Community, Education, Events, Health and more...

There are years when everybody has a pretty good idea of who is likely to win in the marquee categories at the Grammy Awards. The best example is 1984, which turned into a virtual coronation of Michael Jackson as the hottest pop star on the planet. He won a record-setting eight Grammys that night, including album and record of the year. Or 1999, when Santana equaled Jackson’s eight-Grammy sweep, also taking album and record of the year. Or 2012, when Adele cemented her superstardom by tying Beyoncé’s record for the most Grammy wins by a female artist in one night (six).

Related

Here Are the 2026 Grammys Winners: Full List

2026 was most definitely not one of those years. Each of the so-called Big Four Awards — album, record and song of the year plus best new artist — was basically too close to call.

Would album of the year go to Kendrick Lamar at long last, or to Bad Bunny?

Would record of the year go to the Kendrick Lamar and SZA collab “Luther,” or to the ROSÉ and Bruno Mars pairing, “APT.”?

Would song of the year go to “Golden,” the global smash from KPop Demon Hunters, or maybe to “Luther” or “APT.”? (I didn’t think “Wildflower” would place in the top three.)

Would best new artist go to Leon Thomas, this year’s only best new artist nominee who landed another Big Four nod (album of the year for Mutt), or to Olivia Dean or sombr, both of whom leveled up in popularity just as ballots were being cast?

By now you know the answers to these questions: Bunny, “Luther,” “Wildflower” and Dean, respectively. Of these four categories, only “Wildflower” could really be called a surprise winner, but there were plenty of surprises among the 95 awards presented on Feb. 1. Here are some of the biggest snubs and surprises of Grammy night 2026.

The 2026 Grammy Awards hit the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday (Feb. 1) night, bringing out past winners (Harry Styles, Chappell Roan), celebrated newcomers (Olivia Dean, Leon Thomas) and a few GOATs (Joni Mitchell, Reba McEntire).

Hosted by Trevor Noah for his sixth consecutive (and final) year, this year’s Grammy Awards broadcast was heavy on performances. (In fact, the show featured more performances than awards—though awards were indeed given out, including several that made history, which you can read about here). Below, we’re ranking them all, from worst to best.

This year’s In Memoriam segment was particularly lengthy, with three discrete segments, each one featuring multiple artists. “It seems like every year we lose so many great legends, but yes, this year does seem particularly sad in that way,” Harvey Mason jr., Recording Academy CEO, recently told Billboard. For this list, each one of those three segments will be ranked on its own.

For the second year in a row, all the best new artist nominees performed on the Grammy telecast. This year, that meant a massive medley encompassing Addison Rae, Alex Warren, KATSEYE, Leon Thomas, Lola Young, Olivia Dean, sombr and The Marías. Each one got slightly less screentime than a typical Grammy performer, but still way more on-camera time than some best new artist nominees from years past, many of whom didn’t even get stage time. As we did last year, Billboard is ranking the best new artist performances in that medley separately.

If you want to see a complete list of the winners, we got you. If you want to read some of the best speeches, head here. But if you want to know which perfomers did it best at the 68th annual Grammy Awards ranked, read on.