Grammys 2026: Dalai Lama, Steven Spielberg & K-pop history define music’s biggest night
The Dalai Lama beat out Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to win his first Grammy award for audiobook, narrative and storytelling recording. You read that correctly.
“I’m not the Dalai Lama,” Rufus Wainwright joked in his acceptance speech. “It was a privilege to participate in this project.”
The song “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” won song written for visual media at the Premier Ceremony, marking the first time a K-pop group has won a Grammy. The songwriters gave their acceptance speeches in both English and Korean, emphasizing the song’s bilingual appeal.
It went to the musical film “Music for John Williams,” which means director Steven Spielberg has officially won his first Grammy award. This makes it an EGOT winner; He is an artist with Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar awards.
The Premiere Ceremony, a pre-release show held at the adjacent Peacock Theatre, began with musician and host Darren Criss setting the stage — presenting the day’s first award for best pop/duo group performance to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for “Fight Against Gravity.” They were not there to accept the award.
An impressive 86 Grammys will be handed out ahead of the broadcast. Yungblud won his first Grammy for rock performance for his cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes (Live from Villa Park)”, which he performed at Ozzy Osbourne’s final show. The formidable band Turnstile also won their first Grammy for their rock album and later metal performance.
“Thank you Baltimore, we love you,” said frontman Brendan Yates.
The Cure won an alternative music performance, but they were unable to attend because they were attending the funeral of Perry Archangelo Bamonte, the Cure’s longtime guitarist and keyboardist who died last month.
FKA twigs won her first Grammy for best dance/electronic album for “EUSEXUA,” becoming only the second Black woman to win in that category. In his speech, he said, “I did not expect to come here. I was very happy to be nominated.” “Thank you so much – wow.”
“All the Latin kids in the neighborhood are watching, anything is possible,” said rapper Lefty Gunplay, who won his first Grammy for his rap performance for his role in Kendrick Lamar’s “TV Off.”
Previously, Edgar Barrera handed out some of the Latin music categories: Natalia Lafourcade won best Latin pop album for “Cancionera”; Best Latin Rock or Alternative album by CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso with “Papota”. This is their first win in their first candidacy. In their Spanish speech, they thanked their country, Argentina, and all of Latin America. The Musica Mexicana album (including Tejano) went to Carin Leon for “Palabra De To’s (Seca)”. This is his second victory in his second candidacy.
It’s a very different tone than last year. The 2025 awards ceremony has been completely redesigned and refocused on relief efforts following the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area. In 2026, the focus has once again turned to music, as Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and more will face off during the televised ceremony.
The energy was high from the first minute of the Premiere Ceremony: Earth, Wind & Fire delivered a great opening performance of “Shining Star” with help from Israel Houghton, Lila Ike, Grace Potter, Maggie Rose and Trombone Shorty.
“That’s how you start a show!” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason Jr. he said in his opening speech. “This is expression. This is joy. This is resilience.”
There were many other performances, too: Zara Larsson brought the Swedish pop song “Midnight Sun,” followed by Spiritbox’s metallic “Soft Spine,” Tasha Cobbs brought Leonard’s “Church” and Criss and Helen J. Shen’s “Never Fly Away.”
Following the Premiere Ceremony, comedian Trevor Noah will host the main show for the sixth and final year and history could be made when the biggest names in music come together. Here are some important things you need to know ahead of Sunday’s show at Crypto.com Arena.
Artists speak out about Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants At the First Ceremony, artists presented pro-immigration and anti-ICE messages.
The country duo/group performance went to first-time winners Shaboozey and Jelly Roll. Shaboozey accepted the award with tears in her eyes. “I want to thank my mother, who as of today has retired from her job of 30 years… working as a registered nurse in a psychiatric ward… working as an immigrant in this country. Thank you, mother.
“Immigrants literally built this country. So this is for them,” he concluded. “Thank you for bringing your culture, your music, and your stories.”
Amy Allen won the non-classical songwriter of the year award for the second year in a row and wore the “ICE Out” pin, which has an anti-immigration enforcement message. So did Kehlani, who won her first Grammy for her R&B performance and later her second Grammy for her R&B song.
“I’ve never won anything before, it’s a really crazy feeling,” she said, fighting back tears as she reflected on her first nomination 10 years ago. He then shifted gears to focus on the current political moment: “I’m going to drop this and say (expletive-filled) ICE.”
“I’m scared,” Gloria Estefan said backstage at the Grammys about the current political moment. “There are hundreds of children in detention centers. … I don’t recognize my country right now.”
How to watch the show and the red carpet The main show will air live on CBS starting February 1 at 8pm Eastern.
The Grammys can also be watched via live TV streaming services that include CBS, such as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.
Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the Grammys live; Paramount+ essential subscribers will get on-demand access the next day.
The Associated Press is currently hosting a four-hour red carpet extravaganza featuring interviews and fashion shoots. It will air on YouTube and APNews.com ahead of Sunday’s Grammy awards.
Who is nominated for the 2025 Grammy Award Kendrick Lamar leads the way with nine of the 2026 Grammy Award nominations. Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut follow with seven nominations.
Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas and Serban Ghenea boast six nominations. Andrew Watt, Clipse, Doechii, Sounwave, SZA, Turnstile and Tyler, the Creator have five each.
Doechii, Harry Styles, Carole King, Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, Jeff Goldblum, Karol G, Lainey Wilson, Marcello Hernandez, Nikki Glaser, Q-Tip, Queen Latifah and Teyana Taylor, who attended and performed at the Grammys, will present at the 2026 Grammys.
Artists include Justin Bieber, Clipse, Pharrell Williams, Sabrina Carpenter Bruno Mars, Rose, Tyler, the Creator, Lady Gaga and eight of this year’s best new artist nominees: Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, global girl group Katseye, The Marias, Addison Rae, sombr, Alex Warren and Lola Young.
Reba McEntire, Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson will perform at the memorial service. Ms. Lauryn Hill will pay tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack. Post Malone, Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Duff McKagan and Slash will honor Ozzy Osbourne.
