Post Malone and newly minted Grammy winner Jelly Roll are hitting the road together this summer. The pair announced the sequel to their 2025 summer slam on Monday morning (Feb. 2), rolling out the dates for The BIG ASS Stadium Tour part 2.

The follow-up to last year’s run of gigs in football stadiums is slated to kick off on April 10 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. with the first of two stops at festivals with a headlining slot at the Tortuga Music Festival, followed by an April 26 appearance at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, Calif. Other festival drop-ins will take place along the way, including the May 16 Boots in the Park Festival in Albuquerque, N.M., the Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City Beach, Fla. on May 31, Carolina Country Fest in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on June 7, the Barefoot Country Music Festival in Wildwood, N.J. on June 20 as well as Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wis. on June 27.

The tour’s first stand-alone show will take place at the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas on May 13, followed by stops in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Indiana, Ontario, Connecticut, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Montana and Alberta before winding down on July 28 with a show at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Last year’s Live Nation-produced tour drew more than one million fans across North America and grossed more than $170 million. This year’s event will feature opening act Carter Faith on all the headlining dates.

Tickets will go on sale with a Post Malone artist pre-sale on Friday (Feb. 6) at 10 a.m. local time; fans have to sign up here by Wednesday (Feb. 4) at 11:59 p.m. ET, with no code needed for the multiple artist pre-sales on Ticketmaster. There will also be a Citi pre-sale for the U.S. shows beginning on Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time through Monday (Feb. 9) at 11:59 local time here. An American Express pre-sale for the Canada shows will also kick-off on Wednesday beginning at 10 a.m. local time through 11:59 p.m. local time on Monday.

Check out the dates for the Big Ass Stadium Tour Part 2 below:

  • April 10: Fort Lauderdale, Fla @ Tortuga Music Festival*
  • April 26: Indio, Calif @ Stagecoach Music Festival*
  • May 13: El Paso, Texas @ Sun Bowl Stadium
  • May 16: Albuquerque, N.M. @ Boots In The Park Festival*
  • May 19: Waco, Texas @ McLane Stadium
  • May 23: Baton Rouge, La. @ Tiger Stadium
  • May 26: Birmingham, Ala. @ Protective Stadium
  • May 29: Tampa, Fla. @ Raymond James Stadium
  • May 31: Panama City Beach, Fla. @ Gulf Coast Jam*
  • June 5: Oxford, Miss. @ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
  • June 7: Myrtle Beach, S.C. @ Carolina Country Fest*
  • June 9: Charlotte, N.C. @ Bank of America Stadium
  • June 12: Indianapolis, Ind. @ Lucas Oil Stadium
  • June 16: Toronto, Ont. @ Rogers Stadium
  • June 20: Wildwood, N.J. @ Barefoot Country Music Festival*
  • June 22: East Hartford, Conn. @ Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field
  • June 25: Cleveland, Ohio @ Huntington Bank Field
  • June 27: Milwaukee, Wis. @ Summerfest*
  • June 30: Nashville, Tenn. @ Nissan Stadium^
  • July 11: Fayetteville, Ark. @ Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium
  • July 15: Kansas City, Mo. @ Kauffman Stadium
  • July 17: Ames, Iowa @ Jack Trice Stadium
  • July 21: Missoula, Mont. @ Washington-Grizzly Stadium
  • July 24: Edmonton, Alb. @ Commonwealth Stadium
  • July 28: Salt Lake City, Utah @ Rice-Eccles Stadium
  • *Festival appearance

    ^ Without Jelly Roll


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It’s all about the crown. Lil Wayne will be heading to the gaming world, as the New Orleans rap deity will perform during the halftime show in the Clash Royale arena next Friday (Feb. 6) at 12 p.m. ET.

Wayne will be delivering a virtual performance alongside Clash Royale‘s Giants, Goblins and Musketeers, with millions of gamers getting a front row seat.

“Music, sports and gaming all in one place — y’all know how much I love being at the center of the culture,” Wayne said in a statement. “I’m turning the Clash Royale Arena into the most lit concert of the week, tap in Feb. 6 to see what we got in store for y’all.”

