It’s music’s biggest night—and The Grammy goes to…
By Steven Housman
ANNOUNCING the 68th Grammy Awards.
There are 95 categories in the 68th annual Grammy Awards for recordings released during the eligibility year of August 31, 2024, through August 30, 2025. The minimum number of nominations in each category are five, going up to eight if there were ties in the voting process.
If I were to predict all of the categories (which run several genres globally), I would have a column that would occupy this entire newspaper. For that reason, I will stick to just the four major categories that most viewers tune in to see, with the exception of many nominated and non-nominated musicians who also have their fan favorites. For those who just tune in to see the performances, the line-up is looking very exciting this year.
Leading the pack with the most nominations is Kendrick Lamar, with nine nominations. He’s followed by Lady Gaga, producer and writer Jack Antonoff, and Cirkut, with seven nods each, and Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, and Leon Thomas, who have six nods apiece.
I am predicting who will win and who I feel should win. If you’re interested in current pop music, this should be an enjoyable list for you to follow. Of course, you may agree or disagree with my choices. Or maybe this list could simply serve as a guide to what’s happening in the music industry in 2026. C’mon, play along with me. You might even have some fun!
Record of the Year
“DtMF,” Bad Bunny
“Manchild,” Sabrina Carpenter
“Anxiety,” Doechii
“WILDFLOWER,” Billie Eilish
“Abracadabra,” Lady Gaga
“luther,” Kendrick Lamar with SZA
“The Subway,” Chappell Roan
“APT.,” ROSE Bruno Mars
Who Will Win: Kendrick Lamar with SZA. Lamar won last year in this category for “Not Like Us.”
Who Should Win: Lady Gaga for “Abracadabra.” I feel this is the strongest record she’s released since “Shallow,” which happened to win the Oscar for Best Song, co-written and performed with Bradley Cooper for the 2018 film “A Star Is Born.”
Album of the Year
“DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS,”
Bad Bunny
“Swag,” Justin Bieber
“Man’s Best Friend,” Sabrina Carpenter
“Let God Sort Em Out,” Clipse, Pusha T and Malice
“MAYHEM,” Lady Gaga
“GNX,” Kendrick Lamar
“MUTT,” Leon Thomas
“CHROMAKOPIA,” Tyler, The Creator
Who Will Win: Lady Gaga. “Mayhem” is her strongest pop album of the 17 years since her first release. Also, her sold-out The Mayhem Ball Tour (2025-2026) proves to be the most successful and exciting tour of her career.
Who Should Win: Lady Gaga. The music business is very fickle. Not many artists ‘popularity and fame grow stronger nearly two decades into their career.
Song of the Year awarded to the songwriter(s)
“Abracadabra,” Lady Gaga, Henry Walter & Andrew Wyatt. Artist: Lady Gaga
“Anxiety,” Jaylah Hickmon. Artist: Doechii
“APT.,” Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas & Henry Walter. Artist: ROSÉ, Bruno Mars
“DtMF,” Marco Daniel Borrero, Scott Dittrich, Benjamin Fallick, Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, Hugo René Sencion Sanabria, Tyler Thomas Spry & Roberto José Rosado Torres. Artist: Bad Bunny
“Golden,” from “KPop Demon Hunters,” EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick. Artist: HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI.
“luther,” Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Ink, Kendrick Lamar, Solana Rowe, Mark Anthony Spears, & Kamasi Washington. Artist: Kendrick Lamar With SZA.
“Manchild,” Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff and Sabrina Carpenter. Artist: Sabrina Carpenter.
“WILDFLOWER,” Billie Eilish O’Connell, Finneas O’Connell. Artist: Billie Eilish.
Who Will Win: Sabrina Carpenter for a smart and infectious pop song that deals with successful but immature men. This song has become an anthem.
Who Should Win: Sabrina Carpenter.
Best New Artist
Olivia Dean
KATSEYE
The Marias
Addison Rae
sombr
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren
Lola Young
Who Will Win: Alex Warren, due to his song “Ordinary,” which went viral this past year on Tik Tok.
Who Should Win: Leon Thomas. He has been a presence on the music scene since he was a teenager. This 32-year-old has already written several successful songs for dozens of artists.
Tune into the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sun., Feb. 1, at 5 p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST. You can then check my predictions, as well as your own.
Category: Entertainment
