The 68th GRAMMY Awards were held on February 1, 2026 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, hosted by Trevor Noah for the sixth (and final) time, and with a dashboard as eloquent as it was contradictory: the gala was meant to be a postcard of “industry united,” but ended up functioning as a cultural thermometer.
The big picture of the night was drawn by two names – and two ways of understanding contemporary stardom: Bad Bunny, who made the “Latin album” the central language of global pop by winning Album of the Year, and Kendrick Lamar, who dominated the academy’s conversation with a sweeping crop of awards, including Record of the Year alongside SZA.
In parallel, the ceremony confirmed a trend: the GRAMMYs are being rewritten as a map of scenes (Latin, African, U.S. regional, alternative, etc.) rather than as a single Anglo “hub”. And that was noticeable both in the cast (from rock to global music) and in the design: this edition came with adjustments to categories and rules (including new distinctions such as Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover).
The big headlines (the “Big Four”)
- Album of the Year: I MUST SHOOT MORE PHOTOS – Bad Bunny
- Record of the Year: “luther” – Kendrick Lamar with SZA
- Song of the Year: “WILDFLOWER” – Billie Eilish / FINNEAS (composers)
- Best New Artist: Olivia Dean
List of winners (main categories and by highlighted fields)
Pop
- Best Pop Solo Performance: “Messy” – Lola Young
- Best Pop Vocal Album: MAYHEM – Lady Gaga
- Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Defying Gravity” – Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande
Rap / R&B
- Best Rap Album: GNX – Kendrick Lamar
- Best Melodic Rap Performance: “luther” – Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA
- Best Rap Performance: “Chains & Whips” – Clipse (with Kendrick Lamar & Pharrell Williams)
- Best R&B Performance: “Folded” – Kehlani
- Best R&B Album: MUTT – Leon Thomas
Latin / global
- Best Música Urbana Album: DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS – Bad Bunny
- Best Global Music Performance: “EoO” – Bad Bunny
- Best Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano): Palabra De To’s – Seca – Carín León
- Best Latin Pop Album: Natalia Lafourcade (winner; title as officially listed)
- Best African Music Performance: Tyla
- Best Reggae Album: Keznamdi
Country
- Best Contemporary Country Album: Beautifully Broken – Jelly Roll
Rock / Alternative
- Best Alternative Music Album: Songs Of A Lost World – The Cure
- Best Alternative Music Performance: “Alone” – The Cure
- Best Rock Performance: “Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back To The Beginning” – YUNGBLUD (feat. guests)
- Best Rock Album: Turnstile
Video, film and formats
- Best Music Video: “Anxiety” – Doechii
- Best Music Film: Music By John Williams – John Williams
- Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording: Meditations: The Reflections Of His Holiness The Dalai Lama – Dalai Lama
Production / composition (industry)
- Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical): Amy Allen
- Producer of the Year (Non-Classical): Cirkut
- Best Immersive Audio Album: Immersed – Justin Gray
- Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical): That Wasn’t A Dream – Pino Palladino & Blake Mills
Classical (selection)
- Best Contemporary Classical Composition: “Ortiz: Dzonot” – Gabriela Ortiz (composer)
- Best Classical Compendium: Ortiz: Yanga
- Best Choral Performance: Ortiz: Yanga
- Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: Dennehy: Land Of Winter
- Best Opera Recording: Heggie: Intelligence
- Best Orchestral Performance: Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie
- Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos – Yo-Yo Ma
- Producer of the Year (Classical): Elaine Martone
- Best Engineered Album (Classical): Cerrone: Don’t Look Down
Why this gala mattered (beyond the awards)
- Bad Bunny’s win for Album of the Year works as a symptom: the academy, ever slow, is accepting that mainstream is no longer a single language.
- Kendrick Lamar consolidated something more difficult than winning: setting the agenda (categories, conversation, prestige).
- The gala also made it clear that, with 95 awards (most outside of prime time), today’s GRAMMYs are an ecosystem: if you only watch the televised ceremony, you miss the movie.
