Every year, at least one music artist puts out an album to save fans from a music drought. In 2024, it was Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Tyler the Creator and many alike. In 2025, it was Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and a return of many people’s favorite pop artists like Swift and Sabrina Carpenter. Like these past years, 2026 will be no different as an endless amount of music is expected to come out of it.
Announced/Confirmed
There are going to be two categories in this article. The first being confirmed albums, then the rumored albums. To start off, let’s talk about Harry Styles. In mid January of this year, Styles started to hint at his return and announced a new album called “Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally.” This will be the artist’s fourth studio album and the first one in four years, with his most recent album being “Harry’s House.” Considering the amount of popularity he garnered because of that album and tour, I can only imagine what is to come with this next one. The album comes out on March 6 and its first single “Aperture” was released on Jan. 23.
The next album to look forward to is Charli XCX’s “Wuthering Heights.” Although it has not technically been released yet, it has already developed lots of popularity with her first single “House,” featuring John Cale, already becoming popular on social media. XCX also released two other songs from the album, “Wall of Sound” and “Chains of Love”. The artist is also coming out with a film “The Moment” about her journey through the tour for her famous album “brat” which was released June of 2024. The album was created for Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of “Wuthering Heights.”
Noah Kahan will also be releasing a new album. With his hit album “Stick Season” coming out in 2024, he has a lot to live up to with his new album “The Great Divide” coming out April 24. Khan has already announced the North American leg of the tour and a single “The Great Divide” on Jan. 30 with a music video that premiered at the Grammys on Feb. 1.
Other highly anticipated albums include:
- Lana Del Rey’s “Stove”, release date TBD
- Hilary Duff “Lucky…or Something” Feb. 20
- Megan Moroney “Cloud 9” Feb. 20
- BLACKPINK “DEADLINE” Feb. 27
- Bruno Mars “The Romantic” Feb. 27
- BTS “Arirang” March 6
- Nicki Minaj (no title yet) March 27
Rumored
With many fandoms eagerly waiting for their favorite artists to release again, many have found that this year matches lots of patterns that fans find with artist’s release dates. One of the most highly expected releases is Olivia Rodrigo’s third album. With her album cycle of two years being passed, people are expecting another album, with her most recent one coming out in August of 2023. Along with this, the artist has hinted multiple times, with symbolic and encoded Instagram posts and a rise in Lancôme commercials, so people expect an album announcement sometime this year. Although we have not gotten a solo album announcement, she will be a part of a charity album “HELP(2)” which comes out March 6.
Another artist whose album cycle is coming up is Gracie Abrams. With her fourth studio album coming out in late 2024, her two year album cycle lands on this year. With her past album gaining her multiple Grammy nominations and a dream collaboration with Swift, fans are excited to see what could come with a fifth album.
Billie Ellish is another anticipated artist this year. With her past album “Hit Me Hard And Soft” being a Grammy winning album, and her song “Wildflower” winning Song of the Year at this past Grammy Awards, fans are eager to see what she has in store for them next.
