Dalai Lama Wins First Grammy; How Did Tibetan Spiritual Leader Get Nominated? Award EXPLAINED

The 14th Dalai Lama just won his first Grammy! For those who are wondering how the spiritual leader found his place on the prestigious musical honour, well, it is through his meditation album. Lama emerged winner at the 68th annual Grammy Awards for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording for his spoken-word album Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama after overthrowing other finalists, including Milli Vanilli's Fab Morvan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, ceremony host Trevor Noah, and actress Kathy Garver. The album is the entry from the world's foremost Tibetan Buddhist, and includes innovative collaborations with Hindustani classical influences. It also comprises his remarks on themes like

mindfulness, harmony, and health, captured over the last few years. The award marks Dalai Lama's first Grammy win after previously being nominated.

How did Dala Lama win his first Grammy?

The Dalai Lama says on Water, a track in his album, "Within my lifetime in the Taktser area, winter on this mountain, annually more snow, then year by year, less and less." In his words, he refers to the town in eastern Tibet where he was born with the name Lhamo Thondup. The track features his explanation about the need to preserve water as a precious natural resource. In another track Peace, he says, "A compassionate mind is very happy. Usually people consider compassion [a] religious subject. No, compassion is for our own survival."

Dalai Lama joins other first-time winners at Grammys 2026

With this win, Dalai Lama has joined other first-time Grammy winners. Steven Spielberg won EGOT. The legendary filmmaker took a Grammy Award in the best music film category for the documentary Music by John Williams, a tribute to his longtime collaborator and the composer. That makes him an EGOT winner - an artist with an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar.

KPop Demon Hunters, Steven Spielberg at 2026 Grammy Awards

Meanwhile, Golden from KPop Demon Hunters picked the Best Song Written for Visual Media honours. Golden is performed by the film's fictional girl band HUNTR/X, for which singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami lent their voices. The Grammy win went to its songwriters EJAE, Park Hong Jun (aka Teddy), Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Mark Sonnenblick. EJAE is also the composer-writer of the track. The big win cemented a breakthrough moment for K-pop creators on the global stage.The 68th Grammy Awards took place in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena on February 1, 2026. It streamed on CBS from 8-11:30 PM ET and 5-8:30 PM PT, and also ran stream live on Paramount+. For the viewers in India, the ceremony aired on February 2, 2026, at 6:30 AM IST.