The Grammys Finally Remember Rock Exists

For a show that’s spent the last decade handing shiny trophies to pop and hip-hop megastars, while regulating rock categories to off-air, it looks like the Grammys finally remembered rock exists.

The 2026 Grammy nominees just dropped and this year’s rock, metal, and alternative categories actually reflect what fans are blasting in their earbuds instead of what execs think they should be.

For the first year in memory, classic rock artists putting out new music have been replaced by younger generations. YUNGBLUD, has scored his first-ever Grammy nominations, in both performance and songwriting categories.

Best Rock Performance

The Best Rock Performance field is stacked:

• U Should Not Be Doing That — Amyl and The Sniffers
• The Emptiness Machine — Linkin Park
• NEVER ENOUGH — Turnstile
• Mirtazapine — Hayley Williams
• Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back To The Beginning — YUNGBLUD featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman II

YUNGBLUD’s entry here feels like a statement: recognizing his rise and the rub provided by Ozzy Osbourne.

Best Metal Performance

Metal fans aren’t left out either, with a heavy lineup featuring Dream Theater’s Night Terror, Ghost’s Lachryma, Sleep Token’s Emergence, Spiritbox’s Soft Spine, and yet another nod for Turnstile with BIRDS. A little prog, a little doom, a lot of headbanging.

Best Rock Song & Album

When it comes to songwriting, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Sleep Token, and Hayley Williams are in the mix, but keep an ear out for YUNGBLUD again, nominated for Zombie.

Over in Best Rock Album, heavyweights like Deftones, Linkin Park, and HAIM share space with Turnstile and YUNGBLUD, whose Idols continues to blur the line between raw emotion and rebellion.

Alternative Categories

The alternative side of the Grammys features Bon Iver, The Cure, Wet Leg, Tyler, The Creator, and Hayley Williams, all proving the genre’s blurred lines and how complicated it is to put them in one box.

So Why Should We Care?

Because maybe, just maybe, the Grammys are finally catching up to what’s actually happening in rock and not just settling for the latest release from safe, established artists.

The 2026 Grammy Awards air Sunday, February 1, 2026, live from Los Angeles. Whether or not you tune in, it’s nice to know that for once, the loudest rooms in music are getting heard.