What to expect from the 2026 Grammy Awards

A fewer weeks ago, Ben Winston and the remainder of the squad down the yearly Grammy Awards telecast were going implicit plans for this year’s amusement erstwhile abruptly Winston recalled sitting successful the aforesaid country with the aforesaid radical astir precisely 12 months earlier arsenic the Palisades and Eaton wildfires were ravaging ample swaths of Los Angeles.

“We were looking astatine the occurrence implicit the roadworthy from my bureau — you could spot it,” the Emmy-winning tv shaper recalls. “I retrieve we were like, ‘Is determination adjacent going to beryllium a show?’”

The Recording Academy ended up going up with the 67th Grammys albeit with important changes to the program, including a caller opening fig that had the set Dawes (whose drummer Griffin Goldsmith mislaid his location successful Altadena) performing Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” with assistance from Sheryl Crow and John Legend, among others.

“We fundamentally enactment connected a Grammy amusement successful 2 weeks,” Winston says present of past year’s ceremony, which the academy retooled arsenic a fundraiser that brought successful much than $9 cardinal for occurrence alleviation done its MusiCares foundation. “I look backmost connected it arsenic 1 of the astir insane things we ever did.”

Preparation for the 68th Grammys — acceptable to aerial unrecorded connected CBS and Paramount+ connected Sunday nighttime from Crypto.com Arena — is going overmuch much smoothly, Winston reports with a look of relief. Yet the show, which he’s overseeing alongside Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins, volition inactive beryllium a feat to propulsion off, with astir 10 televised grant presentations and much than 2 twelve performers, among them Sabrina Carpenter, Pharrell Williams, Addison Rae, Clipse and Alex Warren.

After 3 years of climbing ratings, TV viewership for the 2025 Grammys fell 9% to 15.4 million, according to information from Nielsen. So the unit is connected to bring an assemblage to Sunday’s telecast, which volition people the extremity of the academy’s half-century concern with CBS earlier the Grammys determination to Disney’s ABC web successful 2027.

To perceive what’s successful store — and what this year’s nominations accidental astir the twelvemonth successful euphony — The Times spoke with Winston and with Recording Academy Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr.

New voting members successful the mix

Let’s get it retired of the way: No, Bad Bunny volition not execute connected the show. Though the Puerto Rican superstar has six Grammy nods — including medium of the twelvemonth with “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” and grounds and opus of the twelvemonth with the LP’s rubric way — his gig adjacent period headlining halftime astatine Super Bowl LX means he’s not disposable to play the Grammys, according to Winston. (The aforesaid was existent past twelvemonth of Kendrick Lamar up of his show astatine Super Bowl LIX.)

The enforcement producer, who points retired that Bad Bunny is expected to be Sunday’s ceremony, takes a glass-half-full presumption of not being capable to publication 1 of music’s biggest acts. “It gives abstraction for idiosyncratic other to travel successful and bash an astonishing performance,” Winston says. “I deliberation it’s close for some shows that we don’t diagnostic the aforesaid artists, due to the fact that we privation the assemblage to spot caller and antithetic things.”

A triumph for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” would people the archetypal clip a Spanish-language LP was named medium of the twelvemonth astatine the Grammys; the academy’s caller invitation to members of the Latin Recording Academy mightiness marque that result much likely, fixed that “Fotos” won medium of the twelvemonth astatine November’s Latin Grammys ceremonial successful Las Vegas.

Recording Academy Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr. successful 2024.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Mason talks with pridefulness astir what helium calls the “evolution” of the academy’s membership, which has grown much divers implicit his six years arsenic CEO. In November, the radical said it had added 3,800 caller members, 58% of whom are radical of colour and 35% of whom place arsenic women; Mason credits that changing electorate for bestowing high-level nods connected artists similar Bad Bunny and Rosé, the Blackpink vocalist whose “Apt.” is the archetypal opus by a K-pop enactment ever nominated for grounds of the year. (Among this year’s different apical nominees are Lamar, Carpenter, Lady Gaga, Leon Thomas, Doechii, SZA and Tyler, the Creator.)

Asked half-jokingly if helium ever misses the days erstwhile Grammy nominations regularly inspired outrage implicit however retired of interaction the Recording Academy was, Mason says, “I don’t miss radical being upset. But I besides don’t discount that it’s going to hap again. It’s precise hard to get 95 categories close and not person idiosyncratic beryllium offended oregon consciousness near out.”

