Latin GRAMMYs 2026: Full Nominees List, Predictions & How to Watch Live
The 27th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards take over Las Vegas on Thursday, November 12, 2026, and this year's ballot is one of the most wide-open in recent memory. A behind-the-scenes hitmaker leads the nominations, four of Latin music's biggest names are locked in a dead heat right behind him, and a 19-year-old from Argentina just crashed the General Field. Here's every nominee that matters, the races to watch, and how to catch the show live.
When and Where to Watch the Latin GRAMMYs 2026
The ceremony airs live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday, November 12, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Univision and TelevisaUnivision platforms, according to the Latin Recording Academy. A non-televised premiere ceremony earlier that day will hand out the majority of the 60 categories before the main telecast begins. Additional international broadcast partners are still to be announced, so viewers outside the U.S. should check local listings closer to the date.
The nominees were announced September 16 in Miami, covering recordings released between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026. Final-round voting by the Academy's membership ran October 1 through October 12 — meaning the winners are already decided and sealed. All that's left is the envelopes.
Edgar Barrera Leads With 10 — But He's Not a Household Name
The nominations leader isn't a pop star. Edgar Barrera, the 36-year-old Mexican American songwriter and producer, pulled 10 nominations — the most of anyone this year — mostly for his work on projects by Karol G and Carín León. He's up in Record, Album and Song of the Year, holds three nominations in Best Regional Song alone, and is competing for both Songwriter and Producer of the Year, categories he has won before. It brings his career tally to 72 nominations with 29 wins, per the Academy.
That's the story of this year's Latin GRAMMYs in miniature: the industry's most trusted architect finally standing at the front of the room. Barrera's fingerprints are all over the biggest records of the eligibility year, and his lead tells you where the Academy's center of gravity sits right now.
The Four-Way Tie: Karol G, Rosalía, Drexler, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso
Right behind Barrera, four acts are deadlocked at seven nominations each: Karol G, Rosalía, Jorge Drexler, and Argentine duo CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso. All four are competing across the General Field — Record, Album and Song of the Year — which sets up the most crowded top-category races in years.
Silvana Estrada and Mon Laferte follow with six each, and 19-year-old Argentine rapper Milo J stunned with five nominations — including all three General Field categories — for a folk-leaning album. At the other end of the age spectrum, 95-year-old Cuban legend Omara Portuondo earned a Best Traditional Tropical Album nod, a reminder that this show honors careers measured in decades, not just streaming weeks.
Album of the Year: Ten Nominees, No Clear Favorite
The Album of the Year field is the ballot's centerpiece — ten albums spanning pop, urban, folk, rock and everything between:
Anitta (Equilibrivm), CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso (Free Spirits), Jorge Drexler (Taracá), Silvana Estrada (Vendrán Suaves Lluvias), Karol G (Tropicoqueta), Mon Laferte (Femme Fatale), Carín León (Muda), Milo J (La Vida Era Más Corta), Rawayana (¿Dónde Es El After?) and Rosalía (Lux (Complete Works)).
Rosalía's Lux has the broadest footprint on the ballot — it also shows up in pop, alternative and Portuguese-language categories. Karol G's Tropicoqueta arrives with the year's biggest commercial momentum. And Drexler, the veteran's veteran, is the kind of Academy favorite who wins these things quietly while everyone watches the pop stars. Picking a winner here is genuinely difficult, which is exactly what makes the category worth watching.
Record and Song of the Year: The Races Within the Race
Record of the Year pits CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso's "Ha Ha" against Karol G's "Coleccionando Heridas," Rosalía's "La Perla," Mon Laferte's "Femme Fatale," Jorge Drexler's "¿Cómo Se Ama?," Silvana Estrada's "Dime," Milo J's "Niño," Loulu Gilberto's "O Amor Nos Encontrou" and Elena Rose's "Alma."
Song of the Year — the songwriter's prize — includes a notable collaboration: Santana's "Mi Gran Amor" featuring Becky G. It also includes a genuine surprise: Sting, nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop/Rock Song for "Hasta Jesús Tuvo un Mal Día" with CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso. And in a detail the gossip columns will love, exes Karol G and Feid are nominated together for "Verano Rosa" in Best Reggaeton Performance.
Best New Artist Is the Night's Wildest Card
Eleven nominees, no obvious front-runner: Delilah, Fabian, Loulu Gilberto, Arath Herce, Macario Martínez, Maye, Sofia Monroy, Kendall Peña, Dora Sanches, Aria Vega and Zeca Veloso. Herce carries the most momentum with four total nominations, but this category has a long history of swerving. With the field this wide, it's the one envelope nobody should pretend to have figured out.
The Genre Lines Are Blurring — On Purpose
One of the most talked-about aspects of this year's ballot is how freely artists moved across categories. Karol G — an urban-pop superstar — is competing in a Mexican music category. Flamenco artist Niña Pastori landed in a tropical category. Argentine urban act Nathy Peluso is up in salsa. Academy CEO Manuel Abud told Billboard Español he loves "seeing this flexibility and incredible mobility of our artists." Whether you read it as artistic freedom or category shopping, it's the clearest sign of where Latin music is heading: fewer walls, more cross-pollination.
Predictions: Where the Smart Money Goes
Album of the Year is a genuine three-way fight between Karol G's commercial juggernaut, Rosalía's critical darling Lux, and Drexler's Academy-friendly Taracá. If momentum matters most, Karol G takes it. If the voters reward craft and risk, it's Rosalía's or Drexler's night.
Record of the Year feels like Rosalía's "La Perla" to lose — it's the most decorated single on the ballot — with Karol G's "Coleccionando Heridas" as the crowd-pleaser threat. Song of the Year could easily go to a songwriter's songwriter pick like Estrada's "Dime," which is exactly the kind of choice this Academy loves to make.
And Best New Artist? Herce has the nominations, but in a field of eleven, expect the unexpected. That's not a dodge — it's the honest read on the most unpredictable category of the night.
Why This Year Matters
The 2026 Latin GRAMMYs arrive at a moment when Latin music isn't a niche or a crossover story anymore — it's simply one of the dominant forces in global pop. A ballot led by a songwriter-producer, tied by four acts from four different corners of the genre map, and featuring nominees aged 19 to 95, looks less like an awards show hedging its bets and more like one reflecting the actual landscape. On November 12, the envelopes will tell us which version of that landscape the Academy chose to reward.
