2026 Grammy Awards Full Nominations: Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr & Tyla in the Mix

The latest announcement for the 68th Grammy nominations spotlights several Afrobeats artists among the leading contenders. The nominations feature Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, and a host of others.

Continently, class acts like Uganda’s Eddy Kenzo and Mehran Matin, and South Africa’s Tyla, also featured in the official nominations. This recognition by the Recording Academy marks a significant milestone for African Music on the global stage

This article breaks down the official nominations. We’ll begin with the Afrobeats artists featured in the nominations and the categories they were nominated for, before revealing the entire list of nominations.

Afrobeats Artists Nominated for the 2026 Grammy Awards

1. Burna Boy

Burna Boy’s “Love” featured in the Best African Music Performance category. His album, “No Sign of Weakness” was also nominated in the Best Global Music Album category, making him the only Nigerian artist with 2 official nominations for the Grammy 2026.

2. Davido

Despite not making any public or official announcement about making any submission for the Grammys, Davido’s song “With You” featuring Omah Lay was officially nominated in the Best African Music Performance category.

3. Ayra Starr

Ayra Starr also got the nod in the Best African Music Performance category with “Gimme Dat” featuring Wizkid. She also joined the list of Nigerian Afrobeats artists with consecutive annual Grammy nominations.

4. Tyla

South African sensation Tyla made her mark in the Best African Music Performance category with “PUSH 2 START”. She came out on top in this category last and would be hoping to repeat the great fit amid fierce competitors.

5. Kenzo and Mehran Matin

“Hope & Love” by Eddy Kenzo and Mehran Matin earned a spot amongst the nominations in the Best African Music Performance category.

6. Angelique Kidjo

What’s a Grammy nomination without Angélique Kidjo? The veteran artist earned a nomination in the Best Global Music Performance category with “JERUSALEMA.”

2026 Grammy Awards: Full List of Official Nominations

Song of the Year

• Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
• Doechii – Anxiety
• Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT
• Bad Bunny – DtMF
• Hunter/x – Golden
• Kendrick Lamar feat. SZA – Luther
• Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild
• Billie Eilish – Wildflower

Record of the Year

• Bad Bunny – DtMF
• Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild
• Doechii – Anxiety
• Billie Eilish – Wildflower
• Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
• Kendrick Lamar feat. SZA – Luther
• Chappell Roan – The Subway
• Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT

Album of the Year

• Bad Bunny – Debí Tirar Más Fotos
• Justin Bieber – Swag
• Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
• Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out
• Lady Gaga – Mayhem
• Kendrick Lamar – GNX
• Leon Thomas – Mutt
• Tyler, the Creator – Chromakopia

Best New Artist

• Olivia Dean
• Katseye
• The Marias
• Addison Rae
• Sombr
• Leon Thomas
• Alex Warren
• Lola Young

Songwriter of the Year [Non-Classical]

• Amy Allen
• Edgar Barrera
• Jessie Jo Dillon
• Tobias Jesso Jr.
• Laura Veltz

Producer of the Year [Non-Classical]

• Dan Auerbach
• Cirkut
• Dijon
• Blake Mills
• Sounwave

Best Pop Vocal Album

• Swag — Justin Bieber
• Man’s Best Friend — Sabrina Carpenter
• Something Beautiful — Miley Cyrus
• Mayhem — Lady Gaga
• I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 2) — Teddy Swims

Best Pop Solo Performance

• “Daisies” — Justin Bieber
• “Manchild” — Sabrina Carpenter
• “Disease” — Lady Gaga
• “The Subway” — Chappell Roan
• “Messy” — Lola Young

Best Rock Album

• Private Music — Deftones
• I Quit — Haim
• From Zero — Linkin Park
• Never Enough — Turnstile
• Idols — Yungblud

Best Metal Performance

• “Night Terror” — Dream Theatre
• “Lachryma” — Ghost
• “Emergence” — Sleep Token
• “Soft Spine” — Spiritbox
• “Birds” — Turnstile

Best Rap Album

• Let God Sort Em Out — Clipse, Pusha T & Malice
• Glorious — GloRilla
• God Does Like Ugly — JID
• GNX — Kendrick Lamar
• Chromakopia — Tyler, the Creator

Best R&B Album

• Beloved — Givēon
• Why Not More? — Coco Jones
• The Crown — Ledisi
• Escape Room — Teyana Taylor
• Mutt — Leon Thomas

Best African Music Performance

• Love – Burna Boy
• With You – Davido Featuring Omah Lay
• Hope & Love – Eddy Kenzo & Mehran Matin
• Gimme Dat – Ayra Starr Featuring Wizkid
• PUSH 2 START – Tyla
• Best Musical Theatre Album
• Buena Vista Social Club
• Death Becomes Her
• Gypsy
• Just In Time
• Maybe Happy Ending

Best Traditional Country Album

• Dollar A Day – Charley Crockett
• American Romance – Lukas Nelson
• Oh What A Beautiful World – Willie Nelson
• Hard Headed Woman – Margo Price
• Ain’t In It For My Health – Zach Top

Best Contemporary Country Album

• Patterns – Kelsea Ballerini
• Snipe Hunter – Tyler Childers
• Evangeline Vs. The Machine – Eric Church
• Beautifully Broken – Jelly Roll
• Postcards From Texas – Miranda Lambert

Best Global Music Album

• Sounds Of Kumbha – Siddhant Bhatia
• No Sign of Weakness – Burna Boy
• Eclairer le monde – Light the World – Youssou N’Dour
• Mind Explosion – Shakti
• Chapter III: We Return To Light – Anoushka Shankar Featuring Alam Khan & Sarathy Korwar
• Caetano e Bethânia Ao Vivo – Caetano Veloso And Maria Bethânia

