Music’s biggest night returns to Los Angeles next weekend as the Recording Academy prepares to honour the year’s standout achievements at the 68th Grammy Awards. The ceremony follows last year’s hybrid broadcast–fundraiser, which, despite some technical bumps, raised $9 million for wildfire relief in California.

With new categories, star presenters and a competitive field of nominees, the 2026 edition promises to be one of the most closely watched in recent years.

How to watch the 2026 Grammy awards

The Grammys will take place on Sunday, 1 February, broadcasting live from Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. The main telecast begins at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT (6.30 am IST Monday) on CBS.

For streaming viewers in the United States, the ceremony is available live to Paramount+ Premium subscribers, with the full show accessible on demand the following day for both Premium and Essential tiers.

The Grammy Premiere Ceremony, where the majority of awards are announced, will stream earlier in the day at 3.30 pm ET / 12.30 pm PT (2.30 am IST Monday) on the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com.

Cable-free viewers can also watch via services that carry CBS, including Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Fubo and DIRECTV STREAM, most of which offer free trials.

Who is hosting?

Comedian Trevor Noah returns as host for the sixth consecutive year. The Recording Academy previously confirmed that 2026 will be his final outing as Grammys emcee, closing what it calls a “generational run”.

Noah is also a nominee himself this year for the audio narration of his children’s book ‘Into the Uncut Grass’.

Who Is Performing?

The Recording Academy has unveiled its first slate of performers:

  • Sabrina Carpenter, a two-time Grammy winner and six-time nominee this year
  • Clipse & Pharrell Williams, performing music from Let God Sort ’Em Out
  • All eight Best New Artist contenders: Addison Rae, Alex Warren, KATSEYE, Leon Thomas, Lola Young, Olivia Dean, SOMBR and The Marías

Carpenter returns to the stage following her comedic performance last year. The Best New Artist segment, reinstated for a second consecutive year, showcases the full roster of nominated emerging acts.

Additional performers are expected to be revealed in the coming days.

Star presenters: Harry Styles and Doechii lead the line-up

The first presenters announced for the 2026 ceremony are Harry Styles and Doechii, both past Grammy winners.

Styles is preparing for the release of his fourth studio album, ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’, due 6 March, following the recent release of its lead single, ‘Aperture’. His re-emergence comes ahead of an extensive 50-show global residency scheduled to run through 2026 in seven cities, including Sydney and Melbourne.

Doechii, who won Best Rap Album last year for ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’, is nominated in five categories this year, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Rap Performance for her hit ‘Anxiety’.

Nomination leaders and major contenders

Kendrick Lamar tops this year’s nominations with nine, including Album of the Year (GNX) and Record and Song of the Year for ‘Luther’, his duet with SZA.

Close behind is Lady Gaga, landing eight nominations, her highest total since 2010.

Other artists earning major recognition include:

  • Bad Bunny – six nominations
  • Sabrina Carpenter – six nominations
  • Leon Thomas – six nominations
  • Doechii, Clipse, SZA and Tyler, the Creator – five nominations each

This year also brings firsts: three rap albums – ‘GNX’, ‘Let God Sort ’Em Out’ and ‘Chromakopia’ – are competing for Album of the Year for the first time.

Bad Bunny has become the first Spanish-language artist to be nominated simultaneously for Album, Record and Song of the Year.

The tracks ‘Golden’ and ‘APT.’ mark the first time K-pop songs have entered both the Song of the Year and Record of the Year categories.

Who is up for Album, Song and Record of the Year?

Album of the Year nominees:

  • ‘GNX’ – Kendrick Lamar
  • ‘Let God Sort ’Em Out’ – Clipse
  • ‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS’ – Bad Bunny
  • ‘Swag’ – Justin Bieber
  • ‘Man’s Best Friend’ – Sabrina Carpenter
  • ‘Mayhem’ – Lady Gaga
  • ‘Mutt’ – Leon Thomas
  • ‘Chromakopia’ – Tyler, the Creator

Song of the Year Nominees:

  • ‘DtMF’ – Bad Bunny
  • ‘Wildflower’ – Billie Eilish
  • ‘Manchild’ – Sabrina Carpenter
  • ‘Anxiety’ - Doechii
  • ‘Luther’ – Kendrick Lamar & SZA
  • ‘APT’ – ROSÉ and Bruno Mars
  • ‘Golden’ – KPop Demon Hunters

Record of the Year Nominees:

All Song of the Year nominees return except for ‘Golden’, replaced by:

  • ‘The Subway’ – Chappell Roan

What’s new at the 2026 Grammy Awards?

The Grammys bring back the Album Cover award for the first time since 1973. As Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. noted: “In today’s digital world, album covers are arguably more impactful than ever.”

Nominees in the revived category include:

  • Tyler, the Creator – ‘Chromakopia’
  • Djo – ‘The Crux’
  • Bad Bunny – ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’
  • Perfume Genius – ‘Glory’
  • Wet Leg – ‘Moisturizer’

The Country Album category has also been divided into Traditional Country and Contemporary Country.

And for the first time, Latin Grammy voting members have been invited to join the Recording Academy as part of its 2025 class.

Production and behind-the-scenes details

The 2026 Grammys will be produced by Fulwell Entertainment. Executive producers include Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor, Jesse Collins and Trevor Noah.