According to a press release, Weezy is set to perform a “special rendition” of his “A Milli” anthem, but not much else was revealed about his setlist. The Bangladesh-produced “A Milli” originally arrived in 2008 as a single leading into Tha Carter III, and reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Even if fans aren’t mobile gamers, those interested in viewing the virtual show can tune in by downloading Clash Royale for free from the App Store. The tower battle game is the first spin-off from the famed Clash of Clans series.

On the music side, Lil Wayne returned in June 2025 to release his Tha Carter VI album, which featured BigXthaPlug, Jelly Roll, mgk, Big Sean, Kodak Black and Wyclef Jean. The sixth installment in the decorated series debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 108,000 album-equivalent units earned.


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Presented by Amazon Prime, the 2026 GRAMMYs were full of historical wins and fantastic performances. From Bad Bunny taking home Album of the Year, the first Spanish-language album to do so, to Justin Bieber returning to the GRAMMYs stage to Bruno Mars & Rosé kicking off the show with Hot 100 No. 1 single, “APT.,” keep watching to see everything you missed from the biggest night for music!

What was your favorite GRAMMY moment? Let us know in the comments!

Leila Cobo:

It’s official, Bad Bunny makes music history!

Tetris Kelly:

Yes Benito!

Leila Cobo:

Here’s everything you missed from music’s biggest night, presented by Amazon Prime!

Tetris Kelly:

Rosé and Bruno Mars kicked off the show with “APT,” and Sabrina Carpenter performed her smash hit “Manchild.” Best Rap Album went to Kendrick Lamar, who acknowledged his fellow nominees in his speech. During the Best New Artist medley, Addison Rae gave us a taste of “The Glamorous Life” and broke it down on the dance floor. And you know I was gnarly because Katseye took the stage! But the Best New Artist award went to Olivia Dean, who shed tears of joy and shared. And, in just his boxers and socks, Justin Bieber returned to the Grammy stage four years later to perform his hit “Yukon” while wifey Hailey admired proudly from the crowd. Marcelo Hernandez and Karol G presented Bad Bunny with the Best Música Urbana Album of the Year award. A very shocked Jelly Roll took home Best Contemporary Country Album. Lady Gaga brought the magic with “Abracadabra” and then took home Best Pop Vocal Album. Bruno Mars returned to perform his new Hot 100 No. 1 for performance #2. And Billie Eilish snatched the coveted Song of the Year award for “Wildflower,” who also had something political to say. Tyler, the Creator did the most theatrics and even drove a car on stage. Pharrell received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for all his incredible contributions to music. Reba McEntire made her Grammy performance debut honoring those that have passed, with Post Malone paying tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne. Lauryn Hill brought the Fugees back together to honor D’Angelo and Roberta Flack.

Keep watching for more!

“I can’t live, if living is without you.” It’s an sentiment Harry Nilsson sang about in the early ’70s that many heartbroken pet owners have experienced after a beloved animal dies or goes missing, but Ring is hoping to shorten the length of that pain in the latter scenario.

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In its emotional 2026 Super Bowl ad that debuted Monday (Feb. 2), Ring acknowledges the special bond between pets — in this case, dogs — and their families, and how its free Search Party feature can help bring lost furry friends home. “Pets are family, but every year, 10 million go missing, and the way we look for them hasn’t changed in years — until now,” Ring founder Jamie Siminoff says in the emotional spot. “With Search Party from Ring, one post to the Ring app starts outdoor cameras in the area, looking for a match.”

He goes on to note that since the feature’s launch, more than a dog a day has been reunited with its family.

In addition to clips of a little girl excitedly greeting her new puppy Milo, to her heartbreak as she puts up missing fliers alongside her dad, to her joy as her beloved pup returns home, the commercial is soundtracked by one of the most recognizable heartbreak ballads of the 1970s: Nilsson’s aforementioned cover of Badfinger’s “Without You,” featuring the heartrending chorus, “Can’t live if living is without you/ I can’t live, I can’t give anymore.” Nilsson’s version of “Without You” — which has also been covered by Air Supply, Mariah Carey and others — peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1972, and retained the top spot for four weeks.

In a blog post, Ring also said that the Search Party feature would be available to non-Ring owners through its Neighbors app to help bring lost animals home as quickly as possible. “Now, pet owners can mobilize the whole community — and communities are empowered to help — to find lost pets more effectively than ever before,” Siminoff said in a statement. “That’s why we believe it’s so important to make this feature available to anyone who shares a lost dog post in Neighbors.”

