Why Doesn T Taylor Swift Qualify For The 2026 Grammys

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 17, 2025, 8:03 AM

why doesn t taylor swift qualify for the 2026 grammys

Taylor Swift released 'The Life of a Showgirl' after the eligibility window closed Don't worry, Swifties! There is a reason why Taylor Swift isn't up for any 2026 Grammys. The "Cruel Summer" singer didn't receive any nominations for the upcoming 2026 Grammys when all the potential winners were announced on Nov. 7. However, Swift didn't get the nod because she didn't release any music during the eligibility period for the 68th annual Grammy Awards.

Although she notably released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, in 2025, she debuted it over a month after the eligibility window closed. Prior to her most recent hit album, Swift also didn't drop any new music videos, singles or records that would qualify her for a nomination in the upcoming show. Swift last attended the 2025 Grammy Awards, where she was nominated for several categories for her 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department. The pop star didn't take home any awards for the album, but in total, she has won 14 Grammy Awards since 2010. Taylor Swift had one of the biggest album releases of the year with The Life of a Showgirl. Still, when Grammy nominations were announced today for the 2026 ceremony, Swift wasn’t anywhere on the list.

So was the artist’s latest album completely snubbed? Not at all—it just isn’t eligible for next year’s ceremony. Swift released The Life of a Showgirl on Oct. 3, 2025. The eligibility period for the 2026 awards covers works released between Aug. 31, 2024 to Aug.

30, 2025. The Life of a Showgirl can still be submitted for the 2027 Grammys, though (where the period is Aug. 31, 2025 to Aug. 30, 2026). Swift might still attend the 2026 Grammys. At this year’s show, she was a presenter, ultimately giving Beyoncé the Best Country Award.

While she was nominated for The Tortured Poets Department, she did not win any awards. For the moment, however, Swift has been focused on promoting her album, wedding planning, and enjoying her fiancé Travis Kelce’s football season. She’ll also be releasing her Disney+ documentary series on the Eras Tour next month. Last week, a source told Us Weekly that Swift isn’t planning to tour again imminently after completing her Eras Tour last year. 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. 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... Turns out, she simply wasn't eligible this go 'round. Create a free account with NBC 5 DFW to save articles and videos. The Life of a Showgirl is the biggest album of 2025, but it won’t be honored at the upcoming ceremony. The 2026 Grammy nominations will be announced on Nov.

7, recognizing the biggest hits and most beloved albums of the past year. Taylor Swift has contributed both, releasing her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, in October to record-breaking sales, and spawning a No. 1 single with “The Fate of Ophelia.” However, Swift won’t be among the nominees this year — for good reason. To be eligible for the 2026 Grammys, new music must have been released between Aug. 31, 2024, and Aug. 30, 2025.

Swift released The Life of a Showgirl on Oct. 3, 2025. This means that the album will be eligible to compete at the 2027 Grammys, along with all its songs, including “Ophelia.” Swift did not release any new songs during the eligibility period, after putting out The Tortured Poets Department in April 2024, which received six nominations at the 2025 show. This means that Swift will not be eligible for any Grammys for the first time since she was 17, when she released her debut single “Tim McGraw,” but didn’t submit it for Grammy consideration. The 2026 Grammys will also mark the first time that Swift will not be nominated since 2017.

That year, her Reputation single “Look What You Made Me Do” was eligible to compete and submitted for consideration, but did not garner any nominations. Every year since, Swift has been nominated for at least one award, adding more trophies to her mantle and making Grammys history. Taylor Swift didn’t receive any nominations for the forthcoming 2026 Grammy Awards because her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” doesn’t qualify. The annual award show announced its nominees on Friday — with the 14-time Grammy winner notably missing from the star-studded list. The eligibility period for the 68th annual Grammy Awards is Aug. 31, 2024, through Aug.

30, 2025. With Swift releasing her twelfth studio album on Oct. 3, her new music debuted well after the eligibility window closed. She also didn’t drop any new singles, music videos or other records during the timeframe that would allow her to qualify. (Her previous album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” came out in April 2024.) Taylor Swift missed the 2026 Grammy nominations because 'The Life of a Showgirl' was released after eligibility closed.

