It’s the first time in 11 years that there is just one difference in the lineups in the two categories.
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As Recording Academy voters pore over the 2026 nominations list before final-round voting closes on Jan. 5, they are sure to notice that the nominees for record and song of the year are nearly identical. Seven of the eight record of the year nominees are also up for song of the year.
The only difference between the two lists is that Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” is nominated for record of the year but not song of the year, and HUNTR/X’s “Golden” is nominated for song of the year but not record of the year.
Other than that, the lineups overlap exactly: Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” Kendrick Lamar with SZA’s “luther” and Rosé & Bruno Mars’ “APT.”
It’s the first time in 11 years that there is just one difference in the lineups for record and song of the year.
You probably know, but to refresh you: Record of the year honors a specific recording of a song; song of the year honors the song itself. Record of the year is awarded to the artist and producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist. Song of the year is awarded solely to the songwriters.
Since the first Grammy ceremony in 1959, there was just one year when the record and song of the year nominees overlapped 100%. That was at the 1973 ceremony.
Here’s a complete list of all the times there was no more than one difference between the rosters of record and song of the year nominees. The years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremonies.
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1959
Image Credit: CBS via Getty Images Nominated for Record, not Song: The Chipmunks’ “The Chipmunk Song”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Gigi,” written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe
Hot 100 stats: “The Chipmunk Song” was No. 1 for four weeks. Crooner Vic Damone had the only recording of “Gigi” to crack the chart. It peaked at No. 88.
Notes: “Gigi” won the Oscar for best original song. It was one of nine Oscars the film won – which established a new record at the time.
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1968
Nominated for Record, not Song: Nancy & Frank Sinatra’s “Somethin’ Stupid”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Gentle on My Mind,” written by John Hartford
Hot 100 stats: “Somethin’ Stupid,” which was written by C. Carson Parks, was No. 1 for four weeks. Glen Campbell had the highest-charting version of “Gentle on My Mind” (No. 39).
Notes: Campbell was nominated for record of the year that year with “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” Grammy rules allow just one record per artist to be nominated in this category (unless the artist shares billing on the second). Hartford won two Grammys for “Gentle on My Mind” – best Country & Western song (it was the last year the Recording Academy used that dated term) and best folk performance for his recording of his song.
The order of the billing on “Somethin’ Stupid” may surprise you – but both artists were red-hot at the time. Both topped the Hot 100 in 1966 – Nancy with “These Boots Are Made for Walkin,’” Frank with “Strangers in the Night.”
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1969
Nominated for Record, not Song: Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Little Green Apples,” written by Bobby Russell
Hot 100 stats: “Wichita Lineman,” which reached No. 3, was Campbell’s highest-charting single of the 1960s. O.C. Smith had the highest-charting version of “Little Green Apples” (No. 2).
Notes: It’s unfathomable that Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” widely regarded as one of the best songs ever written, wasn’t nominated for song of the year. “Little Green Apples,” which was a pop hit for O.C. Smith and a country hit for Roger Miller, won the award. Russell’s song won a second Grammy as best country song.
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1971
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Nominated for Record, not Song: Carpenters’ “(They Long to Be) Close to You”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “We’ve Only Just Begun,” written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols
Hot 100 stats: Both songs were big hits for Carpenters, reaching No. 1 (for four weeks) and No. 2 (also for four weeks), respectively.
Notes: “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, dates to 1963, so it wasn’t eligible for song of the year. Carpenters were nominated for record of the year for “Close to You,” so they couldn’t also compete there with their follow-up hit, “We’ve Only Just Begun.” Grammy rules allow just one record per artist to be nominated (unless the artist shares billing on the second).
“We’ve Only Just Begun” received a second nomination as best contemporary song. It lost in both categories to Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
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1973
Nominated for Record, not Song: Nilsson’s “Without You”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “The Summer Knows,” written by Marilyn & Alan Bergman and Michel Legrand
Hot 100 stats: Nilsson’s smash, written by Tom Evans and Pete Ham, was No. 1 for four weeks. The only charted version of “The Summer Knows” was an instrumental recording by Peter Nero, under the title “Theme From Summer of 42,” which reached No. 21 in December 1971.