To further its goal, Ring also announced Monday that it’s committing $1 million to equip shelters around the United States with Ring cameras to not only reunite families and their missing pets, but also cut down on the time lost pets spend in shelters.

Watch Ring’s Super Bowl commercial featuring Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” below. The 30-second ad will also air during the game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots on Feb. 8.


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After demolishing the historic East Wing to make room for a massive ballroom and redecorating the White House with acres of marble and gold-plated tchotchkes, Donald Trump has his sights set on refurbishing the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The President announced on Sunday night (Feb. 1) that the arts center that he recently slapped his name on will close for two years to undergo construction and renovation. In one of his late night Truth Social posts, the real estate mogul who has been focused on gilding Washington with his signature ostentatious style wrote, “The Trump Kennedy Center will close on July 4th, 2026, in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country, whereupon we will simultaneously begin Construction of the new and spectacular Entertainment Complex.”

Though he said “financing is completed and fully in place,” Trump did not reveal any details about the construction project or what the budget is, even as he lamented what he called the shopworn state of the building. Saying that the decision came after input from many unnamed “Highly Respected Experts,” he wrote that the, “tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years,” will be transformed into a “World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before.”

Trump added that the closure is subject to approval by the board, which last year he stacked with loyalist after firing members appointed by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, a panel that then promptly installed him as chairman. In addition, without going through the appropriate congressional approval process, the former reality TV star also added his name to the center honoring the nation’s slain 35th president.

For more than half a century, the Kennedy Center was a cultural mecca for D.C., hosting countless concerts, plays, operas and performances by musicians, poets and orchestras. But between the name change and the board revamp, the Kennedy Center has struggled since Trump’s second term began, with a reported dip in ticket sales and a raft of artist cancellations in protest of the Trump revamp.

The most recent cancellation came from legendary minimalist composer Philip Glass, who pulled a planned debut of an Abraham Lincoln-inspired symphony last week out of protest of Trump’s actions. In addition, soprano and actress Renée Fleming, a National Medal of Arts winner and 2023 Kennedy Center Honors recipient, cancelled her planned May performances with the National Symphony Orchestra over what she deemed “a scheduling conflict” after resigning last year from her role as an artistic advisor-at-large to the Center.

The pair joined an increasingly long list of artists, shows and events that have pulled the plug since the Trump takeover, a roster that includes a production of Hamilton, shows by the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Washington National Opera (which is leaving the Center after more than 55 years), performers Issa Rae, Béla Fleck, Rhiannon Giddens, Low Cut Connie, Sonia De Los Santos, Kristy Lee, Chuck Redd, Stephen Schwartz and a dozen more. In addition, the recently hired senior vice president of artistic programming, Kevin Couch, who was brought on to help book the Center, resigned after less than two weeks on the job with no explanation. Both the New York Times and Washington Post have reported that ticket sales have plummeted over the past year, with the Post saying that 43% of all tickets went unsold during a six week period last fall.

CNN reported that the growing artist boycott has “become untenable,” according to an anonymous source, who said that during his brief stint at the Center Couch “was frustrated because he was struggling to attract well-known artists.” It also reported that Kennedy Center staff learned about the shut-down from Trump’s post on Sunday.

According to Deadline, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill act, passed last year with no support from Democrats, set aside $257 million for renovations and maintenance on the Center that opened in 1971, though its unclear if that is the final budget for the Trump revamp.

At press time it was unclear if the renovation will include the suspension of the annual Kennedy Center Honors, which has been a D.C. tradition since 1978. In keeping with his spotlight-loving persona, Trump became the first sitting president to host the event when he took the stage in December to oversee a show whose honorees he took a hand in selection after refusing to attend the event during his first term.

Trump, who until last year had never attended a single show at the Kennedy Center in either of his terms, added that the shut-down is coming after a year-long review of the venue he previously disparaged as dilapidated and too “woke.” The Center underwent a major $250 million renovation and expansion in 2019 that Trump has also belittled, with the president saying in his Truth post that he’d consulted with unnamed contractors, musical experts, art institutions and other advisors and consultants to determine whether to close the venue during reconstruction or keep it partially open and operating over a longer stretch of time.

“I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. “In other words, if we don’t close, the quality of Construction will not be nearly as good, and the time to completion, because of interruptions with Audiences from the many Events using the Facility, will be much longer. The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result!”

