Taylor Swift is once again leading the pack. The singer tops the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Award nominees with nine nods, edging out Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, and Alex Warren, who each earned eight nominations.
As voting opens and anticipation builds for the March ceremony, Swift is also making headlines for a lighter moment tied to her personal life, after actor Josh Charles shared a behind-the-scenes story involving her fiancé, NFL star Travis Kelce.
Taylor Swift Leads iHeartRadio Music Award Nominations
The iHeartRadio Music Awards honor the most-played artists and songs across iHeartRadio stations and its app over the past year. Swift has consistently dominated the nominations in recent years. She led in 2024 and 2023 and tied with Morgan Wallen for the most nominations last year, with 10 each.
For 2026, Swift earned nine nominations across major categories, including song of the year, artist of the year, pop artist of the year, pop song of the year, best lyrics, best music video, favorite on screen, favorite tour style, and the newly added fan-voted category favorite TikTok dance.
“This is an annual awards show made exclusively for fans, celebrating the biggest songs and artists they’ve loved listening to on iHeartRadio stations and our iHeartRadio app all year long,” said John Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises, and Tom Poleman, chief programming officer of iHeartMedia, in a joint statement to the Associated Press.
In the song of the year category, Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” will compete against Morgan Wallen’s “Love Somebody,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Benson Boone’s “Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Shaboozey’s “Good News,” Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” Leon Thomas’ “Mutt,” and Myles Smith’s “Stargazing.”
Fans can vote in several categories, including favorite TikTok dance, favorite debut album, best lyrics, best music video, favorite on screen, favorite tour style, and favorite Broadway debut. Voting is open at iHeartRadio.com/awards and closes March 19 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. The 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards will broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 26 at 8 p.m. EDT on FOX.
Josh Charles Recalls Calling Travis Kelce Out
Away from awards season, Swift’s personal life resurfaced in a humorous way during a recent appearance on “The Tonight Show.” Actor Josh Charles, who appeared alongside Ethan Hawke in Swift’s “Fortnight” music video, revealed he had a candid exchange with Kelce while on set.
“It wasn’t a fight,” Charles explained to host Jimmy Fallon during the Jan. 5 episode. “I’ve always liked Travis Kelce, I just thought he was so cool. But that year, they beat us in the AFC Championship game—they beat the Ravens. He was a real jerk that year.”
Charles, a longtime Baltimore Ravens fan, said he took the opportunity to tell Kelce how he felt after watching the game.
“I said, ‘You know I’ve always liked you and this year you were kind of a d–k,’” Charles recalled. “I said, ‘What was up with that?’”
According to Charles, Kelce didn’t take offense. Instead, he understood where the criticism was coming from.
“He laughed and goes, ‘You know what you’re right,’” Charles said, adding that Kelce explained the Chiefs needed extra swagger during that matchup. “He’s like, ‘I had to come in with some swagger.’ And he did. He got one of our veterans to commit a personal foul, he got in our heads and it worked for them and they won the game.”
Despite the rivalry, Charles emphasized that his impression of Kelce was overwhelmingly positive. “He was actually great,” he said. “I really liked him a lot. Such a good dude.”
Taylor Swift Previously Praised Travis Kelce’s Presence on Set
Charles is not the first person to comment on Kelce’s time on the “Fortnight” set. Swift previously gave Kelce a public shoutout while accepting the Video of the Year award at the MTV VMAs.
“This video seems very sad when you watch it,” Swift said during her acceptance speech, “but it was actually the most fun video to make.”
She added that during filming, she would often hear someone cheering loudly from across the studio.
“That one person was my boyfriend Travis,” Swift said. “Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic.”
Taylor Swift Stays Winning While Her Co-Star Calls Out Travis Kelce