Four of the Five 2026 Grammy Nominees for Best Album Cover Are the Recording Artists Themselves

As final-round Grammy voting opens on Friday (Dec. 12), Recording Academy members will see that four of the five Grammy nominees for best album cover list the recording artists themselves as art director (or co-art director).

Tyler Okonma, better known as Tyler, The Creator, is nominated as the art director of his smash album CHROMAKOPIA. He is competing with Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, for Debí Tirar Más Fotos; Joe Keery, better known as Djo, for The Crux (on which he shared the art director credit with Jake Hirshland, Neil Krug, Taylor Vandergrift and William Wesley II) and Rhian Teasdale, a member of Wet Leg, for moisturizer (on which she shared the credit with Iriz Luz and Lava La Rue).

The only nominee for best album cover who is not the recording artist is Perfume Genius’ album Glory. The nominated art directors are Cody Critcheloe & Andrew J.S.

The Recording Academy relaunched the best album cover category this year, but the category dates to the first Grammy ceremony in 1959. Frank Sinatra won in the category as the art director of his album, Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely. Sinatra’s album was also nominated for album of the year, as are two of this year’s nominees for best album cover – Tyler’s CHROMAKOPIA and Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos.

The academy announced the new category in June, stating that the award “recognizes excellence in cover art for albums or recordings of any genre of music released for the first time during the eligibility year. The elements judged in this category include the creativity, design, illustration, photography, and/or graphic art of the album cover.” The eligibility criteria stipulates that the cover must be “predominantly new”, and that reissued recordings with minor artwork changes are not eligible. The award goes to the art director(s) of the album.

While the Grammys have had awards for album packaging every year, prior to this relaunch they had a category specially called best album cover just from 1959-61 and again from 1969-73.

Regarding the need for a specific category honoring album covers, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. stated: “In today’s digital world, album covers are arguably more impactful than ever. Chances are, there’s an iconic cover that’s instantly recognizable to you, even if you never owned the physical album. Their cultural significance is undeniable. That’s one of the reasons members of the art director community and our Awards & Nominations members felt this Category was necessary.”

Recording artists are taking a larger role in the art direction of their albums. In the Grammys’ first 32 years, Sinatra was the only artist to win a Grammy as the art director of his own album.

In the last 35 years, 10 artists won as art directors (or co-art directors) in the best recording package category – Suzanne Vega for Days of Open Hand (1991); Joni Mitchell for Turbulent Indigo (1996); Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel for that band’s Ride With Bob (2000); Ani DiFranco for Evolve (2004); Aimee Mann for The Forgotten Arm (2006); Adam Jones of Tool for that band’s 10,000 Days (2007); Michael Carney of The Black Keys for that band’s Brothers (2011); Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam for that band’s Lightning Bolt (2015); and Josh Tillman, better known as Father John Misty, for Pure Comedy (Deluxe Edition) (2018); and Charli XCX for BRAT (2025).

When the Grammy nominations were announced on Nov. 7, Shaun Llewellyn and Luis “Panch” Perez were listed as the nominated art directors of Tyler, the Creator’s album. On Dec. 9, their names were removed and the nomination was awarded to Tyler, the Creator. Likewise, when the nominations were announced, William Wesley II was the sole art director nominated for Djo’s The Crux. The other nominees, including Djo, were added on Dec. 9.

These post-announcement changes to the list are routine. In the weeks following the nominations announcement, the academy reviews the thousands of names across the 95 categories and makes adjustments as needed. Here’s a link to the academy’s “Grammy Award Update Center,” where it lists changes. (Billboard continually updates its nominations list to reflect these changes.)

Final-round Grammy voting runs through Jan. 5. The 68th annual Grammy Awards will be presented on Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Here are this year’s nominees for best album cover in list format: