Grammys 2026: Who Will Take Home Best Gospel Album?
Gospel music is a genre related to (and sometimes overlapping with) country, R&B, and even rock and roll, but its distinguishing characteristic is the intrinsic centrality of Christianity. In modern America, gospel music remains one of the most influential forms of Christian media. The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album was established in 2012, along with the Award for Best Contemporary Christian Album. At the same time, the categories of Best Rock Gospel Album, Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album, and Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album were discontinued.
Yolanda Adams – Sunny Days
Yolanda Adams is an immensely successful gospel musician of nearly 40 years’ standing. She has received a total of 16 Grammy nominations and won four of them. She was nominated eight times for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album (the original title of the now-removed Award for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album) and won it twice. This year marks her first nomination for Best Gospel Album. Sunny Days, released in Sept. 2024, is her twelfth studio album. (Her first, Just As I Am, was released in 1987).
Tasha Cobbs Leonard – Tasha
Tasha Cobbs Leonard is another prolific contributor to the gospel genre and a similarly seasoned Grammy veteran. Going back to 2014, she has won three Grammys (each for a performance in the gospel and/or contemporary Christian music genres) and been nominated for eight more, including two prior nods for Best Gospel Album. This year, she is nominated once more for Best Gospel Performance/Song (on account of Tasha’s song “Church,” which she shares with John Legend) in addition to her third Best Gospel Album nod. Tasha, released in July of 2025, is her fifth studio album.
Tamela Mann – Live Breathe Fight
Live Breathe Fight, released in Sept. of 2024, is the seventh studio album of Tamela Mann, a one-time Grammy winner in the category of Best Gospel Performance/Song, for her 2016 song “God Provides.” She was also nominated in 2013 for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance for the song “Take Me to the King.”
Tye Tribbett – Only on the Road (Live)
Only on the Road (Live) was released in August of 2025 as the tenth album of Tye Tribbett, who has a prodigious Grammy history of 11 nominations and three wins. He has won twice in this particular category and been nominated once more prior to this year.
Darrel Walls & PJ Morton – Heart of Mine
The final entry in this lineup represents a collaboration between two accomplished, much-nominated gospel musicians. PJ Morton is a member of the pop-rock band Maroon 5 (which he joined in 2012, the band having formed in 1994). He owes four of his 22 Grammy nominations to his tenure with this band, though none of these were wins. Morton himself has won five Grammys, including once in this category for his 2020 album Gospel According to PJ: From the Songbook of PJ Morton.
Darrel Walls has been nominated six times, sharing one of his previous nods with Morton: for 2022’s “The Better Benediction” in the category of Best Gospel Performance/Song. This year, they also shared a nod in the category Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for “Amazing,” which is on the album Heart of Mine. Heart of Mine was released in August of 2025.
Scoop on Tomorrow’s Grammys
The 68th Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 1, between 5:00 and 8:30 PM (PST), at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. They’ll air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+. Their host will be comedian Trevor Noah.
