The 2026 Grammy Awards are in full swing and we’ve already been treated to an array of buzzy moments. Olivia Dean took home a well-deserved win and Nicki Minaj copped some well-deserved shade, but there’s plenty more where that came from.
Some of the biggest names in the music industry walked the red carpet for the ceremony’s 68th annual edition, with a bunch of your faves in line to score a shiny gong for all the tunes they’ve rammed into our ear holes over the past year.
Before we get into the most talked-about tidbits from the ceremony — from both the red carpet and the Grammys stage — here’s a rundown of all the stuff you need to know before tuning in. It’s like homework, but with Sabrina Carpenter as your tutor.
What you need to know
- The Nominees: Kendrick Lamar leads the pack of nominees with a whopping nine nods, with Lady Gaga close behind on seven and Carpenter with six. Other musicians with multiple noms Jack Antonoff, Bad Bunny, SZA and Tyler, The Creator, so expect to see at least some of them feigning happiness when someone else inevitably wins. Such is the joy of awards season.
- The Host: Taking on hosting duties for a sixth time (!) is Trevor Noah, who proves the adage that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 2026 will mark the comedian’s final stint as host, so he got a few celeb roasts in before he dipped.
- The Performances: Addison Rae, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Carpenter are some of the bigger-ticket performers, but the stage also welcomed the likes of Lola Young — fresh off her four-month hiatus — as well as Olivia Dean and Sombr.
Who’s nominated in the big 4 categories?
In an age where awards categories can read like gibberish crosswords, it can be hard to sift through all the filler. In Grammys-land, there a four key categories that generate the most interest, beginning with Album of the Year.
In 2026, that slot was filled by nominees Bieber (for Swag), Carpenter (for Man’s Best Friend), Gaga (for Mayhem), Lamar (GNX), Tyler, The Creator (Chromakopia), Bad Bunny (for Debí Tirar Más Fotos), the latter of whom eventually took home the trophy.
Gaga, Carpenter, Lamar and Bad Bunny also have a nod in the equally buzzy Song of the Year category, but it was Billie Eilish who nabbed the award for her track “Wildflower”, beating out the likes of Doechii (for “Anxiety”) Rosé and Mars (“APT”).
The difference between Song of the Year and Record of the Year has been a source of confusion, but the former category recognises the specific songwriters who penned a track’s lyrics and melody, while Record of the Year is a more holistic honour awarded to the artist, producers, and engineers of the overall sound.
Chappell Roan vied for that gong with her track “The Subway”, as well as a bunch of artists mentioned above.
Best New Artist, another category to look out for this season, was won by Olivia Dean, who beat out the likes of Katseye, Rae, Sombr, Young and Alex Warren.
You can see the full list the 2026 Grammy Awards nominees, and where to watch them collect their trophies, HERE. Meanwhile, you can see our rolling list of all the winners HERE, and our red carpet coverage HERE.
With all that out of the way, let’s dive in to all the headline-grabbing moments from the 2026 Grammy Awards, shall we?
The Grammy Awards 2026 Live Blog
Bad Bunny dedicates his Album of the Year award to the dreamers
Closing out the ceremony with an emotional acceptance speech was Bad Bunny, who took home the night’s top gong of Album of the Year for his record Debí Tirar Más Fotos.
He dedicated his win to his home country of Puerto Rico, saying the award was for “all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams”.
Earlier in the ceremony, Bad Bunny received a standing ovation for his stern message against Trump’s immigration policies. “We are not savage, we are not animals, we are not aliens, we are humans,” he said.
Bad Bunny was one of many attendees to address that sentiment throughout the evening.
Cher forgets to present an award
Icon Cher won over audiences while accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Grammys, but her mic-drop moment was halted when host Trevor Noah informed her she’d forgotten to present the next award.
She moseyed back on stage to present Record of the Year to Kendrick Lamar and SZA for “Luther”, but there was a slight slip-up when Cher announced the winners. She blamed it on the teleprompter, but it’s Cher, so I don’t think anyone really cared.
Billie Eilish says “fuck ICE”
A shocked Billie Eilish took home the win for Song of the Year for her song “WILDFIRE”, with her boyfriend, actor Nat Wolff, cheering on from the crowd. Eilish used the moment to call out ICE, saying “no one is illegal on stolen land”.
“Fuck ICE,” she added. Eilish was one of many to criticise the Trump administration’s immigration policies, with Kehlani repeating the sentiment during her acceptance speech and Hailey and Justin Bieber seen wearing ICE OUT pins on the red carpet.
Lola Young drops an F-bomb
Lola Young’s reaction when winning Best Pop Solo Performance for “Messy” was truly heartwarming, specially given the last few months she’s had.
The singer was seen mouthing the word “fuck” when Charli xcx presented her with the award, but we heard expletive again when Young actually took to the stage. She didn’t prepare an acceptance speech, but dropping the F-bomb is enough for me.
The Grammys puts its paws up
More than compensating for Bieber’s lack of costume was Lady Gaga, who told the audience to “put your paws up” before an exhilarating rendition of “Abracadabra”. She quite literally pulled out all the stops, from an ornate headpiece to vocal notes that reached to the heavens, but we expect nothing less!
Justin Bieber takes to the stage in… his pyjamas?
Grammy nominee Justin Bieber delivered an intimate performance of his track, “YUKON”. So intimate in fact, that he rocked up in just a pair of boxers and socks, because why the hell not?
The rendition featured a brief clip of Justin’s wife Hailey in the crowd, looking all loved-up as her boo serenaded her. Well, her and the countless stans salivating at home.
Olivia Dean wins Best New Artist
Olivia Dean has done it! The pop star just won the coveted Best New Artist award. She used her acceptance speech to thank her team, while joining the chorus of stars shouting out the immigrant community.
