Justin Bieber’s comeback continues as he prepares to perform at the 2026 Grammy Awards for the first time in four years.
The singer will return to the Grammys stage at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Monday (AEDT), where he’s also up for four awards including album of the year and best pop vocal album for his surprise record Swag. His last performance at the Grammys was in 2022, when he sang Peaches alongside Giveon and Daniel Caesar.
Bieber’s comeback has been punctated by concerns around his wellbeing, which reached fever pitch last March after he shared a deeply personal statement on social media about self-doubt, confessing he felt “unequipped and unqualified” most days. His representatives, however, said the singer was in a good place.
Since 2020, Bieber has also endured multiple health struggles, including Lyme disease, chronic mono and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which left half of his face temporarily paralysed, prompting Bieber to cancel his 2022 Justice world tour to make his “health a priority”.
However, following the Grammys outing, Bieber will be headlining Coachella in May alongside Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G.
Rumours are also swirling that Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, could appear at this year’s Grammys ceremony. The controversial hip-hop personality recently took out a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal in which he apologised for his past antisemitic comments, attributing his previous offensive public behaviour to bipolar disorder.
However, per US tabloids, he has allegedly not been given tickets. He reportedly didn’t have tickets to last year’s event, either, though he and his wife, Melburnian Bianca Censori, still stirred drama on the red carpet, with the latter wearing a completely sheer dress with nothing underneath.
Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga dominated nominations this year but Australian talent has carved out space for themselves. Amyl and the Sniffers, who opened for AC/DC during the Australian leg of their tour last year, are up for best rock performance with U Should Not Be Doing That.
Elsewhere, Rufus Du Sol received a nod for best dance/electronic album for Inhale/Exhale, and Tame Impala (aka WA musician Kevin Parker) – fresh off the back of claiming No.3 in triple j’s Hottest 100 – was nominated for best dance/electronic recording for End of Summer. Parker won his first Grammy in that category last year with the Tame Impala track Neverender.
Here are the nominees in all the major categories this year.
Song of the year
- Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
- Doechii – Anxiety
- Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT
- Bad Bunny – DtMF
- Huntr/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 – Debi Tirar Mas Fotos
- Justin Bieber – Swag
- Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
- Clipse, Pusha T & Malice – 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
Best pop vocal album
- Justin Bieber – Swag
- Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
- Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful
- Lady Gaga – Mayhem
- Teddy Swims – I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy Pt 2
Best pop solo performance
- Justin Bieber – Daisies
- Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild
- Lady Gaga – Disease
- Chappell Roan – The Subway
- Lola Young – Messy
Best pop duo/group performance
- Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande – Defying Gravity
- Huntr/x – Golden
- Katseye – Gabriela
- Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT
- SZA with Kendrick Lamar – 30 for 30
Best music video
- Sade – Young Lion
- Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild
- Clipse – So Be It
- Doechii – Anxiety
- OK Go – Love
Best dance/electronic recording
- Disclosure & Anderson Paak – No Cap
- Fred Again, Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax – Victory Lap
- Kaytranada – Space Invader
- Skrillex – Voltage
- Tame Impala – End of Summer
Best dance/electronic album
- FKA Twigs – Eusexua
- Fred Again – Ten Days
- PinkPantheress – Fancy That
- Rufus Du Sol – Inhale/Exhale
- Skrillex – F— U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol but Ur Not!! <3
Best dance/pop recording
- Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco – Bluest Flame
- Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
- Zara Larsson – Midnight Sun
- Tate McRae – Just Keep Watching
- PinkPantheress – Illegal
Best traditional pop vocal album
- Laila Biali – Wintersongs
- Jennifer Hudson – The Gift of Love
- Elton John & Brandi Carlile – Who Believes in Angels?
