Grammys 2026 FAQ: Everything you need to know — including the Cork nominee

Will a Grammy be coming to Cork after this weekend?

Elaine Kelly from Cork and rapper Kendrick Lamar are among the 2026 Grammy nominees

When are the Grammys happening?

The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. 

Who is nominated?

Last year, Kendrick Lamar took home five Grammy awards, and he again leads the nominees for 2026. He has been nominated for nine awards, including album of the year, best rap album, record of the year and song of the year.

Album of the year is the top award of the night and Lamar faces competition from Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, Leon Thomas, Tyler, the Creator and Clipse, Pusha T & Malice.

Lady Gaga trails behind Lamar with seven nominations, the same number that producers Cirkut and Jack Antonoff have been nominated for.

Other top nominees include Sabrina Carpenter, Leon Thomas, and next year’s Super Bowl half-time show performer, Bad Bunny.

Olivia Dean, Katseye, the Marías, Addison Rae, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, Lola Young and Sombr are hoping they have what it takes to land the Best New Artist plaudit, while Song of the Year nominees include Lady Gaga's Abracadabra, and Golden, from the film KPop Demon Hunters.

Who is the Irish nominee?

Elaine Kelly at the 2025 Grammy Awards

Cork’s Elaine Kelly will be among the hopefuls at this year’s ceremony. The opera conductor has been nominated for an award in the best opera recording category for Emma O’Halloran’s opera double bill,  Trade/Mary Motorhead.

Awards in this category are bestowed on the conductor, album producer(s) and principal soloists, and to the composer and librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere opera recording. In all, there are six people nominated for Trade/Mary Motorhead, which was produced, recorded and primarily led by the Irish National Opera.

It’s not Kelly’s first time being nominated for a Grammy: she made history last year as the first Irish conductor to be nominated when she was nominated in the best choral performance category for Akathist.

She told The Echo that she will wear a striking outfit given to her by Phoenix V on Cork’s Maylor Street.

“As a conductor, I’m very picky about what I wear publicly. Phoenix V has given me a gorgeous outfit; It’s half suit and half gown. It’s silver-grey. There’s trousers and a very structured bodice with a massive train at the back,” she said.

Any other Irish nominees?

Oh yes! Sabrina Carpenter’s Manchild is nominated for record of the year and mastering engineer Ruairi O’Flaherty from Killarney is among those who would share that glory if it wins. However, he is also competing in the same category for Kendrick Lamar’s album luther. In album of the year, O'Flaherty is again running under two different albums: Man’s Best Friend by Sabrina Carpenter and GNX by Kendrick Lamar.

Under the best contemporary classic composition nominees is Dublin composter Donnacha Dennehy for Dennehy: Land of Winter, which is also nominated for best chamber music/small ensemble performance.

Songwriter Aoife O’Donovan, who is American but whose father was born in West Cork, is nominated with co-writers Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins for best American roots song for their track Ancient Light.

Can I watch it from Ireland?

Highlights of the Grammys will be aired on RTÉ2 at 9pm on Monday night. Hosted by Trevor Noah, the recorded show will run until just after midnight.

For night owls, red carpet fashion lovers, and diehard music fans, the Grammy Live From The Red Carpet will stream on Youtube from 11pm on Sunday night with red carpet interviews and Grammy fashion highlights.