Grammys 2026: My thoughts and feelings
A necessary event in troubling times
I really enjoy watching the Grammy’s every year. Many people love to hate, but I enjoy awards ceremonies. As society gets faster and faster, having these moments to stop and reflect on the past year of popular music feel helpful and entertaining. I love the surrounding fashion and social media moments, behind the scenes nuggets, hot takes, discussions and political statements. The 2026 Grammys felt the most complete in a long time. In 2025, the Awards were postponed and effected by the LA Wildfires. Unfortunately in 2026 the Grammys coincided with another American disaster. The Trump ICE raids and attacks of migrants and USA citizens, which has been a genuinely harrowing and terrifying thing to watch unfold.
Coming into the 2026 Grammys, I assumed FUCK ICE would be a fairly popular sentiment amongst most of the crowd. It felt like the moment for the music community to unify and stand up against these racist attacks on America’s people. The parallel narrative of an Hispanic artist, Bad Bunny, being the favourite to win Album of the Year, a week before his Super Bowl Performance added weight to the moment. The dichotomy of mass popularisation of Spanish music in the United States with a hostile force of US Government fascists trying to ‘cleanse’ the country was sure to come to ahead at the Awards. That, was the subtext of the Grammy’s 2026.
These were my highlights and takeaways from the Awards:
Bad Bunny:
His reaction to winning Album of the Year was that of stillness, inward reflection and silence. This felt very symbolic. A moment of silence for all migrants that have been harassed, hurt or killed. When he eventually collected the award, he delivered his speech almost entirely in Spanish. I assume, this had never happened before. Speaking directly to Spanish speaking people felt powerful. A direct message. A not-so-subtle gesture that his win and his voice was those who speak Spanish. As mentioned, this sets the table for this Super Bowl Performance next week.
The power of Black music:
Usually the medley, in memorium moments at awards shows are earnest to the point of taking focus away from the performance being remotely entertaining. The sprawling D’angelo tribute led by Lauryn Hill was the opposite, and an example of the greatness of Black music in America. The interview with Kendrick at the bringing of the ceremony with Trevor Noah, to the closing performance of Clipse and Pharrell demonstrated how talented, layered and important Black music is to the culture of music and art. Black music’s legacy, stories and the musicality was really on show at this year’s awards.
Justin Bieber:
Justin Bieber’s performance, stripped down to his boxers, a guitar and an MPC was incredible and I highly recommend watching it. His album 2025 SWAG was a turning point in JB’s career, a coming of age and return to form after a tumultuous career. The Dijon and Mk.gee tinged music from SWAG was on show when he performed YUKON. It was raw, emotional and passionate. Frankly, it was straight up hot. As put by Joe Coscarelli from NYTimes Popcast, there was a sense of relief, when he pulled off such a vulnerable performance. And Hailey Bieber little clap at the end, was a subtle fuck you to all the haters. It sets up his 2026 ahead of his headline slot at Coachella in April.
Other honourable mentions:
Billie Eilish stood on business, acknoledging the stolen land of America followed by “FUCK ICE” during her speech.
The Best New Artists Medley performance wasn’t perfect, but I loved seeing it and I hope it continues every year.
Thanks for reading!