- Lady Gaga – Harlequin
- Laufey – A Matter of Time
- Barbra Streisand – The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2
Best Latin pop album
- Rauw Alejandro – Cosa Nuestra
- Andres Cepeda – Bogota (Deluxe)
- Karol G – Tropicoqueta
- Natalia Lafourcade – Cancionera
- Alejandro Sanz – Y Ahora Que
Best musica urbana album
- Bad Bunny – Debi Tirar Mas Fotos
- J Balvin – Mixteip
- Feid – Ferxxo Vol X: Sagrado
- Nicki Nicole – Naiki
- Trueno – Eub Deluxe
- Yandel – Sinfonico (En Vivo)
Best rock performance
- Amyl and The Sniffers – U Should Not Be Doing That
- Linkin Park – The Emptiness Machine
- Turnstile – Never Enough
- Hayley Williams – Mirtazapine
- Yungblud feat. Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello & Adam Wakeman, II – Changes (Live from Villa Park) Back to the Beginning
Best rock song
- Nine Inch Nails – As Alive As You Need Me to Be
- Sleep Token – Caramel
- Hayley Williams – Glum
- Turnstile – Never Enough
- Yungblud – Zombie
Best rock album
- Deftones – Private Music
- Haim – I Quit
- Linkin Park – From Zero
- Turnstile – Never Enough
- Yungblud – Idols
Best alternative music album
- Bon Iver – Sable, Fable
- The Cure – Songs of a Lost World
- Tyler, The Creator – Don’t Tap the Glass
- Wet Leg – Moisturizer
- Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party
Best alternative music performance
- Bon Iver – Everything Is Peaceful Love
- The Cure – Alone
- Turnstile – Seein’ Stars
- Wet Leg – Mangetout
- Hayley Williams – Parachute
Best metal performance
- Dream Theater – Night Terror
- Ghost – Lachryma
- Sleep Token – Emergence
- Spiritbox – Soft Spine
- Turnstile – Birds
Best jazz performance
- Lakecia Benjamin – Noble Rise (feat. Immanuel Wilkins & Mark Whitfield)
- Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade – Windows (live)
- Samara Joy – Peace of Mind/Dreams Come True
- Michael Mayo – Four
- Nicole Zuraitis, Dan Pugach, Tom Scott, Idan Morim, Keyon Harrold, Rachel Eckroth & Sam Weber – All Stars Lead to You (live)
Best rap performance
- Cardi B – Outside
- Clipse, Pusha T & Malice feat. Kendrick Lamar & Pharrell Williams – Chains & Whips
- Doechii – Anxiety
- Kendrick Lamar feat. Lefty Gunplay – TV Off
- Tyler, The Creator feat. Teezo Touchdown – Darling, I
Best melodic rap performance
- Fridayy feat. Meek Mill – Proud of Me
- JID feat. Ty Dolla $ign & 6lack – Wholeheartedly
- Kendrick Lamar feat. SZA – Luther
- Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon feat. Rapsody — WeMaj
- Partynextdoor & Drake – Somebody Loves Me
Best rap song
- Doechii – Anxiety
- Clipse, Pusha T & Malice feat. John Legend & Voices of Fire – The Birds Don’t Sing
- Tyler, The Creator feat. GloRilla, Sexyy Red & Lil Wayne – Sticky
- GloRilla – TGIF
- Kendrick Lamar feat. Lefty Gunplay – TV Off
Best rap album
- Clipse, Pusha T & Malice – Let God Sort Em Out
- GloRilla – Glorious
- JID – God Does Like Ugly
- Kendrick Lamar – GNX
- Tyler, The Creator – Chromakopia
Best country solo performance
- Tyler Childers – Nose on the Grindstone
- Shaboozey – Good News
- Chris Stapleton – Bad As I Used to Be
- Zach Top – I Never Lie
- Lainey Wilson – Somewhere Over Laredo
Best country duo/group performance
- Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton – A Song to Sing
- Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert & Lainey Wilson – Trailblazer
- Margo Price & Tyler Childers – Love Me Like You Used to Do
- Shaboozey & Jelly Roll – Amen
- George Strait & Chris Stapleton – Honky Tonk Hall of Fame
Best country song
- Tyler Childers – Bitin’ List
- Shaboozey – Good News
- Zach Top – I Never Lie
- Lainey Wilson – Somewhere Over Laredo
- Chris Stapleton – A Song to Sing
Best contemporary country album
- Kelsea Ballerini – Patterns
- Tyler Childers – Snipe Hunter
- Eric Church – Evangeline vs. The Machine
- Jelly Roll – Beautifully Broken
- Miranda Lambert – Postcards from Texas
Best R&B performance
- Justin Bieber – Yukon
- Chris Brown feat. Bryson Tiller – It Depends
- Kehlani – Folded
- Leon Thomas – Mutt (Live from NPR’s Tiny Desk)
- Summer Walker – Heart of a Woman
Best R&B song
- Kehlani – Folded
- Summer Walker – Heart of a Woman
- Chris Brown feat. Bryson Tiller – It Depends
- Durand Bernarr – Overqualified
- Leon Thomas – Yes It Is
Best R&B album
- Giveon – Beloved
- Coco Jones – Why Not More?
- Ledisi – The Crown
- Teyana Taylor – Escape Room
- Leon Thomas – Mutt
Best African music performance
- Burna Boy – Love
- Davido feat. Omah Lay – With You
- Eddy Kenzo & Mehran Matin – Hope & Love
- Ayra Starr feat. Wizkid – Gimme Dat
- Tyla – Push 2 Start
Producer of the year, non-classical
- Dan Auerbach
- Cirkut
- Dijon
- Blake Mills
- Sounwave
Songwriter of the year, non-classical
- Amy Allen
- Edgar Barrera
- Jessie Jo Dillon
- Tobias Jesso Jr
- Laura Veltz
The 2026 Grammy Awards will stream on Stan* on February 2 (AEDT).
*Stan is owned by Nine, the owner of this masthead.
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Nell Geraets is a Culture and Lifestyle reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
