The Best, Worst, and Most Memorable Moments of the 2026 Grammys

The 68th Grammy Awards have officially wrapped up, after airing live from the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. Hosted for the last time by Trevor Noah, who MC'd the ceremony every year since 2021, the Grammys bid farewell to longtime network host CBS, which has platformed the show for more than 50 years.

Kendrick Lamar led this year's nominations, with a total of nine nods, followed by Lady Gaga and superproducers Cirkut and Jack Antonoff with seven, and Super Bowl headliner Bad Bunny and pop powerhouse Sabrina Carpenter with six nods apiece.

While the vast majority of The Recording Academy’s Grammy Awards were distributed during the pre-telecast premiere ceremony, this year’s televised portion featured a handful of major trophies (Album, Record, and Song of the Year, Best New Artist), presented by previous winners Doechii and Harry Styles, the latter of whom very recently announced his forthcoming album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. The show featured standout performances by Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and hip-hop duo Clipse with Pharrell Williams, among many others.

The night included some broken records, including the first K-Pop act to win a Grammy ("Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters won Best Song Written for Visual Media in the pre-televised portion of the ceremony). Kendrick Lamar also became the most-awarded rap artist, surpassing Jay-Z. The big three awards of the night were spread out across artists, with Billie Eilish winning Song of the Year, Kendrick Lamar and SZA winning Record of the Year, and Bad Bunny taking home Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos.

Best entreaty to watch the Super Bowl

If the night truly belonged to anybody, it was Bad Bunny. The genre-surfing Puerto Rican reggaeton/Latin trap star (born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio), already made history when he became the first Spanish-language artist to earn nominations for Best Album, Record, and Song in one year, and tonight he won Best Música Urbana album and Best Global Music Performance for "EoO." The most satisfying moment, however, came at the show's end when Bad Bunny became the first Spanish-language artist to win Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos. It all looked to be too much at first for Bad Bunny, who, upon hearing his name called for the biggest award of the night, had to take a long beat with his head in his hands as the audience cheered around him.

This has to be affirming on many levels for the artist. First, the album is a love letter to his home, incorporating musical styles and influences never before heard on an album with this level of cross-cultural exposure. Second, he’s received the unmitigated approval of his peers in the music industry, and it couldn’t have arrived at a better time, as he heads into next Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show. The NFL’s selection of Ocasio, who mostly sings in Spanish, has drawn criticism, including from President Trump, who called him a “terrible choice.” The critiques have gone both ways, with Bad Bunny speaking out against the Trump administration, whose ICE raids have targeted Spanish-speaking U.S. residents regardless of immigration status, and who has said he will not take his world tour to the U.S. for fear of potential ICE raids in and around his concerts.

While he delivered most of the speech in Spanish, Bad Bunny reiterated parts of his speech earlier in the evening when he spoke a few lines in English. “I want to dedicate this award to all the people that had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams,” he said.