JFK’s niece, journalist and former First Lady of California Maria Shriver, reacted to Trump’s announcement on X with barely concealed contempt and a heavy dose of sarcasm, writing, “Translation: It has been brought to my attention that due to the name change (but nobody’s telling me it’s due to the name change), but it’s been brought to my attention that entertainers are canceling left and right, and I have determined that since the name change no one wants to perform there any longer. I’ve determined that due to this change in schedule, it’s best for me to close this center down and rebuild a new center that will bear my name, which will surely get everybody to stop talking about the fact that everybody’s canceling… right?”


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The U.K. music industry has woken up to news that its artists blazed a scorching trail at the 2026 Grammys.

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Olivia Dean, Lola Young, The Cure, Yungblud, FKA Twigs and Cynthia Erivo were among the winners at the starry ceremony at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Sunday (Feb. 1), giving British artists one of their best showings in recent years.

Dean scored the coveted best new artist prize, the first time a British act has won since 2019 (Dua Lipa) and only the tenth overall. The win is her first at the Grammys and comes as “Man I Need,” the lead single from her The Art of Loving LP, is now up to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. She could well be a contender at the 2027 ceremony, as both fall into next year’s eligibility period.

Speaking from the stage, Dean was one of many artists to highlight the role of immigrants amidst the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement. “I’m up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant,” she said. “I’m a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated,” Dean added. “We’re nothing without each other.” She was one of many acts alongside Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish to condemn recent killings and behavior by the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agency.

Lola Young gave her first public live performance in several months with a rendition of “Messy,” which later won best pop solo performance. The song won out over stiff competition in the category from Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber, and follows a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.K. Singles Chart in early 2025. In September, Young was forced to postpone all live performances following an on-stage collapse in New York.

The British winners started early in the pre-show ceremony. Yungblud collected the award for best rock performance for his rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” at Ozzy Osbourne’s Back to the Beginning farewell concert in Birmingham, England back in July 2025. The performance was later released as a single to raise money for charity, and the Doncaster rocker told Billboard U.K. prior to the ceremony that being nominated for a live moment was “the greatest recognition you can get as a performer.”

FKA Twigs also collected a prize for best dance/electronic album for her daring LP Eusexua to mark her first-ever Grammy prize. “It’s been the most incredible journey,” she said in her acceptance speech. “I know that to a lot of people I may be new, but I’ve actually been doing this a really long time so to any artist: don’t give up, follow your vision, do you, because that’s what’s going make the world fall in love with your art.”

The Cure scored their first-ever win at the Grammys in the best alternative album (Songs of a Lost World) and best alternative music performance (“Alone”) categories. They’d twice been nominated for the former category during their 50-year career (Wish, 1993; Bloodflowers, 2001) but had never before taken home the prize.

London-born singer and actress Cynthia Erivo earned the best pop duo performance for “Defying Gravity” from hit film Wicked, recognising her rendition of the hit musical song with co-star Ariana Grande.

It all added up to a triumphant night for the U.K. music industry that disproves doomy conversations about the dearth of new talent coming through. Dean, Young, Sam Fender and more were among the artists to drive the U.K.’s recorded music market to dizzying new heights in 2025, and a Harry Styles comeback could take it even further.

Dickon Stainer, chief executive at Universal Music U.K., tells Billboard U.K.: “These Grammy wins for Olivia Dean and Lola Young mark a pivotal moment in the resurgence of British music on the global stage. Seeing these young artists recognized alongside The Cure, after their near fifty-year wait, is the surest sign yet that British talent is moving back to its rightful place at the forefront of worldwide music.”

Dr. Jo Twist OBE, chief executive of the BPI, highlighted the role that music education played in several winners. She tells Billboard U.K.: “Four of last night’s winners (FKA Twigs, Lola Young, Olivia Dean and RAYE) are alumni of the free-to-attend BRIT School in Croydon, making last night an incredible testament both to the power of creative education and to the importance of making it accessible to as many young Brits as possible.”

She continued, “Recognition like this is more than a gesture. It’s proof that British music is well and truly world-class, an acknowledgment of last year’s many UK musical breakthroughs, and a reminder that the UK remains one of the best places in the world for artists to launch and develop their careers, supported by our record label members and the wider music ecosystem.”


