Grammy winners 2026: Bad Bunny takes Album of the Year as Kendrick Lamar makes history

The Grammy winners 2026 list reshaped the conversation around what the awards’ top prizes can look like, with a Spanish-language album taking the night’s biggest honor and a hip-hop duo winning the year’s most prominent recording award. The ceremony wrapped late Sunday night ET in Los Angeles, delivering signature “Big Four” moments along with headline turns in pop, country, rock, and rap.

Key takeaways

• Bad Bunny won Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos, a first for a Spanish-language album in the category.

• Kendrick Lamar and SZA won Record of the Year for “Luther,” and Lamar extended his lead as the most-awarded rapper in Grammy history.

• Billie Eilish and FINNEAS won Song of the Year for “WILDFLOWER,” while Olivia Dean won Best New Artist.

Grammy winners 2026: Big Four recap

The night’s four biggest awards split across distinct corners of mainstream music:

• Album of the Year: Debí Tirar Más Fotos — Bad Bunny

• Record of the Year: “Luther” — Kendrick Lamar and SZA

• Song of the Year: “WILDFLOWER” — Billie Eilish and FINNEAS

• Best New Artist: Olivia Dean

Together, the results signaled an academy electorate that rewarded global reach and genre-blending, while still leaning on classic strengths: a dominant album statement, a high-impact single, a songwriter’s standout, and a breakout voice.

Bad Bunny’s Album of the Year milestone

Bad Bunny’s win for Debí Tirar Más Fotos was immediately framed as historic because it marked the first time a Spanish-language album captured Album of the Year. Beyond the milestone, the album’s pitch was clear: a project rooted in Puerto Rican identity and storytelling, with enough pop-scale appeal to compete in a year packed with high-profile nominees.

Bad Bunny didn’t just leave with the night’s top trophy. He also won Best Música Urbana Album for the same project, underscoring how broadly the record connected across both genre-specific voting and the general field.

Kendrick Lamar and SZA win Record of the Year

“Luther” took Record of the Year, an award that honors the recording and its production as much as the performance. The track’s emotional pull and polished construction made it a strong fit for this category, and its classic-soul touchstones gave it a wide runway with listeners across formats.

For Lamar, the win capped a multi-award night and pushed a career narrative that’s now hard to ignore: he has 27 career Grammys, surpassing Jay-Z’s previous mark of 25 as the most-awarded rapper in the show’s history. It also made Lamar a back-to-back Record of the Year winner, following last year’s top-field victory.

Rap, pop, and rock highlights beyond the top prizes

Several genre lanes produced clear, conversation-driving winners:

• Best Rap Album: GNX — Kendrick Lamar

• Best Rap Song: “tv off” — Kendrick Lamar

• Best Rap Performance: “Chains & Whips” — Kendrick Lamar

Those three rap wins gave Lamar an unusually complete sweep across the rap field: album, songwriting, and performance, alongside his general-field Record of the Year trophy.

Pop categories also had defining moments. Lady Gaga won Best Pop Vocal Album for Mayhem, while Lola Young won Best Pop Solo Performance for “Messy,” a result that helped frame the pop field as broader than the usual handful of repeat winners.

In rock, Turnstile won Best Rock Album for Never Enough, continuing the band’s steady awards-era rise and giving the rock categories a high-energy focal point in a year where guitar music has been competing harder for prime-time visibility.

Country and craft awards add new signals

Country awards reflected a shifting set of subgenres and framing. Jelly Roll won Best Contemporary Country Album for Beautifully Broken, a category that highlights the format’s modern, crossover-facing sound.

Behind-the-scenes honors also delivered their own headline: Cirkut won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and Amy Allen won Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical. Those wins matter because they often forecast what kinds of sound and writing styles will dominate the next year of radio, playlists, and label priorities.

What to watch after the ceremony

The first post-show test is whether these wins translate into sustained chart movement and touring momentum. Album of the Year often drives a multi-week sales and streaming bump, while Record of the Year can extend a single’s life deep into spring. For Kendrick Lamar and SZA, the win strengthens the case for “Luther” as a defining collaboration, and for Lamar it adds more leverage to whatever comes next—touring decisions, release timing, or a pivot to the next project cycle.

For the Grammys as a brand, the bigger takeaway is directional: the top prizes are increasingly comfortable reflecting global listening habits and genre overlap, not just traditional English-language pop dominance. If that pattern holds, next year’s nominations could tilt even more toward music built for worldwide audiences.

Sources consulted: Recording Academy; Reuters; Associated Press; The Washington Post