the Best African Music Performance category is Eddy Kenzo, who is nominated alongside Mehran Matin for ‘Hope & Love’. Kenzo became the first ever Ugandan artist to be nominated for a Grammy at the 2023 awards and will be hoping he can go one further and become a winner in 2026.
Jamaican artist Lila Iké is nominated for the first time in the Best Reggae Album category for her debut album, ‘Treasure Self Love’. She is competing with artists like Vybz Kartel, who is also nominated for the first time.
Meanwhile, the Grammys can help to draw attention to genres that often receive very little media attention. For instance, the British artist, Jahnavi Harrison, has been put forward for the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album. She is known for creating Hindu mantra meditation music and has been nominated for ‘Into The Forest’.
Rock and Alternative Music Categories
One of the biggest stories in the rock and alternative music categories has been the return of Linkin Park. The American rock and nu-metal band enjoyed tremendous success in the 2000s, with songs like ‘In the End’, ‘Numb’ and ‘What I’ve Done’ becoming mainstream hits in the US and around the world. However, in 2017, lead vocalist Chester Bennington took his own life, seemingly bringing an end to the Linkin Park story.
There have been rumours over the years that the band had been working on new music, while co-founder Mike Shinoda released two solo projects, ‘Post Traumatic’ and ‘Dropped Frames’, after Bennington’s death. However, in 2024, the band made a triumphant return to the stage and studio, with a new lead vocalist, Emily Armstrong.
What followed was a new album, ‘From Zero’, which topped the charts in 10 countries, along with a successful world tour that has taken the group to venues like Wembley Stadium. The band is nominated for Best Rock Performance for their comeback single, ‘The Emptiness Machine’, while ‘From Zero’ has received a nomination for Best Rock Album.
Hayley Williams is another success story in the rock and alternative music categories, receiving nominations for her solo project, ‘Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party’. The Paramore singer is up for the Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Song, Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Rock Performance awards. This marks the first time she has been nominated for Grammy Awards as a solo artist, all coming from her third solo album.
The album itself was self-released, after Williams left her previous record label, Atlantic Records. The highly acclaimed record sees her write songs, play multiple instruments and sing, and it feels like it may just land her a first Grammy Award as a solo performer. Of course, she has previously taken home Best Rock Song, Best Rock Album and Best Alternative Music Performance awards as the lead singer of Paramore.
Recognising Songwriters and Producers
Many of the major music awards place full attention on globally famous pop stars and bands, giving little consideration to the people working behind the scenes to make albums and songs sound the way they do. The Grammy Awards take steps to recognise some of these unsung heroes, with award categories for songwriters and producers.
As an example, nominees in the Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical category include Amy Allen for her work writing for the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae and Rosé; Edgar Barrera for his work writing for Santana, Shakira and Karol G; and Tobias Jesso Jr., who wrote for artists like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Bon Iver.
Meanwhile, the Producer of the Year, Non-Classical nominees include Dan Auerbach, who produced tracks for Miles Kane and The Black Keyes; Cirkut, who worked with Lady Gaga and Ed Sheeran; and Dijon, who produced his own album, ‘Baby’, as well as a number of the best tracks from Justin Bieber’s ‘Swag’ album.
In the classical categories, producers like Blanton Alspaugh, Elaine Martone, Sergei Kvitko and Morten Lindberg will all be hoping to take home a Grammy, while the Best Engineered Album, Classical and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical categories draw attention to the invaluable work of sound engineers.
These categories do not tend to attract headlines in the mainstream and may not always be shown on television broadcasts, but they offer appreciation for the incredible work that goes on in recording studios to make sure albums sound clean and crisp. For people working in engineering and production roles, earning a Grammy can open doors to work with different artists, gain wider recognition, earn more money and sometimes even release albums of their own.
Spoken Word and Soundtrack Awards
It is sometimes forgotten or overlooked that the Grammy Awards recognises a wide range of spoken word and storytelling works. Did you know that the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is nominated for a Grammy this year? His recording of ‘Meditations: Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’ is up for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording. It will compete with works from Ketanji Brown Jackson, Trevor Noah, Kathy Garver and Fab Morvan.
The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album has always been a prestigious category on the comedy circuit, recognising artistic achievement in this field. In the past, it has been won by some of the most legendary performers in history, including George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
This year, the nominees in the Best Comedy Album category include Bill Burr for ‘Drop Dead Years’, Jamie Foxx for ‘What Had Happened Was…’ and Sarah Silverman for ‘PostMortem’.
Another fascinating category this year will pit several very different cultural phenomena against one another. The Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media award will see ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ do battle with ‘Wicked’ and ‘Sinners’. They are joined by the soundtracks for ‘F1: The Movie’ and the Bob Dylan biopic, ‘A Complete Unknown’.
Finally, the scores for video games are recognised via the Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media award. This Grammy will be contested by ‘Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – Secrets of the Spires’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’, ‘Helldivers 2’, ‘Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card & A Pirate’s Fortune’ and ‘Sword of the Sea’.
Final Thoughts
The general field awards at the 2026 Grammys have some interesting sub-stories of their own. If either ‘Golden’ by KPop Demon Hunters/Huntrix or ‘Apt.’ by Rosé & Bruno Mars triumph in the Song of the Year category, they will become the first ever K-pop act to win that particular award. If Kendrick Lamar, who is nominated in nine categories, is able to win at least four of them, he will become the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history.
However, some of the biggest winners on the night will be acts in some of the less publicised categories. This includes the artists flying the flag for African or Latin music, the producers and engineers who work so hard behind the scenes, the spoken word performers and comedians, or the classical musicians and soundtrack composers. In many cases, earning a prestigious Grammy can open up new opportunities for earnings and industry recognition.
The Grammy Awards remain among the most sought after awards in music and audio arts. Winning a Grammy can boost a personal brand, help to sell albums and open the doors for future collaborations. While it is always interesting to follow the ‘big four’ awards and see global superstars battle for supremacy, it can be even better to see life-changing moments when producers, engineers and composers are rewarded for their hard work as well.
