Taylor Swift will have to wait a little longer before adding another Grammy to her resume.
When the 2026 Grammy nominees were revealed on Nov. 7, fans were quick to notice that her newest album, The Life of a Showgirl, was missing from the list. But Swift’s absence wasn’t a snub — it was a matter of timing.
According to Grammy eligibility rules, albums must be released within a specific window to qualify for nominations in a given year. For the 2026 awards, that period spanned from Aug. 31, 2024, through Aug. 30, 2025.
Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl dropped on Oct. 3, 2025 — more than a month after the cutoff date. Even though she announced the album back on Aug. 13, she chose not to release any singles beforehand. Since her previous record, The Tortured Poets Department, came out in April 2024, Swift didn’t release any qualifying music during this year’s eligibility period.
While her 12th studio album won’t be in contention at the 2026 ceremony, it will be eligible for next year’s awards, meaning Swift could still score nominations — and possibly more trophies — at the 2027 Grammys.
In the meantime, her “Bad Blood” collaborator Kendrick Lamar dominated this year’s nominations, leading the field with nine, including Album of the Year for GNX. The nod also made history, marking Lamar as the first rapper ever to receive five nominations in that category as a lead artist.
Lady Gaga followed with seven nominations, while Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter each earned six.
The 2026 Grammy nominations also broke new ground with ROSÉ and Bruno Mars receiving nods for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for their hit “APT.” The recognition made ROSÉ the first K-pop artist to be nominated as a main performer in one of the Grammys’ top four categories — which include Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.
The 2026 Grammy Awards will air live from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, Feb. 1, on CBS.