Best Global Music Performance

• EoO – Bad Bunny
• Cantando en el Camino – Ciro Hurtado
• JERUSALEMA – Angélique Kidjo
• Inmigrante Y Que? – Yeisy Rojas
• Shrini’s Dream – Shakti
• Daybreak – Anoushka Shankar Featuring Alam Khan & Sarathy Korwar

Best Country Solo Performance

• Nose On The Grindstone – Tyler Childers
• Good News – Shaboozey
• Bad As I Used To Be – Chris Stapleton
• I Never Lie – Zach Top
• Somewhere Over Laredo – Lainey Wilson

Best Spoken Word Poetry Album

• A Hurricane in Heels: Healed People Don’t Act Like That (partially recorded live @City Winery & other places) — Queen Sheba
• Black Shaman — Marc Marcel
• Pages — Omari Hardwick & Anthony Hamilton
• Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño & Friends at Treepeople — Saul Williams, Carlos Niño & Friends
• Words For Days Vol. 1 — Mad Skillz

Best Gospel Performance/Song

• Do It Again – Kirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, songwriter
• Church – Tasha Cobbs Leonard, John Legend; Anthony S. Brown, Brunes Charles, Annatoria Chitapa, Kenneth Leonard, Jr., Tasha Cobbs Leonard & Jonas Myrin, songwriters
• Still Live – Jonathan McReynolds & Jamal Roberts; Britney Delagraentiss, Jonathan McReynolds, David Lamar Outing III, Orlando Joel Palmer & Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters
• Amen – Pastor Mike Jr.; Adia Andrews, Michael McClure Jr., David Lamar Outing II & Terrell Anthony Pettus, songwriters
• Come Jesus Come – Cece Winans Featuring Shirley Caesar

Best Gospel Album

• Sunny Days – Yolanda Adams
• Tasha – Tasha Cobbs Leonard
• Live Breathe Fight – Tamela Mann
• Only On The Road Live – Tye Tribbett
• Heart Of Mine – Darrel Walls, PJ Morton

Best Reggae Album

• Treasure Self Love – Lila Iké
• Heart & Soul – Vybz Kartel
• BLXXD & FYAH – Keznamdi
• From Within – Mortimer
• No Place Like Home – Jesse Royal

Best Children’s Music Album

• Ageless – 100 Years Young, Joanie Leeds & Joya
• Buddy’s Magic Tree House – Mega Ran
• Harmony – FYÜTCH & Aura V
• Herstory – Flor Bromley
• The Music Of Tori And The Muses – Tori Amos

Best Comedy Album

• Drop Dead Years – Bill Burr
• PostMortem – Sarah Silverman
• Single Lady, Ali Wong
• What Had Happened Was – Jamie Foxx
• Your Friend – Nate Bargatze, Nate Bargatze

Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording

• Elvis, Rocky & Me – The Carol Connors Story, Kathy Garver
• Into The Uncut Grass, Trevor Noah
• Lovely One: A Memoir, Ketanji Brown Jackson
• Meditations: The Reflections Of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama
• You Know It’s True: The Real Story Of Milli Vanilli, Fab Morvan

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media

• A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet
• F1® The Album, (Various Artists)
• KPop Demon Hunters, (Various Artists)
• Sinners, (Various Artists)
• Wicked, (Various Artists)

Best Music Video

• Young Lion, Sade, Sophie Muller, video director – Sade & Aaron Taylor Dean, video producers
• Manchild – Sabrina Carpenter, Vania Heymann & Gal Muggia, video directors; Aiden Magarian, Nathan Scherrer & Natan Schottenfels, video producers
• So Be It – Clipse, Hannan Hussain, video director; Daniel Order, video producer
• Anxiety, Doechii, James Mackel, video director; Pablo Feldman, Jolene Mendes & Sophia Sabella, video producers
• Love, OK Go, Aaron Duffy, Miguel Espada & Damian Kulash Jr., video directors; Petra Ahmann, video producer

Best Music Film

• Devo, Devo, Chris Smith, video director; Danny Gabai, Anita Greenspan, Chris Holmes & Chris Smith, video producers
• Live At The Royal Albert Hall, RAYE, Paul Dugdale, video director; Stefan Demetriou & Amy James, video producers
• Relentless, Diane Warren, Bess Kargman, video director; Peggy Drexler, Michele Farinola & Kat Nguyen, video producers
• Music By John Williams, John Williams, Laurent Bouzereau, video director; Sara Bernstein, Laurent Bouzereau, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Meredith Kaulfers, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg & Justin Wilkes, video producers
• Piece By Piece, Pharrell Williams, Morgan Neville, video director; Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Mimi Valdes & Pharrell Williams, video producers

Best Album Cover

• CHROMAKOPIA, Shaun Llewellyn & Luis “Panch” Perez, art directors (Tyler, The Creator)
• The Crux, William Wesley II, art director (Djo)
• Debí Tirar Más Fotos, Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, art director (Bad Bunny)
• Glory, Cody Critcheloe & Andrew J.S., art directors (Perfume Genius)
• Moisturizer, Hester Chambers, Ellis Durand, Henry Holmes, Matt de Jong, Jamie-James Medina, Joshua Mobaraki & Rhian Teasdale, art directors (Wet Leg)

Did Asake, Rema, or Tems get nominated for 2026 Grammy Awards?

In what was quite a surprising turn of events, none of Rema, Asake, or Tems earned any nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards. While it is unknown if these artists submitted their projects, we can all agree that their contributions to the Afrobeats world remain phenomenal, and it’s only a matter of time before they bring it home.