The 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards are set for 28 May at The Civic in Auckland, and this year’s nominations are a love letter to te reo Māori, homegrown pop, and Kiwi hip hop. Here’s everything you need to know about the artists.

Marlon Williams – 7 nominations

Marlon Williams leads the entire field, and the reasons why are hard to overstate. His album Te Whare Tīwekaweka is his first fully te reo Māori record, debuting at #1 on the Top 40 Albums Chart, the first album of original waiata reo Māori by a solo artist to ever top the chart. He’s up for Album of the Year, Single of the Year (for Aua Atu Rā), Best Solo Artist, and four more. A landmark moment for Aotearoa music.

Lorde – 4 nominations

Fresh off a massive global tour, Lorde returns as one of the night’s most compelling contenders. Her single What Was That was the only song by a New Zealander to reach #1 on the Aotearoa singles chart in 2025, and her album Virgin topped the albums chart on debut too. She’s up against Marlon Williams in both Album and Single of the Year, making for one of the most anticipated rivalries of the night.

BENEE

BENEE is back in the Best Pop Artist category, a title she held for four consecutive years from 2019 to 2022. With her new album Ur an Angel I’m Just Particles, she’s gunning to reclaim her crown, taking on some serious competition in the pop field.

Troy Kingi

A four-time Tūī winner, Troy Kingi is nominated for Best Hip Hop Artist for Troy Kingi Presents: Night Lords, his ninth album as part of the ambitious 10:10:10 project, ten albums across ten genres in ten years. We’re almost at the finish line, and the work keeps getting stronger.

Borderline

Their debut album Chrysalis has earned them nominations for both Best Pop Artist and Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and honestly, it feels well deserved. Going up against Lorde and BENEE in the pop category as a debut act is no small thing, and the fact that they’re even in that conversation says a lot. This is their moment to announce themselves to the wider Aotearoa music world, and we’ll be watching with everything crossed.

The AMAs take place on 28 May at The Civic, closing out NZ Music Month in style. The ceremony will be livestreamed on RNZ, so no matter where you are in Aotearoa, you can tune in.

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Published by Stephen

Director, Head of Media @ youthhub.blog ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ https://stephensun.nz/

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