Grammy winners 2026: Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar headline the 2026 Grammy Awards

The 2026 Grammy Awards delivered a split verdict at the very top: Bad Bunny won Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos, while Kendrick Lamar and SZA took Record of the Year for “luther.” The ceremony, held Feb. 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, also added a major pop moment with Billie Eilish and FINNEAS winning Song of the Year for “WILDFLOWER,” and a breakthrough win for Olivia Dean as Best New Artist.

Grammy winners 2026: the top prizes

The “big four” categories captured the night’s main storylines—global pop reach, rap dominance, and a new class of breakout artists.

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

• Record of the Year: Kendrick Lamar with SZA — “luther”

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

• Best New Artist: Olivia Dean

Kendrick Lamar finished the night as the leading winner overall, extending his run across the rap field and reinforcing how central hip-hop remains to the Grammys’ biggest moments.

Kendrick Lamar’s rap sweep and SZA’s big moment

Beyond Record of the Year, Kendrick Lamar anchored the rap categories with Best Rap Album for GNX, plus additional rap wins that made him the ceremony’s most-awarded artist. “luther” also doubled up with Best Melodic Rap Performance, underscoring how the track crossed formats—part rap record, part vocal collaboration—without losing impact.

SZA’s presence in the top category added another headline: “luther” wasn’t just a rap-field standout; it beat a wide general-field slate to win the Recording Academy’s marquee recording prize.

Bad Bunny’s Album of the Year statement

Bad Bunny’s Album of the Year win for Debí Tirar Más Fotos landed as the ceremony’s clearest “center of the culture” declaration. The project’s win signaled that an album rooted in Spanish-language performance and Caribbean influence can sit at the very top of the mainstream awards ecosystem—without being treated as a side category story.

The victory also reframed the night’s pop conversation: even with heavy nominations across multiple genres, the final album prize went to a record that centered identity, place, and sound as the main event.

Breakouts and buzzy wins beyond the big four

Olivia Dean’s Best New Artist win capped a ceremony that leaned into the idea of a “next wave,” with the new-artist segment functioning as a talent showcase as much as a category.

Durand Bernarr became another defining name of the night, winning Best Progressive R&B Album for BLOOM. The win positioned him as a newly crowned album artist—not just a vocalist—while the R&B field overall spread attention across performance, songwriting, and album craft.

In alternative music, The Cure picked up wins including Best Alternative Music Album (Songs Of A Lost World) and Best Alternative Music Performance (“Alone”), adding legacy weight to a night otherwise dominated by current chart forces.

Grammys 2026 time, performers, and how to watch

The main telecast aired Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. ET, with earlier Grammy-day programming starting in the afternoon and a red-carpet show beginning in early evening ET.

The performer lineup mixed current nominees and established stars, including Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Tyler, The Creator, Clipse, and additional appearances tied to tributes and special segments. If you missed it live, the simplest path is to check the on-demand library of the same service that carried the live stream in the U.S., or your local listing for the broadcast replay schedule.

Sources consulted: Recording Academy, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, People