Sleep Token, Deftones, Ghost, Linkin Park, Spiritbox, Nine Inch Nails and Turnstile are among the rock and heavy metal artists who’ve been nominated for 2026 Grammy Awards.
Today (November 7), the Recording Academy revealed the list of performers who could be going home with golden gramophones after the 66th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 1.
Nominated in the category of Best Rock Album are Deftones with Private Music, Haim with I Quit, Linkin Park with From Zero, Turnstile with Never Enough and Yungblud with Idols.
Meanwhile, the Best Metal Performance nominees are Dream Theater with Night Terror, Ghost with Lachryma, Sleep Token with Emergence, Spiritbox with Soft Spine and Turnstile with Birds.
Nominated for Best Rock Song are As Alive As You Need Me To Be by Nine Inch Nails, Caramel by Sleep Token, Glum by Hayley Williams, Never Enough by Turnstile and Zombie by Yungblud.
The Best Rock Performance nominees are U Should Not Be Doing That by Amyl And The Sniffers, The Emptiness Machine by Linkin Park, Never Enough by Turnstile, Mirtazapine by Hayley Williams and a live cover of Black Sabbath’s Changes from Back To The Beginning, performed by Yungblud featuring Nino Bettencourt, Anthrax bassist Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman and Sleep Token drummer II.
The likes of The Cure, Bon Iver and Hayley Williams have nominations in both the Best Alternative Music Album and Best Alternative Music Performance categories. Turnstile have also been put forward for Best Alternative Music Performance with their song Seein’ Stars.
See the full list of rock, metal and alternative categories and nominees below.
This year marks the first time that Sleep Token, Haim, Amyl And The Sniffers and Yungblud have been nominated for Grammys. Turnstile were nominated for Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance in 2023 but didn’t win in any category; Spiritbox’s Jaded was put forward for Best Metal Performance in 2024 and their song Cellar Door was nominated for the same prize in 2025, but neither song ended up winning.
Deftones have two Grammys to their name, having won Best Metal Performance with Elite in 2001 and Best Rock Performance with Ohms in 2022. Linkin Park and Nine Inch Nails also have two wins apiece. Dream Theater won Best Metal Performance with The Alien in 2022 and Ghost won Best Metal Performance with Cirice in 2016.
The nominees demonstrate a refreshing interest in new talent from the Recording Academy, who in the past have been criticised for repeatedly nominating older rock and metal bands for their awards.
In November 2023, Metal Hammer published an op-ed called: “The Grammys are still failing heavy metal – with so many new bands releasing incredible music, it’s never been more unforgivable”, reacting to the fact that the likes of Metallica and Slipknot had been put forward for awards over a wealth of new talent which was emerging in alternative music.
Outside of rock and metal, the 2026 nominations are dominated by Kendrick Lamar, who’s up for seven award; Lady Gaga, who’s up for five; Sabrina Carpenter, who’s up for five; and Bad Bunny, who’s up for four.
Best Metal Performance
- Dream Theater – Night Terror
- Ghost – Lachryma
- Sleep Token – Emergence
- Spiritbox – Soft Spine
- Turnstile – Birds
Best Rock Album
- Deftones – Private Music
- Haim – I Quit
- Linkin Park – From Zero
- Turnstile – Never Enough
- Yungblud – Idols
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 featuring Nino Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman and II – Changes (Black Sabbath cover)
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 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
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