Notes: Legrand won a Grammy for best instrumental composition for “The Theme From Summer of 42” in 1972. He also won an Oscar in 1972 for original dramatic score for Summer of 42.
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1974
Nominated for Record, not Song: Jim Croce’s “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” written by L. Russell Brown and Irwin Levine
Hot 100 stats: “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” topped the chart just two months before Croce died in a plane crash. It stayed on top for two weeks. Dawn featuring Tony Orlando (as they were billed at the time) topped the chart for four weeks with “Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” an old-fashioned story song. It went on to be the No. 1 single of the year.
Notes: Croce and Dawn were both nominated in performance categories — best pop vocal performance, male and best pop vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus, respectively.
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1981
Nominated for Record, not Song: none
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Fame,” written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford
Hot 100 stats: Irene Cara’s recording of “Fame” reached No. 4.
Notes: The only disparity is that one extra song was nominated for song of the year. “Fame” won the Oscar for best original song, against fierce competition that included Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.”
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1982
Image Credit: Century Fox Film Corp/Courtesy Everett Collection Nominated for Record, not Song: John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “9 to 5,” written by Dolly Parton
Hot 100 stats: Both songs were No. 1 hits, for five and two weeks, respectively. Lennon’s song hit No. 1 less than three weeks after he was shot to death.
Notes: Parton won two Grammys for “9 to 5” – best country song and best country vocal performance, female. “9 to 5” also brought Parton her first Oscar nod for best original song.
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1984
Nominated for Record, not Song: Irene Cara’s “Flashdance…What a Feeling”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
Hot 100 stats: Both songs were long-running No. 1 hits, for six and seven weeks, respectively.
Notes: “Flashdance,” which Cara co-wrote with Keith Forsey and Giorgio Moroder, won the Oscar for best original song. Jackson was nominated for (and won) record of the year with “Beat It.” Grammy rules allow just one record per artist to be nominated (unless the artist shares billing on the second). But Jackson did win two Grammys for “Billie Jean” – best rhythm & blues song and best R&B vocal performance, male.
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1987
Nominated for Record, not Song: Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Graceland,” written by Paul Simon
Hot 100 stats: “Greatest Love of All” topped the chart for three weeks. “Graceland” reached No. 81.
Notes: Michael Masser and Linda Creed wrote “Greatest Love of All,” which failed to garner a song of the year nod. The following year, Masser was nominated for song of the year for “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” another No. 1 hit by Houston. He co-wrote that one with Will Jennings.
A year after “Graceland” was nominated for song of the year, it won record of the year.
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1990
Nominated for Record, not Song: Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Don’t Know Much,” written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Tom Snow.
Hot 100 stats: “She Drives Me Crazy” reached No. 1. Linda Ronstadt featuring Aaron Neville’s recording of “Don’t Know Much” peaked at No. 2.
Notes: “Don’t Know Much” brought Mann & Weil (joined on this song by Tom Snow) their second song of the year nod in three years. They had won in 1988 for “Somewhere Out There” (which they co-wrote with James Horner). This (almost) makes up for the way their songs were criminally overlooked in the 1960s and 1970s. Such great Mann & Weil songs as “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” (cowritten with Phil Spector) and “Here You Come Again” weren’t nominated for songwriting awards.
Bill Medley had the first charted version of “Don’t Know Much” in 1981. Bette Midler had a charted version of the song in 1983 under the title “All I Need to Know.”
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1991
Image Credit: Rob Kinmonth/Getty Images Nominated for Record, not Song: M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Hold On,” written by Glen Ballard, Chynna Phillips and Carnie Wilson
Hot 100 stats: “U Can’t Touch This” reached No. 8. “Hold On” hit No. 1.
Notes: Hammer’s smash was the first hip-hop record to be nominated for record of the year. The song samples the opening riff of James’s 1981 classic “Super Freak,” which is why James and Alonzo Miller have songwriting credits on “U Can’t Touch This.” The staying power of “Hold On,” which was nominated for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal, was seen when it was used as the capper in the 2011 film Bridesmaids.
