Summary:
- Kendrick Lamar won five awards and became the most decorated rapper in Grammy history with 27 total wins
- Bad Bunny took Album of the Year, the first Spanish-language artist to win this category
- Several performers addressed immigration policy during their acceptance speeches
The 2026 Grammy Awards took place last night in Los Angeles. Kendrick Lamar collected five trophies during the ceremony. He wore a full Chanel look. His wins brought his total to 27 Grammy Awards, surpassing Jay-Z as the most awarded rapper in the ceremony's history.
Lamar's wins included Best Rap Album for GNX. SZA joined him for Record of the Year with Luther. The Compton rapper also took Best Rap Performance for Chains & Whips alongside Clipse, Pusha T, Malice, and Pharrell Williams. His track TV Off, featuring Lefty Gunplay, won Best Rap Song.
Bad Bunny secured Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos. The Puerto Rican artist became the first performer whose primary language is Spanish to win this category. He accepted the award in a Schiaparelli tuxedo, the fashion house's first menswear piece.
Multiple artists used their stage time to speak about immigration enforcement. Bad Bunny addressed ICE policies during his acceptance speech. Billie Eilish and Olivia Dean made similar statements.
Eilish won Song of the Year for Wildflower. Dean took home Best New Artist. Lady Gaga collected two awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Mayhem and Best Dance Pop Recording for Abracadabra. Lola Young won Best Pop Solo Performance for Messy.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Defying Gravity. FKA Twigs took Best Dance/Electronic Album with Eusexua. Jelly Roll won Best Country Contemporary Album for Beautifully Broken.
Turnstile collected two awards in the rock categories. Birds won Best Metal Performance. Their album Never Enough took Best Rock Album. Yungblud featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman, and Travis Barker won Best Rock Performance for Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back to the Beginning.
Nine Inch Nails won Best Rock Song. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross wrote As Alive as You Need Me to Be. Kehlani's Folded won Best R&B Performance. Leon Thomas took Best R&B Album for Mutt.
The ceremony recognized scores for visual media. Ludwig Göransson won for Sinners. John Powell and Stephen Schwartz shared the award for Wicked. Both composers received equal recognition in Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media.
Doechii closed out the awards with Best Music Video for Anxiety. The night saw performances across genres. Winners came from different musical backgrounds. The ceremony ran several hours. Attendance included industry figures and performers.
The 2026 Grammy Awards marked shifts in category representation. Bad Bunny's win reflected changes in how the Recording Academy recognizes non-English language music. Lamar's record total placed him ahead of previous hip hop winners. His 27 wins surpassed Jay-Z's previous record of 24.
Several winners addressed topics beyond music during their speeches. Immigration policy became a recurring theme. Artists used their acceptance time to comment on current policies. The speeches received different reactions from the audience.
Fashion choices drew attention throughout the night. Designers dressed performers in custom pieces. The Schiaparelli tuxedo Bad Bunny wore marked a new direction for the brand. Chanel's relationship with Lamar continued from previous appearances.
The ceremony concluded the awards season for 2025 releases. Winners will tour and promote their awarded work throughout 2026. The Recording Academy will begin accepting submissions for next year's ceremony in the coming months.
Maya Torelli
Straddling the worlds of art and communication, this creative professional established People in 2009, a content agency specializing in the fusion of words and visuals. Over the years, her work has spanned a variety of projects, including magazines and documentary films. Beyond her commercial endeavors, she dedicates herself to exploring the nature of imagery, with a particular focus on its interplay with other media forms, especially music. Her passion for music not only fuels her writing but also deeply influences her work as a filmmaker, shaping both her documentaries and video installations. With a voracious appetite for knowledge across philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and various scientific disciplines, she weaves these diverse interests into a unique, interdisciplinary approach to content creation, perspective-taking, and writing.