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The 2026 Grammy line-up, which is being spearheaded by global heavyweights like Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga with nine and seven nominations each respectively, has been announced, beginning the countdown to one of the most anticipated nights in the world of international music. Singer-songwriter Jack Antonoff and Canadian producer and songwriter Cirkut also have seven nominations each.
While the Swifties missed their queen, whose album Life of a Showgirl came out after the eligibility window had closed, one of the biggest snubs this year is all about zero nominations for Kiwi singer-songwriter Lorde for her very well-received and bold album, Virgin, as well as no nomination for Canadian singer-songwriter Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, who goes by the stage name The Weeknd.
But amid several international frontrunners, sitar player Anoushka Shankar, a very significant musician in India’s global sound at this point, got her 11th Grammy nod in the category of Best Global Performance along with her cousin Alam Khan and percussionist Sarathy Korwar. The song titled Daybreak is from Shankar’s last album, Chapter III: We Return to Light, which is the third in a trilogy and conceptually about the return of dawn and its many meanings.
In fact, their recognition marks a full circle, echoing the 1984 Grammy nomination for her father, Pandit Ravi Shankar and his then brother-in-law and noted sarod exponent Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. It was a live recording of a performance at the prestigious Carnegie Hall, titled Raga Mishra Piloo Duet for Sitar, and the nomination came for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording. Over four decades later, their children are continuing the conversation between the sitar and the sarod. The three are also nominated for the Best Global Album and will be competing with new-age singer Sidhant Bhatia, whose album Sounds of Kumbh (Vedam Records) was commissioned as a cultural initiative by the government of Uttar Pradesh. It blends live field recordings from Prayagraj with ancient mantras. It was recorded in the Capital.
The two will compete with Mind Explosion, Indo-jazz band Shakti’s 50th Anniversary Tour Live from 2024, which featured British jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram, Shankar Mahadevan, ghatam and kanjira player V Selvaraj and violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan. Their song Sreeni’s Dream – a tribute to mandolin genius U Srinivas — is also nominated in the category of Global Performance with Anoushka’s Daybreak.
In the best global album category, Shakti and Anoushka will compete with Nigerian musician Burna Boy, popular Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour and Brazilian brother-sister duo Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia.
But amid all of the old and new names featured in the Grammys 2026 list one of the most interesting names to have been nominated is Madurai-born, New York-based jazz pianist Charu Suri, who blends jazz improvisations with Indian classical ragas. She has been nominated for her album Shayan (sleep), where she’s woven the threads of ragas to help people sleep better. She is nominated in the category of Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and will walk the red carpet at LA’s Crypto.com arena on February 1 for a shot at the hallowed golden gramophone.
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