Leading up to the Grammy nominations on Nov. 7, Rolling Stone is breaking down 10 different categories. For each, we’re predicting the nominees, as well as who will (and who should) win on Grammy night.
The Grammys won’t have an easy time this year picking the nominees for Best Rock Album since longtime favorites like Foo Fighters, U2, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Dave Matthews Band didn’t release new albums. There was also nothing from recent winners the Rolling Stones, Paramore, Ozzy Osbourne, the Strokes, or Cage the Elephant. That means we’re likely to see a relatively eclectic, by Grammy standards, mix of albums that’s pretty tough to predict, along with recognition for acts that usually fly under the radar — even though some of them have been packing stadiums for decades.
Best Rock Album — Our Predictions
David Gilmour, Luck and Strange
The Cure, Songs of a Lost World
Wet Leg, Moisturizer
Machine Gun Kelly, Lost Americana
Yungblud, Idols
Who Will Win?
David Gilmour, Luck and Strange
David Gilmour has been making music and touring the globe ever since he joined Pink Floyd in 1967. But the sole Grammy on his shelf is a Best Instrumental Award for Pink Floyd’s 1995 song “Marooned.” (Yes, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall, and every other Floyd album and single racked up a combined nada. And yes, their one Grammy is for arguably the most obscure song in the Floyd catalog.) The Grammys treated the Stones with a similar level of stunning disrespect until awarding them Best Rock Album last year for Hackney Diamonds. We feel that something very similar could happen this year for Gilmour. It’ll be recognition that Luck and Strange is one of the best albums of his solo career, and a great showcase for his daughter Romany, but also a chance to make up for the deep wrongs of the past. (In movie terms, this is like when Martin Scorsese finally received the Oscar for Best Director for The Departed after denying him the honor for decades.) “Mr. Gilmour will probably win this,” says Jason Squires, program director of KFRR in Fresno, California. “It’s a very good record, and he’ll get his flowers and a little victory lap. They’ll be awarding the arc of his career.”
Who Should Win?
Wet Leg, Moisturizer
The line between Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Album is pretty thin in Grammy world. Back in 2023, U.K. indie-rock group Wet Leg won Best Alternative Music Album for their self-titled debut. Their follow-up, Moisturizer, is an even stronger effort. “If you thought they might catch a case of sophomore-slump neurosis, you guessed wrong,” wrote Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield in a four-star review. “They crank up the drum mix, enough to make you suspect they hang out in some pretty sleazy rock clubs these days, for a sound that’s aimed at the floor.” If the Grammy Gods move them over to Best Rock Album this time, taking a page from the Beck playbook, they deserve to win. “I love these ladies,” says Justin Kade, a SiriusXM DJ specializing in rock and alternative. “They have great senses of humor, and they can rock. They’ve also got a throwback vibe to some of the Nineties girl groups like Belly and the Breeders. ‘Mangetout’ is a great song off that album. I have no idea what they’re talking about, but it’s funny. If they’re nominated, it would be much deserved.”
Forecasting the Field
The Cure have been treated even worse by Grammys voters than Pink Floyd or the Rolling Stones. They have two Best Alternative Albums nominations, and zero wins. But Songs of a Lost World is a stunning work, and their first album in 16 years. “It came out in November of last year, and it felt just like the world did at the time,” says Kade. “It’s gloomy, dreary, and just beautifully crafted.”
On the other end of the spectrum is Machine Gun Kelly’s Lost Americana. His 2023 album, Mainstream Sellout, was nominated for Best Rock Album. Might he win this time? “I think his time has passed,” says Kade. “He had a good run during Covid since there wasn’t a lot going on, but it feels like there’s a backlash on him.” A much fresher face is Yungblud. In the past few months alone, he’s performed at the Black Sabbath farewell concert and cut an EP with Aerosmith. It puts his album Idols in a good position this year. “He’s been embraced by a rock audience more than guys like Machine Gun Kelly or Grandson,” says Kade. “The guys sells tickets. There’s already a passion for him. Keep an eye on him as we head into 2026.”
Back in 2024, Paramore beat out titans Metallica, Foo Fighters, and Queens of the Stone Age to win Best Rock Album for This Is Why. Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams dropped the excellent solo album Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party just two days before the Grammy window closed this year. She’s also a strong contender for the prize — don’t rule her out.
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