Originally appeared on E! Online
Taylor Swift can’t check off more Grammy nominations from her wish list quite yet.
After the 2026 Grammy nominations were announced Nov. 7, music fans may have wondered why the singer’s latest album “The Life of a Showgirl” was completely missing from the list of nods — but don’t fret, Swift’s absence from the list of nominees wasn’t a snub.
Turns out, she simply wasn’t eligible this go ’round.
As the rule states, projects must be released within the window of eligibility in order to qualify for a nomination for any given year’s Grammy Awards. This year’s period went from Aug. 31, 2024, through Aug. 30, 2025.
Swift dropped “The Life of a Showgirl” on Oct. 3, 2025, more than a month after the window to qualify closed. Despite announcing the album on Aug. 13, she also chose not to release any singles ahead of the album’s release, either. She also hadn’t released any other music since her previous album “The Tortured Poets Department” in April 2024, meaning she released no music in this year’s period of eligibility.
READ Grammy Nominations 2026 Snubs and Surprises: Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes and More
So, while her twelfth studio album won’t have a presence at the 2026 Grammy Awards, “The Life of a Showgirl” is eligible to be nominated for next year’s ceremony, so there’s a shot that Swift could add to her haul of 14 Grammys in 2027.
Instead, her “Bad Blood” collaborator Kendrick Lamar led the pack of nominees this year with nine total nominations, including Album of the Year for GNX. With that nod in particular, he made history as the first rapper to be nominated in that category five times as a lead artist.
The “Not Like Us” hitmaker’s haul was followed closely by Lady Gaga with seven and Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter who notched six nods each.
Meanwhile, another way this year’s nominations made Grammys history is with ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ nods for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for their track “APT.,” which made the Blackpink singer the first K-pop artist to receive a nomination as a main performer for one of the top four Grammy awards — which also includes Album of the Year and Best New Artist.
The 2026 Grammys ceremony will air live on CBS on Sunday, Feb. 1, from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Taylor Swift talks about releasing her album “The Life of a Showgirl,” Travis Kelce trying to distract her from his surprise proposal and why she’s not performing at the Super Bowl.
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