The full list of nominees for the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards is now public, with Taylor Swift topping the list with nine total nominations. The nominations, announced on January 8, 2026, include awards across many music genres and a special set of categories where fans get to vote for the winners. The live awards show will be broadcast from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 26, 2026, on FOX.
Popular artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Warren, and Bad Bunny each earned eight nominations, making them some of the most recognized artists for this year’s event. The show will honor the most-played artists and songs on iHeartRadio stations and its app from the past year.
Top Nominees and Key Categories for the 2026 Show
Taylor Swift leads the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards with nine nominations. Her nominations include the top awards: Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for her track “The Fate of Ophelia“. She also is a nominee for Pop Artist of the Year.
Right behind her, with eight nominations each, are Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Warren, and Bad Bunny. Their nominations also span major categories. Carpenter and Warren join Swift in the Pop Artist of the Year category, while Bad Bunny is a strong contender for Artist of the Year and Latin Pop/Urban Artist of the Year.
The competition for Song of the Year is particularly strong this year. The ten nominated tracks represent a wide range of popular music from 2025. The list includes:
- “The Fate of Ophelia” โ Taylor Swift
- “luther” โ Kendrick Lamar and SZA
- “Manchild” โ Sabrina Carpenter
- “Good News” โ Shaboozey
- “Love Somebody” โ Morgan Wallen
- “Anxiety” โ Doechii
- “Ordinary” โ Alex Warren
- “MUTT” โ Leon Thomas
- “Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else” โ Benson Boone
- “Stargazing” โ Myles Smith
The Artist of the Year category also features a mix of global superstars and major genre leaders. Nominees include Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, Morgan Wallen, Tate McRae, Chris Brown, Benson Boone, and Jelly Roll, alongside Swift, Carpenter, and Bad Bunny.
New Fan-Voted Categories and How to Participate
A major part of the iHeartRadio Music Awards is fan involvement. For the 2026 show, fans have the power to choose the winners in eleven special categories. Voting started on January 8, 2026, and will stay open until March 19, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Fans can vote by visiting the official awards website at iHeartRadio.com/awards.
This year introduces three brand new categories for fan voting: Favorite TikTok Dance, Favorite Debut Album, and Favorite K-pop Collab. These join returning popular categories that celebrate different parts of music and artist culture.
The full list of socially voted categories and some notable nominees includes:
- Favorite TikTok Dance: Songs with popular dance challenges, including “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga, “JUMP” by BLACKPINK, and “The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift.
- Favorite Debut Album: First albums from artists like Addison Rae, Alex Warren, JENNIE of BLACKPINK, and LISA of BLACKPINK.
- Favorite Tour Style: Recognizes artists known for their concert fashion, with nominees like Beyoncรฉ’s Cowboy Carter Tour, Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, and BLACKPINK’s Deadline World Tour.
- Favorite Tour Tradition: Celebrates unique rituals from live shows, such as Beyoncรฉ bringing her daughters on stage, Coldplay’s crowd cam, and Sabrina Carpenter’s celebrity “Juno” arrest skit.
- Favorite Broadway Debut: Includes actors and musicians who recently starred in Broadway shows, like Tom Felton in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Ne-Yo in Hell’s Kitchen.
โThis is an annual awards show made exclusively for fans, celebrating the biggest songs and artists theyโve loved listening to on iHeartRadio stations and our iHeartRadio app all year long,โ said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises and Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer of iHeartMedia.
Spotlight on Major Genre Categories and Nominees
Beyond the top overall awards, the iHeartRadio Music Awards honor the best in specific music genres. Here is a look at some of the major genre categories and their nominees for 2026.
Country music has a strong showing. Morgan Wallen is nominated for four awards, including Country Artist of the Year and Country Song of the Year for “Love Somebody”. He is joined in the artist category by Jason Aldean, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and Luke Combs. The Best New Artist (Country) category features Ella Langley, Chase Matthew, and Zach Top.
In hip-hop, the song “luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA is up for Hip-Hop Song of the Year, while Cardi B, GloRilla, and Tyler, The Creator are nominated for Hip-Hop Artist of the Year. For R&B, top contenders include SZA, Chris Brown, and Kehlani for R&B Artist of the Year.
Rock and alternative categories see the return of legendary bands. Linkin Park is nominated for Rock Artist of the Year, Alternative Artist of the Year, and Duo/Group of the Year. Green Day, Twenty One Pilots, and Shinedown are also featured prominently in these genres.
The K-pop categories are highly competitive. The award for K-pop Artist of the Year will go to one of five major solo stars: BLACKPINK’s JENNIE, LISA, and ROSEฬ, or BTS members j-hope and Jin. For K-pop Group of the Year, the nominees are BLACKPINK, TWICE, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, and ENHYPEN.
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Broadcast Details and Final Information
The 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards will be a live event. It is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, 2026. The show will start at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) and will be broadcast live on the FOX network. For viewers on the West Coast, the show will be tape-delayed to start at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time (PT).
In addition to television, the ceremony can be heard on iHeartRadio radio stations nationwide and streamed live on the iHeartRadio app. The event will include live musical performances, award presentations, and surprise guest appearances. The specific hosts, performers, and recipients of special awards will be announced at a later date.
Organizers have noted that more award categories will be revealed in the coming weeks. These will include Label of the Year and awards for Album of the Year in specific genres like pop, country, and hip-hop.
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