LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 68th annual Grammy Awards are taking place Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and spirits were high from the jump.
The Premiere Ceremony, a pre-telecast show held at the adjacent Peacock Theater, began with musician and host Darren Criss setting the scene — giving out the first award of the day, for best pop/duo group performance to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for "Defying Gravity.” They were not present to accept
the award.
An impressive 86 Grammys will be handed out pre-broadcast.
“Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” won song written for visual media, marking the first time a K-pop act has won a Grammy. Songwriters delivered their acceptance speech in both English and Korean, highlighting the song's bilingual appeal.
FKA twigs won her first Grammy for best dance/electronic album for “EUSEXUA.” “I didn’t expect to come up here. I was just so happy to be nominated,” she said in her speech. “Thank you so much — wow.”
Then, the songwriter of the year nonclassical nominee Edgar Barrera handed out some of the Latin music categories: Natalia Lafourcade won best Latin pop album for “Cancionera”; best Latin Rock or Alternative album to CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso for “Papota.” It is their first win on their first nomination. In their speech, in Spanish, they thanked their home country of Argentina and all of Latin America. Música Mexicana album (including Tejano) went to Carín León for “Palabra De To’s (Seca).” It is his second win on his second nomination.
Music film went to “Music for John Williams,” which means director Steven Spielberg has officially won his first Grammy.
It is a dramatically different tone than last year. The 2025 award show was completely reimagined and refocused to relief efforts following the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires. In 2026, the focus has been placed once again on the music, where Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and more will go head-to-head during the televised ceremony.
The energy was high from minute one at the Premiere Ceremony: Earth, Wind & Fire gave a groovy opening performance of “Shining Star” with some help from Israel Houghton, Lila Ike, Grace Potter, Maggie Rose and Trombone Shorty.
“That's how you start a show!” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. said in his opening remarks. “That's a statement. That's joy. That's resilience.”
Following the Premiere Ceremony, comedian Trevor Noah will host the main show for a sixth and final year and history could be made when some of the biggest names in music gather. Here’s some key things to know ahead of Sunday’s show at the Crypto.com Arena.
The main show will air live on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 1.
The Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.
Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the Grammys live; Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.
The premiere ceremony is currently taking place just ahead of the Grammys’ ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, 12:30 p.m. Pacific at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It can be streamed at the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com.
The Associated Press will stream a four-hour red carpet show with interviews and fashion footage. It will be streamed on YouTube and APNews.com ahead of the Grammys on Sunday.
Kendrick Lamar leads the 2026 Grammy Award nominations with nine. Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut follow with seven nominations each.
Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas and Serban Ghenea all boast six nominations. Andrew Watt, Clipse, Doechii, Sounwave, SZA, Turnstile and Tyler, the Creator have five each.
Doechii, Harry Styles, Carole King, Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, Jeff Goldblum, Karol G, Lainey Wilson, Marcello Hernández, Nikki Glaser, Q-Tip, Queen Latifah and Teyana Taylor will present at the 2026 Grammys.
Performers include Justin Bieber, Clipse, Pharrell Williams, Sabrina Carpenter Bruno Mars, Rosé, Tyler, the Creator, Lady Gaga and all eight of the this year’s best new artist nominees: Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, global girl group Katseye, The Marías, Addison Rae, sombr, Alex Warren and Lola Young.
Reba McEntire, Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson will take the stage for the in memoriam. Ms. Lauryn Hill will pay tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack. Post Malone, Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Duff McKagan and Slash will honor Ozzy Osbourne.
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For more coverage of this year’s Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/GrammyAwards