The album will compete in 2027, where she's expected to be a major contender. .cls-1{fill:#0c9d58;}.cls-2{fill:#004d40;}.cls-10,.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-5,.cls-9{opacity:0.2;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-5,.cls-9{isolation:isolate;}.cls-3,.cls-8{fill:#fff;}.cls-4{fill:#ea4335;}.cls-5{fill:#3e2723;}.cls-6{fill:#ffc107;}.cls-7{fill:#4285f4;}.cls-11,.cls-9{fill:#1a237e;}.cls-12{fill:url(#radial-gradient);}google-news Follow Us Swifties can rest easy—there's a simple reason Taylor Swift isn't nominated for the 2026 Grammy Awards. When the Recording Academy announced this year's nominations on 7th November, fans quickly noticed the 'Cruel Summer' singer's name missing from the list. But Swift's absence isn't due to a snub—it's purely a matter of timing. The eligibility period for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards ran from 31st August 2024 through 30th August 2025.

Since Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, 'The Life of a Showgirl,' in October 2025, it officially fell outside of the qualifying window. Because of that, neither the album nor its lead single, 'The Fate of Ophelia,' could be submitted for consideration this year. Find this story in your account’s ‘Saved for Later’ section. The artist with the most Album of the Year awards is absent from the 2026 Grammy nominations. Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl isn’t up for any awards — this year, at least. The 2026 Grammys eligibility period ran from August 31, 2024, through August 30, 2025, bumping Swift’s October 3 album into next year’s ceremony.

That window is how we get 2024 releases like Leon Thomas’s Mutt competing for Album of the Year against Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend. The February 1 awards show will air nearly a year and a half after Thomas released his record in September 2024. (Fun fact: Carpenter’s Grammy-winning album, Short n’ Sweet, came out about a month before Mutt.) Swift is on the bench with a slew of artists whose work appeared this fall. Cardi B, Rosalía, Doja Cat, Tame Impala, Gucci Mane, and Sudan Archives have all released either critically acclaimed or widely popular records in the past two months — nearly enough to fill the next... Next year’s nominated artists will get one big promotional benefit: The 2027 Grammy Awards will be aired by Disney’s ABC instead of CBS after the corporation bought the show in October 2024.

And the House of Mouse is planning a promotional blitz. “Our big sell was ‘Here’s what we can do on Disney,’” Walt Disney Television alternative-TV chief Rob Mills told Vulture in May. “We can do Grammy-winner night on Idol. We can do a Grammy night on Dancing With the Stars. We could do a date on The Bachelor where they go to the Grammy Museum and a musical artist performs.” Swift may not be nominated this year, but expect to see a big Disney-branded... The 2026 Grammy Award nominees were announced on Nov.

7, and the list is honestly stacked. Fan favorite artists like Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, and Bad Bunny all earned multiple nods, Justin Bieber (!!!) earned himself an Album of the Year nomination with SWAG (plus other noms!), and... But among all the nominees, one big name was missing: Taylor Swift. Why wasn’t Taylor Swift nominated for any 2026 Grammys? It was only a month ago, on Oct. 3, 2025, that Swift released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.

Like any Swift album, the tracks — “The Fate Of Ophelia,” “Opalite,” and “Wood” are just some of the bops that come to mind — have been streamed by Swifties millions of times since... But they were all notably missing from the 2026 Grammy nominations list. And if you’re wondering why, the answer is pretty simple. Here are the 2026 #GRAMMYS nominees for ALBUM OF THE YEAR 🏆Complete list: https://t.co/cHx8Xo1g3c pic.twitter.com/06daWMbAC2 Don’t worry, Swift wasn’t snubbed. In actuality, the Grammys eligibility period just doesn’t run from January to December.

It’s not like artists who released music within that year at any point will be eligible for the Grammys that year. (It would be nice if that were the case, though.) Instead, the Grammys eligibility period for the 2026 Grammy Awards ran from Aug. 31, 2024 through Aug. 30, 2025. That means only music that was released within that period is eligible to win a 2026 Grammy.

Why Doesn T Taylor Swift Qualify For The 2026 Grammys

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