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A stage musical celebrating the career of John Farnham will premiere in Sydney later this year.

Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical is set to debut Nov. 15, 2026, at Roslyn Packer Theatre as part of the Sydney Theatre Company’s season, producers announced Monday (Feb. 2).

The production will star Michael Paynter in the role of Farnham. Paynter recently led the 2025 Australian season of Jesus Christ Superstar and has previously toured with Farnham, in addition to performing as a member of ICEHOUSE and Jimmy Barnes’ touring bands.

“To be asked to help tell the story of the greatest voice this country has ever produced is an honour that is very hard to put into words,” Paynter said in a statement. “For me, John Farnham is the absolute zenith of male singers in all of history.”

Released in 1986, Whispering Jack became the highest-selling Australian album of all time and marked a defining turning point in Farnham’s career. The musical will focus on the creation and legacy of the album, which includes the hit “You’re the Voice,” which topped the Australian singles chart for seven consecutive weeks and became one of the country’s best-selling songs.

Producer Gaynor Wheatley said Paynter’s casting followed an extensive search. “When Michael Paynter performed the material for the first time, there was an immediate sense of recognition in the room,” she said.

Artistic director Mitchell Butel added that Paynter’s performance in Jesus Christ Superstar confirmed the decision. “John Farnham is more than just an incredible voice,” Butel said. “He is the ultimate showman and musical storyteller.”

Tickets for Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical are on sale now via the Sydney Theatre Company.

At the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 1), Kendrick Lamar set a new record as the rapper with the most career awards. He won four Grammys on the night, which upped his career Grammy total to 26. The old record was held by Jay-Z with 25 Grammys, followed by Ye with 24.

Lamar has made a fast climb through the Grammy ranks: He won his first Grammys in 2015. At that point, Jay and Ye had each won 21 Grammys.

At this year’s ceremony, Lamar won record of the year and best melodic rap performance, both for “Luther,” his megahit collab with SZA; best rap song as a co-writer of “tv off” and best rap performance as a featured artist on Clipse’s “Chains & Whips.”

Three other artists who had won 20 or more Grammys also added to their Grammy totals this year. The late jazz fusion pianist, composer, bandleader, Chick Corea won his 29th Grammy – best jazz performance for “Windows – Live,” a collab with Christian McBride and Brian Blade. Legendary composer John Williams won his 27th – best music film for Music By John Williams. And engineer Serban Ghenea won his 24th – as the mixer of Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” which was voted best dance pop recording.

No artists broke into the 20+ Grammy club this year.

Here’s a complete list of everyone who has won 20 or more Grammys in competition. The years shown are the year of the awards ceremony (starting in 1971, the year of the first live telecast). At the end of each entry, we make note of any special merit awards these people have received from the Recording Academy. (Those awards are not included in the tally of competitive awards won.)

Alex Warren has addressed technical difficulties that affected his performance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night.

The singer-songwriter, who was nominated for Best New Artist, experienced apparent in-ear monitor issues during his televised performance of “Ordinary,” which was broadcast live from Los Angeles. Viewers noted audio irregularities as Warren appeared to struggle with his earpiece while performing.

Following the ceremony, Warren responded on Instagram, sharing a video that demonstrated what he said he was hearing during the performance. “When you’re performing at the Grammys and all you hear is this in your ears,” he wrote, alongside distorted and delayed audio from the track. He added in a separate caption, “This would only happen to me…”

During the performance, Warren was seen adjusting his in-ear pack and eventually removing one of the monitors, while briefly falling out of sync with the backing track. The nature of the technical malfunction has not been formally addressed by the Recording Academy or broadcast partner CBS.

Despite the setback, the appearance marked Warren’s first on-stage performance at the Grammys. He was nominated for Best New Artist following a breakout year that included the success of “Ordinary.”

The award ultimately went to Olivia Dean, who capped off a year that included major festival appearances and the release of her album The Art of Loving.

As of publication, representatives for Warren and the Recording Academy have not issued further comment regarding the technical issues.

