Grammy 2026 predictions for Album of the Year, according to Rolling Stone

Before the Grammy nominations on November 7th, the Rolling Stone is detailing 10 different categories. For each, we predict the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night.

The field of Album of the Year This year has no shortage of favorites: any of these eight LPs would be a worthy winner. But the Mayhem of Lady Gaga is about to outshine the rest. The ever-evolving singer, songwriter and performer has been nominated for the top album award before, but has never taken home the gold. That could change in February.

Album of the Year – Our predictions

• Kendrick Lamar, GNX
• Bad Bunny, DEBÍ TAKE MORE PHOTOS
• Lady Gaga, Mayhem
• The Weeknd, Hurry Up Tomorrow
• Elton John & Brandi Carlile, Who Believes in Angels?
• Lainey Wilson, Whirlwind (Deluxe)
• Tyler, The Creator, CHROMAKOPIA
• Laufey, A Matter of Time

Who will win?

Lady Gaga, Mayhem

Gaga won three consecutive nominations for Album of the Year starting in 2010 with The Famefollowed by The Fame Monster the following year and Born This Way in 2012. But more than a decade later, she has experience on her side now, not to mention a stunning record in Mayhem. “Lady Gaga always seems like a strong competitor for this category,” he says. John Steinhead of North America editorial at Spotify. “AND [o fato de ela ser] a well-known name helps here.” Mayhem can even benefit from competition, he says Stein: “I think he can win based on vote split.”

Who Should Win?

Lady Gaga, Mayhem

Gaga relied heavily on its own history in Mayheman album that many considered a return to her dance-pop roots. She turned her own name into a chorus in “Abracadabra“, it was macabre at the club in “Disease” and brought it all to life with a career-defining performance at Coachella and in front of more than 2 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. It’s her time.

Competitor Field Forecast

Although Lady Gaga have the mojoone should not underestimate the The Weekndanother main attraction of Super Bowl Halftime Show who, perhaps more importantly, returned to the Grammy in this year’s broadcast; Hurry Up Tomorrow is the supposed final album that Abel Tesfaye will launch under the brand The Weeknd and may receive a referral to make up for lost time.

“The album Bad Bunny It also deserves a conversation,” he says. Stein. “He’s never won outside of a Latin category before, and it’s long past time. The announcement of Super Bowl Halftime Show it certainly helps his case.”

Elsewhere, Who Believes in Angels? of Brandi Carlile and Elton John reunites two beloved industry figures for a moving album that tackles mortality and celebrates queer pop icons Laura Nyro and Little Richard. Whirlwind of Lainey Wilson was initially released at the end of the 2025 nomination year, but a nomination for its deluxe edition could celebrate its triumph in the country space, as well as what Stein calls her recent rise to “that sweet spot as a cultural figure and musician.” The two recent albums by Tyler, the Creator are eligible, but Stein see CHROMAKOPIA receiving the nomination because of its “very strong message throughout the work and the aesthetics linked to it”. And the jazz-pop newcomer Laufey made his mark by blending timeless sounds with the realities of Generation Z, building a strong audience of fans of his work and admirers of his musical ability.

But the big underdog could be Kendrick Lamarit says Stein. “Coming off the last year and the momentum he had, he put out a really strong album that seemed to do well on every level: culturally, critically, commercially,” he says. “It seems like a good time for him; it seems like he’s a household name in a way he never has been in the past, which is great for Album of the Year“.

This article was originally published by Rolling Stone USA, by Maura Johnston, on October 7, 2025, and can be seen here.

• Abel Tesfaye

• Bad Bunny

• Brandi Carlile

• Elton John

• grammy

• Grammys 2026

• Kendrick Lamar

• Lady Gaga

• Lainey Wilson

• Laufey

• the weeknd

• Tyler the Creator