With 2025 now coming to an end, it is the perfect time to look forward to the great new music scheduled to come out in 2026.
We have collected the biggest upcoming new releases to give you a taste of what’s to come. From Madison to Louis, and Charli to, uh, Charlie, here are the most anticipated albums to watch out for in the first quarter of next year.
The Kid LAROI - Before I Forget (January 5)
The Kid LAROI teased that an album called Watch This! would be coming out in 2025, and released some singles, but nothing transpired. While some fans believe it had something to do with the 22-year-old Aussie splitting up with Tate McRae, he admitted that “it didn’t flow as well and I felt as if I grew out of it really quickly. I didn’t feel comfortable releasing it.” But with the exception of one song that managed to survive the cut, he calls Before I Forget “my favourite thing I’ve ever made… and the most personal thing I’ve ever made."
Zach Bryan - With Heaven On Top (January 9)
Zach Bryan used the old “good things come to those who wait” method of announcing his next record’s release would a half-year later. In July the Oklahoma native casually revealed the artwork in an Instagram post after months of speculation by fans. While it’s still up in the air whether it will be an EP or a full-length album, or if it will feature his recent collaborations with Kings of Leon and Gabriella Rose, the long-awaited release is big enough for the singer-songwriter to name his tour after.
A$AP Rocky - Don’t Be Dumb (January 16)
A$AP Rocky’s long-delayed fourth album will be his first since 2018’s Testing. And while it’s understandable that he’s been busy these past few years (not to mention facing trial for a felony assault), Rihanna’s mister has been teasing the project since June 2024 and has already missed multiple release date targets. There is plenty of reason to be excited, as it is said to feature production by Tyler, the Creator, Hit-Boy, Madlib, Clams Casino, Swedish House Mafia, Toronto’s Boi-1da and more. And according to Rocky, the album is done and allegedly good to go after leaks and sample clearances got in the way. While, as this article points out, he was recently selling merch at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival that read “ALBUM NEVER DROPPING,” he recently posted the album cover featuring artwork by the one and only Tim Burton and said it’s coming soon. Even Rihanna commented, saying, “Sooo f*ckin proud!!!! LETS GOOOO BABY.” That’s gotta mean some good.
Madison Beer - Locket (January 16)
Madison Beer has called her third album, Locket, “a real rollercoaster.” Moving towards a darker, synth-pop sound with her Grammy-nominated hit “Make You Mine,” she promises plenty of songs that manage to be both upbeat and emotional. As for that time, she said, “It feels like each song lives within this metaphorical locket for safekeeping. Each album feels like an era and once the albums are out in the world the chapter for me, usually with what I wrote about, is closed.”
Louis Tomlinson - How Did I Get Here? (January 23)
The former One Direction star has described his third solo album, How Did I Get Here?, as “the record I always deserved to make.” Led by his hit single “Lemonade,” Tomlinson credits a visit to Costa Rica to work on the album, and the vibes he felt during his time there, as a key moment in its creation. Speaking to iHeartRadio Canada this past October, he revealed that one of his goals was to make the album “feel fun as a whole, but also light, and not take itself to seriously.”
Charli XCX - Wuthering Heights (February 13)
After a dominant 2024 in which she took her career to another level and even made “brat” one of the most used words of the year, Charli XCX’s next album will be.. a soundtrack. And that might be because she has her own feature film, The Moment, coming out later this year, along with no shortage of other films in which she stars. Charli was originally asked by director Emerald Fennell to contribute a track to her big screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights, but instead she countered with an entire album. In a blog post, Charli expressed her excitement for the project, adding that she wanted to dive into a world that felt “undeniably raw, wild, sexual, gothic, British, tortured and full of actual real sentences, punctuation and grammar.” So expect the unexpected!
Hilary Duff - Luck... or Something (February 20)
Hilary Duff shocked her fans in early November when she dropped “Mature,” her first new solo track in a full decade. Naturally, the song is the first single from a full album, her first since 2015’s Breathe In. Breathe Out. When announcing the album, Duff wrote that the album was made of “so much love, late night anxiety and a little chaos.” In a statement, the actress/singer added that “Many of the things I’ve been through along the way are held there, and I feel like ultimately that’s what’s shaped me.”
Charlie Puth - Whatever’s Clever! (March 6)
Co-produced by Charlie Puth with BloodPop (Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga), not a lot has been revealed about the singer-songwriter’s upcoming fourth album, Whatever’s Clever!, aside from the fact that it will be his “best studio album” yet and that it will have “12 songs with 7 features.” Though, in a recent interview with iHeartRadio Canada, Charlie said that with Whatever’s Clever! he was trying to “recapturing the warmth” of his music, something he’s demonstrated with first single “Changes,” which leans heavily towards an ‘80s pop sound.
Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 3 (March 27?)
Things have gotten complicated for the new Nicki Minaj album. At first her plans were to release a deluxe edition of 2023’s Pink Friday 2, but in September 2024 she scrapped that idea and announced she’d put out a brand new album titled Pink Friday 3. Over the course of the year, some things happened and Nicki talked about slowing down her career or even just retiring. But then in October 2025, she tweeted that she was “not going to put out the album anymore,” adding, “no more music,” after calling Jay-Z for interfering with her career. One week later, Nicki changed her mind and promised a new album that would be in the "top two" of her career. According to a fan site, the album could feature collabs with Future, Doja Cat, Sabrina Carpenter and FKA Twigs. Of course, her recent interests of late could mean more changes are to come, so we might have to just wait and see.
3.27.26 💿
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 24, 2025
BTS – TBD (Spring 2026)
Details: Where we stand with the release date of a brand new BTS album is officially unclear. But according to industry sources and the group themselves, it should arrive in the spring, possibly even March 2026. The even better news is that Jimin admitted in a livestream that the album is finished. (That was fast!) Immediately after the remaining members were discharged from their mandatory military service in June 2025, they went straight to work on it. What will it sound like? Who knowsetails are scarce, but in a joint statement, they said, “Since it will be a group album, it will reflect each member’s thoughts and ideas.”