Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Taylor Swift is leading the list of nominees for the 2026 American Music Awards.
The global pop star has picked up the highest number of nominations heading into this year’s ceremony, with a total of eight.
The Bad Blood singer, who already holds the record as the most awarded artist in AMA history with 40 wins, is up for several major categories this year. These include Album of the Year for The Life of a Showgirl, Song of the Year for The Fate of Ophelia, and Artist of the Year.
Following closely behind Swift are Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Dean, Sombr and Morgan Wallen, who have each received seven nominations.
Carpenter and Wallen are both competing in Album, Song and Artist of the Year, while Dean and Sombr are in the running for Best New Artist along with several other key categories.
Additional names nominated for Artist of the Year include Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, BTS, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga.
Dean and Sombr are also part of this year’s group of first time nominees, joined by RAYE, Role Model, Alex Warren, KATSEYE, Tate McRae, PinkPantheress, BigXthaPlug, Leon Thomas and Sienna Spiro.
The winners will be chosen through fan voting, which is now open to the public.
The ceremony will be hosted by Queen Latifah and is scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 25.
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Justin Bieber’s $10 million payday for Coachella this year makes him the highest paid out of the three headliners. With that kind of deal in place, it always felt unlikely that he would step away from the festival. Even so, having a backup option is part of the industry since nothing is ever completely certain.
There was still some hesitation surrounding Bieber, especially because of the health struggles he has dealt with recently, both physically and mentally. Because of that, people online started speculating about who could potentially step in for the Canadian star.
SZA’s name quickly became part of that conversation, with rumors claiming she had been chosen as his backup. Some of those reports even suggested she was being offered a large amount of money to take on that role.
More specifically, the claim was that she would receive a six figure payment to act as his emergency replacement.
But according to the SOS artist herself, none of that is true.
As noted by Buzzing Pop and Bossip, the TDE signee responded directly under a post spreading the rumor and shut it down. “Lmao who made this up? I've seen this 4 times now. I'm in New York no one paid me a dime. Wishing everyone the best [red heart emoji],” she wrote.
It is possible she is currently in New York working on her next album, which she has been teasing in recent weeks.
Overall, it does not seem like SZA took any offense to the situation. She simply wanted to clear things up and stop the rumor from spreading further.
It also appears she is showing support for Justin Bieber, whose first of two Coachella performances has sparked mixed reactions.
If you missed it, midway through his set, the hitmaker pulled out his MacBook and played a series of music videos from his earlier catalog.
Some viewers criticized the moment, calling it unprofessional and lacking effort, while others saw it as something more personal and nostalgic. Many longtime fans have followed Bieber since his early years, so watching him revisit that era felt meaningful for those who have stayed with him.
Even with the divided opinions, there is still a lot of curiosity around what he will bring to the stage for his next performance this coming Saturday.
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