The debate of whether or not the Grammys properly reflect popular music and culture feels like it’s been going on for our entire lives, but in truth it’s actually a much more recent conversation — because for a long, long time, they were so far off the mark that it wasn’t even worth debating. Take 1995, a period when alternative rock, crossover R&B and coastal hip-hop were defining the cutting edge, and the Grammys awarded Tony Bennett’s MTV Unplugged album with album of the year. Or a decade later, when Green Day, Usher and Kanye West were all nominated for game-changing blockbuster LPs, but top prize went to Ray Charles’ posthumous Genius Loves Company. For many decades, wins like these were arguably more rule than exception, and the Grammys reflected that with their performances, which drifted towards safer, adult-contemporary territory and rarely pushed the envelope or showcased the next generation.

If you wanted any of that during the late 20th or early 21st centuries, you’d have to go the MTV Video Music Awards. The VMAs were where the truly culture-shifting moments happened, where the pop, rock and hip-hop stars built their iconic legacies with performances, acceptance speeches and red carpet moments, where the music defining the era’s youth culture was ably represented by the artists on stage and in the audience. (At the VMAs, TLC were the big winners in 1995, while Green Day and Kanye reigned victorious in some of the biggest ’05 categories.) Occasionally, the show glanced towards history, but it was generally much more interested in the present and future, and in providing an alternative for plugged-in viewers who felt alienated by the perennially out-of-touch Grammys.

Which is what makes it so jarring to get to a place where the VMAs is now devoting a truly curious amount of stage time to lifetime-achievement-type performances from artists whose peaks are decades in the rearview, and often awarding its marquee moonpeople to big names with less-timely titles. Meanwhile, this Sunday’s (Feb. 1) Grammys evinced a show increasingly uninterested in either rewarding or handing the stage over to any artist whose commercial peak came during a year that started with a “1” — with its biggest winners lining up more and more frequently with the top of Billboard‘s annual Greatest Pop Star rankings, and creating the kind of vital moments with its performances and acceptance speeches that may still reverberate decades later.

It’s easy now to view last year’s well-received best new artist medley as something of an inflection point for the Grammys in this era. With the usual Spotify best new artist pre-Grammy showcase called off as a result of the California wildfires, the Grammys made the call to feature all eight nominees from the unusually strong 2025 BNA class as performers on its main broadcast, with five of them performing as part of a continuous medley. It was an unusually large amount of time for the Grammys to devote to such relatively unproven names, but the results were a near-best-case-scenario of those artists stepping up and seizing the moment — with Benson Boone backflipping his way into national recognizability, and Doechii leaping to star status almost immediately following her jaw-dropping breakthrough performance. Given the positive response, it made sense for the Grammys to continue moving away from the safer, sturdier veteran-artist performances that it had used to flesh out its lineups for most of the prior decades, particularly during the Ken Ehrlich era, and focus more on today’s and tomorrow’s hitmakers.

Which isn’t to say that there weren’t proven vets playing roles of prominence at the 2026 Grammys — just none who fit the Boomer or even Gen X molds of what we’ve long considered a legacy act to be. The legacy acts at this year’s Grammys weren’t traditional pop vocalists or classic rock bands, they were the Clipse, a long-venerated rap duo finally seizing a Grammy moment denied them during their ’00s heyday, or they were Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, long-proven top 40 A-listers who’ve remained so relevant that they even teamed up for the biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit of last year. The only 20th century acts on the bill were reserved for tributes to late legends Ozzy Osbourne, D’Angelo and Roberta Flack — and even those mixed contemporary hitmakers like Post Malone and Leon Thomas in with the spare Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fugees. For a show in its final year on CBS, there were surprisingly few obvious concessions made to the Matlock or NCIS demographics.

Of course, as with most things in 2026, it helped to have Bad Bunny in the building. While, for the first time since 2017, Taylor Swift was not present either at the event or in the nominations this year — the Showgirl will certainly be heard from in 2027 — her absence was made less conspicuous by the all-consuming presence of El Conejo Malo, who proved such a magnetic force that host Trevor Noah kept saddling up to him throughout the evening to beg him to perform. Benito declined to do so — gotta wait for the Super Bowl next Sunday for that, though Noah did goad him into joining in on a few bars of “DtMF,” with the help of a pop-up band parading through the crowd. But he did take album of the year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos, a win that would’ve been near-unthinkable for such an uncompromising Spanish-language album just five years ago, but seems much less so after a half-decade of Bad Bunny’s relentless normalization of such achievements, and of the Grammys aggressively self-modernizing.

