Sleep Token, Linkin Park, Spiritbox and More Nominated For 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards

The 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards nominees are in, with Sleep Token and Linkin Park among the rock and alternative acts represented.

The nominations have been announced for the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards, with several artists from the rock and alternative world landing spots across major categories. The ceremony is set to take place on Thursday, March 26 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, with fan voting now open for select awards via the iHeartRadio site.

The 13th annual iHeartRadio Music Awards celebrate the most-played artists and songs across iHeartRadio stations and the iHeartRadio app throughout 2025, while also positioning certain releases as early indicators of what may dominate airwaves in 2026. As in previous years, the event will include live performances, award presentations, and guest appearances, with the broadcast airing at 8pm ET (12pm AEDST, Friday 27 March for Aussies) on FOX and streaming across iHeartRadio platforms.

Rock and alternative music once again have a visible presence, led by Linkin Park, who appear repeatedly across categories. The band is nominated for Duo or Group of the Year alongside HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI, Maroon 5, Shinedown, and Twenty One Pilots. Linkin Park also appear in Alternative Artist of the Year and Rock Artist of the Year, as well as earning a Rock Song of the Year nomination for ‘Heavy Is The Crown’.

Meanwhile, Sleep Token are nominated for iHeartRadio’s Rock Artist of the Year, placing them alongside Papa Roach, Shinedown, Three Days Grace, and Linkin Park. Interestingly, Architects and Spiritbox are nominated for Best New Artist (Rock) despite both acts having been around for a number of years – it’s not quite clear what makes an artist ‘new’ in the eyes of iHeartRadio, but if it’s anything like the Grammys new artist award, they must have entered “public consciousness” within the eligibility period. To put it simply, making a splash into the mainstream in some way or another.

Yungblud also got a look in, although not for his new album IDOLS – instead, his photographer Tom Pallant has been nominated for the fan-voted Favourite Tour Photographer category. If you’re keen to suss out his work and happen to be based in Sydney, currently Behind The Gallery in Newtown is hosting his YUNGBLUD: IDOLS photography exhibition until Sunday 11 January as the musician himself gets ready to perform in the city on Saturday.

Here’s a rundown of some of the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards nominees across various categories – we’ve not included every single one given the sheer amount of categories (48, if you were wondering):

Duo/Group of the Year:

• HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI
• Linkin Park
• Maroon 5
• Shinedown
• Twenty One Pilots

Alternative Song of the Year:

• “Back To Friends” – sombr
• “Ensenada” – Sublime
• “One Eyed Bastard” – Green Day 
• “Stargazing” – Myles Smith
• “The Contract” – Twenty One Pilots

Alternative Artist of the Year:

• Cage the Elephant
• Green Day
• Linkin Park
• Sublime
• Twenty One Pilots

Best New Artist (Alternative):

• almost monday
• Gigi Perez
• Lola Young
• Role Model
• sombr

Rock Song of the Year:

• “Afterlife” – Evanescence
• “Bad Guy” – Falling In Reverse ft. Saraya
• “Dance, Kid, Dance” – Shinedown
• “Even If It Kills Me” – Papa Roach
• “Heavy Is the Crown” – Linkin Park

iHeartRadio Rock Artist of the Year:

• Linkin Park
• Papa Roach
• Shinedown
• Sleep Token
• Three Days Grace

Best New Artist (Rock):

• Architects
• Poppy
• Return to Dust
• Sleep Theory
• Spiritbox

Favorite Debut Album: *Socially Voted Category 

• Addison Rae, “Addison”
• Alex Warren, “You’ll Be Alright, Kid”
• Audrey Hobert, “Who’s the Clown?”
• Calum Hood, “ORDER chaos ORDER”
• Coco Jones, “Why Not More?”
• JADE, “THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!”
• JENNIE, “Ruby”
• LISA, “Alter Ego”
• Michael Clifford, “SIDEQUEST”
• Perrie, “Perrie”
• sombr, “I Barely Know Her”
• Tucker Wetmore, “What Not To”

Favorite Soundtrack: *Socially Voted Category 

• “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (Original Soundtrack)”
• “F1 the Album”
• “Frankenstein (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)”
• “KPop Demon Hunters”
• “Nobody Wants This Season 2: The Soundtrack”
• “Sinners (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)”
• “Smurfs Movie Soundtrack (Music From & Inspired By)”
• “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”
• “Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” – Nine Inch Nails
• “Wicked: For Good – The Soundtrack”
• “Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires (Original Soundtrack)”

Favorite Tour Photographer: *Socially Voted Category 

• Abby Waisler for Gracie Abrams
• Adam DeGross for Post Malone
• Anna Lee for Coldplay
• baeth for Tate McRae
• Chris Cornejo for Shakira
• Cynthia Parkhurst for Katy Perry
• Henry Hwu for Billie Eilish
• Hyghly for The Weeknd
• Joshua Halling for Oasis
• Rahul Bhatt for KATSEYE
• Thomas Falcone for Shawn Mendes
• Tom Pallant for YUNGBLUD

Fan voting will determine winners in multiple iHeartRadio Music Awards categories including Favourite Tour Photographer, with social voting running until March 19 at 11:59pm PT (that’s 6:59pm AEDST, March 20 for those Down Under).