The winners for the 2026 ‘iHeartRadio Music Awards‘ were announced tonight, March 26th, via a ceremony that took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Depending on how heavy you like your music, you may have to temper your expectations for the winners and nominees, as this year’s crop largely favored more rock radio-friendly fare.
The seemingly perennially nominated Linkin Park picked up the ‘Rock Song Of The Year’ award for “Heavy Is The Crown“. Last year’s awards saw them take home ‘Rock Album Of The Year’ for their comeback album “From Zero“.
Also returning from last year’s winners are rock radio mainstays Shinedown, who picked up ‘Rock Artist Of The Year’ for a second year in a row. That band also scored ‘Rock Song Of The Year’ at the 2025 awards for “A Symptom Of Human Being“.
As for ‘Best New Artist’ in the rock category, hard rockers Sleep Theory picked up that award, beating out Spiritbox, Poppy, Return To Dust and, in a eyebrow-raising nomination, Architects — a band whose origins date back to 2004.
Duo/Group of the Year:
HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI (winner)
Linkin Park
Maroon 5
Shinedown
Twenty One Pilots
Alternative Song Of The Year:
“Ensenada” – Sublime (winner)
“Back To Friends” – sombr
“One Eyed Bastard” – Green Day
“Stargazing” – Myles Smith
“The Contract” – Twenty One Pilots
Alternative Artist Of The Year:
Twenty One Pilots (winner)
Cage The Elephant
Green Day
Linkin Park
Sublime
Rock Song Of The Year:
“Heavy Is The Crown” – Linkin Park (winner)
“Afterlife” – Evanescence
“Bad Guy” – Falling In Reverse ft. Saraya
“Dance, Kid, Dance” – Shinedown
“Even If It Kills Me” – Papa Roach
Rock Artist Of The Year:
Shinedown (winner)
Linkin Park
Papa Roach
Sleep Token
Three Days Grace
Best New Artist (Rock):
Sleep Theory (winner)
Architects
Poppy
Return to Dust
Spiritbox
Favorite Soundtrack:
“KPop Demon Hunters” (winner)
“A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (Original Soundtrack)”
“F1 the Album”
“Frankenstein (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)”
“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)”
A complete list of winners are available via iheart.com.