He wasn’t the only such winner on the night. For a decade, Kendrick Lamar was perhaps the most unanimously acclaimed and beloved in artist in hip-hop, but still couldn’t break out of the rap categories at the Grammys; now he’s won record of the year two years in a row, this time alongside SZA for “Luther.” (A confused Cher’s proclamation of “Luther Vandross” as the award’s winner will likely go down as one of this year’s eternal moments.) Best pop solo performance usually goes to the biggest artist and/or biggest song — each previous winner this decade had topped either the Hot 100 or the Global 200 — but on Sunday, four of the biggest names in top 40 were left clapping for newcomer Lola Young, whose alt-leaning, frayed-at-the-edges “Messy” was the broadcast’s biggest surprise winner. And even in the rock categories, given out before the telecast and usually awarded to the longest-tenured radio bands, the cult-favorite post-hardcore act Turnstile — who never had a major hit on the airwaves before 2025, but climbed to the second line on this year’s Coachella poster — took home two trophies.

And once again, the performers reflected the shift as well. For the second time in two Grammy tries, Tyler, The Creator gave the night’s most electric performance, with a blending of Chromakopia‘s “Thought I Was Dead” and Don’t Tap the Glass‘ “Sugar on My Tongue” that ended up like an ’80s Michael Jackson video directed by David Lynch. Sabrina Carpenter again proved herself the most reliable artist among current pop stars in cleverly recontextualizing her already-trademark hits with one-off concept performances — this time setting “Manchild” in an airport baggage claim, hardly an obvious thematic match for the song (except for the “baggage” double meaning), but one she sold through one gloriously choreographed mini-setpiece after another. And Gaga and Bruno both stayed out of just-play-the-hits territory by grunging up the arrangements of their respective performances of “Abracadabra” and “APT.” (with ROSÉ), giving those ubiquitous pop singles a newfound edge and vitality.

And yes: The best new artist medley was back, and with an even more pronounced spotlight this time out. While 2025’s medley still carried the air of spontaneity to it, 2026 was clearly the product of grand design, with Addison Rae and KATSEYE kicking things off outside the building, and then the remaining five artists weaving their way through various main-room stages with a choreography nearly as complex and considered as any of the individual performances. (The Marias, like Khruangbin last year, were apparently deemed too vibey for the proper medley and instead were used more as bumper music coming out of the commercial break.) Neither the collective medley nor any of the individual performers quite packed the kinetic energy of last year’s unexpected triumph — but the considerable talent on display, and performances ranging from Rae’s and KATSEYE’s music video-like staging to Olivia Dean and Sombr’s old-school showmanship, showed this class as plenty promising in its own right. It’s certainly worth keeping the best new artist medley around, and making a full tradition out of it.

Even more important to the vitality of this year’s ceremonies than either than the performers or the winners were the speeches. A year after the 2025 Grammys — held in the wake of both the wildfires and President Trump’s second election to office — caught many of our pop A-listers in the mood for statement-making ICE’s violent occupation of several major American cities and the president’s wildly unchecked immigration crackdown proved similarly inspirational in 2026. Bad Bunny and song of the year winner Billie Eilish both delivered unequivocally anti-ICE messages in their speeches — as did Kehlani in her pre-telecast best R&B song acceptance — while best new artist Dean talked about being the granddaughter of an immigrant and best country duo/group performance winner Shaboozey (“Amen” with Jelly Roll) also preached pre-broadcast about immigrants building the country. Coming just weeks after a Golden Globes when few seemed interested in speaking up for causes beyond themselves and their work, the words from pop’s elite on Sunday night were loud and resounding.

The shift towards the new and now for the Grammys was hardly without fault — country, as central a genre as any to contemporary popular music, was almost totally missing from the performances, as was any predominantly non-English music. And no doubt there were plenty of viewers who prefer a little more reliable stability to their Music’s Biggest Night, and were wincing their way through some of the more bombastic, heavily choreographed and perhaps partially lip-synched performances, wondering what the hell the Grammys had been reduced to. But for the first time in decades, the question of the Grammys reflecting popular music and culture need not have been asked, and this time for the opposite reason as 20-30 years ago: Yes, they obviously did, and rather impressively so. And it’s hard to imagine the Grammys going back in the other direction — or the VMAs reclaiming that turf — anytime soon.


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