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1992
Nominated for Record, not Song: Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Walking in Memphis,” written by Marc Cohn
Hot 100 stats: “Something to Talk About,” written by Shirley Eikhard, reached No. 5 – the highest-charting hit of Raitt’s career. “Walking in Memphis” peaked at No. 13.
Notes: Raitt’s follow-up hit, “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” was entered for song of the year, but wasn’t nominated. That’s almost as glaring an omission as “Wichita Lineman.” The Mike Reid/Allen Shamblin song is widely regarded as one of the finest songs of the 1990s.
In addition to his song of the year nod, Cohn won best new artist that year and was nominated for best pop vocal performance, male.
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1993
Nominated for Record, not Song: none
Nominated for Song, Not Record: none
Hot 100 stats: All five nominees were top 10 hits except k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving,” which peaked at No. 38.
Notes: This is the only year in Grammy history where the two fields overlapped 100%. The nominees were Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” (which he co-wrote with Will Jennings), Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart” (written by Don Von Tress), Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson’s “Beauty and the Beast” (written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman), k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving” (which she co-wrote with Ben Mink) and Vanessa Williams’ “Save the Best for Last” (written by Phil Galdston, Jon Linda and Wendy Waldman).
In addition to its song of the year nod, “Beauty and the Beast” won best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television.
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1994
Nominated for Record, not Song: Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” written by Jim Steinman
Hot 100 stats: “I Will Always Love You” topped the Hot 100 for a then-record 14 weeks. “I’d Do Anything for Love” topped the chart for five weeks.
Notes: The rules on how to handle old songs have fluctuated over the years. Unfortunately for Dolly Parton, this year such songs were not allowed in song of the year, which meant that she was denied the nomination (and likely award) that was rightfully hers for writing “I Will Always Love You.”
“I’ll Do Anything for Love” was also nominated for best rock song.
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2007
Image Credit: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage Nominated for Record, not Song: Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordon Sampson.
Hot 100 stats: “Crazy” logged seven weeks at No. 2. “Jesus Take the Wheel” reached No. 20.
Notes: “Crazy” samples “Last Men Standing” by Gian Piero Reverberi and Gian Franco Reverberi from the 1968 “spaghetti Western” Django, Prepare a Coffin. That’s why the Reverberis are credited as songwriters alongside CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse. In addition to its song of the year nod, “Jesus, Take the Wheel” won for best country song.
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2012
Nominated for Record, not Song: Katy Perry’s “Firework”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “All of the Lights,” written by Jeff Bhasker, Fergie, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West
Hot 100 stats: “Firework” was No. 1 for four weeks; “All of the Lights,” credited to Kanye West featuring Rihanna, peaked at No. 18.
Notes: In addition to its song of the year nod, “All of the Lights” won for best rap song and best rap/sung collaboration.
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2015
Nominated for Record, not Song: Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX’s “Fancy”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Take Me to Church,” written by Hozier
Hot 100 stats: “Fancy” was No. 1 for seven weeks; “Take Me to Church” peaked at No. 2.
Notes: Azalea received a total of four nods that year, also including best new artist and best pop duo/group performance for “Fancy.” Hozier, surprisingly, received no other nominations that year.
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2026
Nominated for Record, not Song: Chappell Roan’s “The Subway”
Nominated for Song, Not Record: “Golden,” written by EJAE, Park Hong Jun, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo & Mark Sonnenblick
Hot 100 stats: “The Subway” reached No. 3. “Golden” logged eight weeks at No. 1.
Notes: At the 2025 Grammys, Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” was nominated for both record and song of the year. The failure of “Golden” by HUNTR/X (EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI) to land a record of the year nod was one of the biggest surprises on the 2026 nominations list. In addition to its song of the year nod, the song is nominated for best song written for visual media and best pop duo/group performance. It’s also shortlisted for an Oscar for best original song. Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 22.
