The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, marking a return to a full-scale celebration after last year’s ceremony was reshaped to focus on wildfire relief efforts in the Los Angeles area.
Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason Jr. has hinted at a memorable night ahead, suggesting the ceremony could deliver several landmark moments.
Speaking to the Associated Press, he said audiences can expect surprises, with artists earning nominations in new categories and a strong wave of emerging talent making its mark.
The main Grammy ceremony will be broadcast live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, airing on CBS from 8 pm Eastern Time. Viewers with a Paramount+ premium subscription will be able to stream the show live, while essential subscribers will have access on demand the following day. The awards can also be watched via live TV streaming services that carry CBS, including Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.
Ahead of the main event, the Premiere Ceremony will be held at the Peacock Theatre at 3:30 pm ET. This earlier show, where many of the awards are presented, will be streamed on the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com.
This year’s ceremony will feature a special performance segment showcasing all eight nominees for best new artist. Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, global girl group Katseye, The Marías, Addison Rae, sombr, Alex Warren and Lola Young will each take to the stage before competing for the award later in the evening.
The performance line-up also includes Bruno Mars, Rosé, Tyler, the Creator, Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Clipse and Pharrell Williams.
The in memoriam segment will see performances by Reba McEntire, Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson. Ms Lauryn Hill will pay tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack, while Post Malone, Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Duff McKagan and Slash will honour Ozzy Osbourne.
Doechii and Harry Styles are the first confirmed presenters, with others including Carole King, Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, Jeff Goldblum, Karol G, Lainey Wilson, Marcello Hernández, Nikki Glaser, Q-Tip, Queen Latifah and Teyana Taylor.
Comedian Trevor Noah will host the Grammys for the sixth consecutive year, which will also be his final time in the role. Grammys executive producer Ben Winston praised Noah’s contribution, calling him a smart, funny and passionate advocate for music whose influence has helped shape the show over the past six years.
Only two other hosts have fronted the Grammys six times or more, both of them musicians. Andy Williams hosted seven ceremonies, followed by John Denver with six. Noah had previously been tied with LL Cool J, who hosted five times.
Noah is also a Grammy nominee this year, earning recognition in the audiobook, narration and storytelling category for Into the Uncut Grass, a children’s story.
On the nominations front, Kendrick Lamar leads the field with nine nods. He is nominated for record, song and album of the year, marking the third time he has been recognised simultaneously across those major categories. He is also up for awards in pop duo or group performance, melodic rap performance, rap song and rap album, with two nominations in the rap performance category alone.
Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian producer and songwriter Cirkut follow closely with seven nominations each. Leon Thomas, Bad Bunny, Serban Ghenea and Sabrina Carpenter have six nominations apiece, while Andrew Watt, Clipse, Doechii, Sounwave, SZA, Turnstile and Tyler, the Creator each have five.
The 2026 Grammys also feature a notable list of first-time nominees, including Tate McRae, Zara Larsson, PinkPantheress, JID and actor Timothée Chalamet, making for one of the most diverse nomination rosters in recent years.
