The 2026 Grammys will air on Sunday, Feb. 1, next year, and the broadcast will bring with it a slew of updates and new categories.
The Recording Academy announced Thursday morning that the 68th Annual Grammy Awards will split the Best Country Album category into Best Contemporary Country Album and Best Traditional Country Album, while also adding Best Album Cover.
Another change includes expanded eligibility for the Best New Artist award. Moving forward, artists who have been previously nominated in the Album of the Year category will be eligible for Best New Artist, so long as their contributions to the album in question did not exceed a 20% playing time threshold. This change is designed to allow artists who have been credited in previous awards cycles as featured acts on Grammy-nominated Album of the Year contenders to still be eligible for Best New Artist for their own work.
Meanwhile, the existing Best Recording Package and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package categories have been combined into one single category: Best Recording Package.
Additionally, the Recording Academy has announced that composers and lyricists/librettists will be eligible from this point on for recognition in the classical music categories.
“The Academy’s top priority is to represent the music people that we serve each year,” Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a Thursday statement. “That entails listening carefully to our members to make sure our rules and guidelines reflect today’s music and allow us to accurately recognize as many deserving creators as possible. As we kick off another exciting Grammy Season, we look forward to celebrating the amazing power of music and its ability to bring so many people together.”
All musical products released from Aug. 31, 2024, through Aug. 30, 2025, will be eligible for the 2026 Grammys. First round voting, which determines the year’s nominees, will open Oct. 3 and close on Oct. 15. After nominees are announced on Nov. 7, the final round of Grammy voting, which determines the year’s winners, will open on Dec. 12 and close on Jan. 5, 2026. The 2026 Grammys will then take place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2026.
The 2025 Grammys aired this year on Feb. 2 and saw Beyoncé win Album of the Year and Best Country Album for “Cowboy Carter” while rapper Kendrick Lamar took home five awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year, for his hit diss track, “Not Like Us.”
The Best Moments From the 2025 Grammy Awards