Los Angeles, 1 February – The United States’ most prestigious music accolade, the Grammy Awards, is poised to make history this year with several potential first-time winners. Among the most talked-about contenders are Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny and the K-Pop band Golden, signalling a landmark year for global music representation.
Bad Bunny is nominated in the coveted Album of the Year category for his Spanish-language album Debí Tirar Más Fotos. Should he win, it would mark the first time a fully Spanish-language album has received this honour. Last year, the award was claimed by Beyoncé for Renaissance.
Billboard Awards editor Paul Grein highlighted the tight race, stating:
“This year, the competition is extremely close between Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar, with Lady Gaga also in the mix.”
Kendrick Lamar, competing with his album GNX, could become the first solo male rapper to win Album of the Year, joining only two previous hip-hop artists ever recognised in this category: Lauryn Hill and the duo OutKast. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga is aiming for her first major album award in a career spanning more than two decades, competing with her latest album Mayhem.
The ceremony will be hosted once again by Trevor Noah, returning for his sixth and reportedly final time. The show will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+, beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST (GMT Monday 01:00).
Controversy and Highlights
Bad Bunny has recently avoided touring the continental United States amid concerns that federal authorities could arrest fans attending his shows. He is, however, scheduled to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show on 8 February, a performance that has sparked debate about language representation in such a high-profile event.
The K-Pop group Golden is making Grammy history as the first animated band to be nominated, performing a track from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters film. The real-life members of the band are EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami.
Key Performers and Nominations
| Artist / Group | Performance Type | Notable Album / Song |
|---|---|---|
| Bad Bunny | Rap | Debí Tirar Más Fotos |
| Lady Gaga | Pop | Mayhem |
| Kendrick Lamar | Hip-Hop | GNX |
| Justin Bieber | Pop | New single |
| Sabrina Carpenter | Pop | New album |
| Addison Rae | Pop | – |
| Golden (K-Pop) | Animated Music | KPop Demon Hunters (HUNTR/X) |
Other notable nominations include Bruno Mars and K-Pop star Rosé for Record of the Year with APT., competing against Lamar’s luther (feat. SZA) and Gaga’s Abracadabra. Rising star Leon Thomas leads the Best New Artist category, with six total Grammy nominations, including Mutt for Album of the Year.
Grammy winners are selected by nearly 15,000 Recording Academy members, including artists, songwriters, producers, and engineers. Voting reforms over the past seven years have aimed to increase diversity, with approximately 1,000 Latin Grammy voters eligible this year and 73% of members joining since 2019 being new additions.
This year’s Grammys promise to celebrate unprecedented milestones, reflecting the increasingly global and multilingual nature of the music industry.