“I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant,” Dean said. “I’m a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.” We love to see it!
Addison Rae kicks off Best New Artist medley
Gone are the days of Addison Rae filming TikToks on the streets of LA. The pop star channelled her inner Britney Spears as she performed her hit song “Fame is a Gun” at the Grammys in a sparkly two-piece purple outfit, no less.
Rae’s iconic performance kicked off a medley from all eight best New Artist nominees, with Katseye singing “Gnarly” and Leon Thomas belting out “Mutt”.
Alex Warren entered the arena singing his megahit “Ordinary” — which started off slightly out of time as he didn’t have his earpiece in, oops — and then Lola Young performed an incredible piano rendition of “Messy”.
Olivia Dean, the star she is, came in clutch with a performance of “Man I Need”. Her ability to continually make us smile needs to be studied. Sombr wrapped things up with a rendition of “12 to 12”, which saw him do a bit a crowd work with none other than Doechii!
Kendrick Lamar pulls off history-making sweep
Kendrick Lamar pulled off a mammoth feat this year, winning in all of the ceremony’s rap categories, including Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance and Best Melodic Rap Performance. He achieved the feat for his album, GNX.
The haul increased Lamar’s total Grammy wins to 26, meaning he broke the record for most wins for a rapper in Grammys history. Somewhere out there, Drake is seething.
Sabrina Carpenter hits the stage
Following Bruno Marsand Rosé’s rock-inspired rendition of “APT.”, Sabrina Carpenter — who is nominated for six Grammys this year — brought the crowd to their feet with her airport-themed performance of “Manchild”.
The performance included a bunch of wild costumes, a giant prop plane, a dove being pulled out of a top hat, and of course, the pop star’s signature powerhouse vocals. Slay, queen!
Trevor Noah’s monologue gets in a few jabs
Six-time Grammys host Trevor Noah’s monologue kicked things off with what we love best: a celebrity roast. In one quip, he mentioned the starry audience being similar to Jeff Bezos‘ wedding but with “more Black people”, and another saw him mention Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs‘ arrest in 2007.
Later, Noah gave his best Trump impression when commenting on Nicki Minaj‘s newfound friendship with the President, with some in the crowd heard booing when he mentioned mentioned the rapper.
“Nicki Minaj is not here, she’s still at the White House with Donald Trump,” Noah said, just days after she said she was one of the president’s “biggest fans”. Ooop!
Noah again touched on rap drama with a brief mention of Kendrick Lamar and Drake‘s infamous beef, which dominated headlines last year and basically left Drake in the dust.
“I actually thought about roasting you”, Noah told Lamar, ” but then I remembered what you can do to light-skinned men from other countries”. He said what he said!
Elsewhere, Noah asked Hailey Bieber for the the discount code to her cosmetics line, before topping it all off with quip about *that* Coldplay kiss cam saga.
It was a brisk and (mostly) lighthearted monologue, but I’d imagine Noah has more snipes coming. Stay tuned!
Kehlani says “Fuck ICE”
Kehlani, one of the earliest award-winners at the 2026 Grammy Awards, got the ball rolling with a searing message for the Trump administration and its immigration policies.
Beating out the likes of Bieber, Summer Walker and and Byrson Tiller, she collected a gong for her track “Folded”, with her acceptance speech igniting timelines… and probably Trump’s fury.
“I hope that everybody is inspired to join together as a community of artists, and speak out against what’s going on. Fuck ICE,” the singer said in reference to the US’ immigration agency.
PinkPantheress being PinkPantheress
Queen of our hearts, PinkPantheress, may have already won the Grammys red carpet, delivering two meme-ready moments while doing press ahead of the ceremony.
The “Illegal” singer first had an extremely relatable reaction when being told by a reporter that she “looked like a million bucks”, and again had us giggling while reacting to fellow UK artist YUNGBLUD‘s Glambot.
No “rude” allegations to see here!
Darren Criss mispronounces Eusexua
FKA Twigs‘ moment as a first-time Grammy winner for Eusexua was almost outshone by presenter and Glee star Darren Criss, who failed to properly pronounce the name of her 2025 album. It’s giving “Adele Dazeem”, but Twigs seemed chuffed nonetheless.
Sabrina Carpenter has words for red carpet photographers
Sabrina Carpenter took to the red carpet as one of the most-nominated musicians of the night, but it seems her entry was met not with a bang but with a whimper. “You guys are so quiet this year,” the pop star said while posing for snaps.
Carpet junkies will already know this is not always the case (ahem, Chappell, ahem), so this feels like a nice change of pace!
Steven Spielberg achieves EGOT status
Director Steven Spielberg joined the exclusive clique of people who’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony at the 2026 ceremony, ticking off his final letter for his production credit on the Music by John Williams doco, which won in the Best Music Film category.
He joins the likes of fellow EGOT-winners Elton John, Viola Davis, Jennifer Hudson and John Legend.
Official Grammy winner… the Dalai Lama?
In a collection of words that defies belief, the literal Dalai Lama just won a Grammy Award in the Spoken Word Album category for his record, Inner World.
He succeeded Michelle Obama, who won last year in that category, so I’d say it’s a pretty esteemed cohort?
Billie Eilish wears an ICE OUT pin
2026 nominee Eilish continued her anti-Trump streak by wearing an ‘ICE OUT’ pin on the Grammys red carpet. The singer’s pin references the US President’s controversial immigration policies.
The same pin was worn by Kehlani, who directly called out the government’s stance on immigration during her acceptance speech.
Eilish has made no secret of his disdain for the administration, so this tracks!
That’s it for our rolling coverage of the 2026 Grammy Awards and boy, what a doozy it was! Catch you (in Justin Bieber’s underwear) next year.
Lead images: Getty Images
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