Trevor Noah’s past laughter arsenic host

Having hosted the Grammys since 2021 — erstwhile overmuch of the ceremonial took spot outside, with nominees wearing masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic — Trevor Noah has said this volition beryllium his past clip starring the show.

“He really intimated that helium mightiness not beryllium capable to bash it this year,” Winston says of the comedian and erstwhile “Daily Show” host. “I went backmost and begged — like, virtually sent him a video wherever I was connected my knees.”

Mason describes Noah arsenic “super comic but respectful — and not cringey funny, which is important for our show.” Winston adds that “he tin header unbelievably good connected unrecorded tv erstwhile I’m successful his ear. We’re gathering a Sabrina acceptable and inactive taking down the acceptable of the past performer, and I’m going, ‘Really sorry, mate — you request to capable for different infinitesimal and a half.’ He tin effortlessly bash that without anybody successful the satellite knowing what’s going connected successful his earpiece. That is priceless.”

Does the shaper cognize who mightiness regenerate Noah successful 2027? “I person a mates of ideas, but I haven’t told the academy yet,” says Winston, who himself took implicit the Grammys from the show’s longtime producer, Ken Ehrlich, successful 2021.

Newbies instrumentality the stage

As connected past year’s show, each 8 nominees for champion caller creator volition execute connected Sunday’s telecast, this clip successful a azygous extended series that Winston likens to the acquisition of listening to the vigor oregon to a playlist.

“No 1 listens to a opus and past they person a three-minute interruption and past they travel backmost and perceive to different song,” helium says. “Raj and Jesse and I truly similar it erstwhile we tin property play and it ne'er stops.”

Ben Winston, enforcement shaper of the Grammys telecast, successful 2021.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

He besides has a imaginable astonishment show planned à la the Weeknd’s quality successful 2025, which wasn’t announced successful advance. “It would beryllium my penchant to denote it, if I’m honest, but it mightiness extremity up having to beryllium a surprise,” Winston says of immoderate helium has successful the works for Sunday. “Sometimes artists are like, ‘Don’t say,’ I deliberation due to the fact that they privation the assemblage to beryllium surprised.

“But past the cynical idiosyncratic successful maine besides thinks possibly they privation to hedge their bet,” helium adds, “in lawsuit they don’t fancy doing it connected the day.”

New state award, but nary Mo’

Among the 95 categories Mason refers to is simply a caller grant for accepted state album, which the academy added this twelvemonth successful effect to a petition from the organization’s Nashville contingent. (The state medium class — carried past twelvemonth by Beyoncé with “Cowboy Carter” — has been renamed modern state album.)

Mason frames the summation arsenic a mode to admit much euphony astatine the Grammys: “Ten nominations versus 5 is simply a large outcome,” helium says. Yet 1 sanction you won’t find successful either class is the biggest prima successful state music, Morgan Wallen, who fto it beryllium known past twelvemonth that he’d opted not to taxable his blockbuster “I’m the Problem” — the second-most-consumed medium of 2025 down Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” — for information by the Recording Academy.

Wallen hasn’t explained his determination (which follows akin ones by the likes of Drake and Frank Ocean), though it’s broadly understood arsenic a rebuke of a worth strategy helium considers retired of alignment with his own.

Asked for his reaction, Mason says, “I’m ever disappointed erstwhile anybody says this is not thing they privation to enactment in. I would emotion to spot his euphony successful our process due to the fact that I’m a instrumentality and I deliberation helium has a batch of radical who emotion what helium does. But I respect his choice.”

Last year’s show by the Weeknd, who’d antecedently boycotted the Grammys successful protestation of what helium characterized arsenic a corrupt voting process, came aft immoderate determined bridge-building by the academy’s leader. Has Mason attempted thing akin with Wallen?

“I’ve decidedly reached retired to spot if there’s thing we request to code oregon if there’s thing that helium has a interest with,” Mason says. (Wallen’s rep had nary comment.) Adds the CEO: “I’m ever going to bash that due to the fact that we privation artists to consciousness similar the Grammy enactment is present for them.”

Welcome back?

One unexpected sanction you will find connected the ballot: Fab Morvan.

The erstwhile subordinate of Milli Vanilli is nominated successful the audiobook class for his memoir, which recounts the duo’s speedy emergence with late-’80s hits similar “Blame It connected the Rain” and “Girl You Know It’s True” and its adjacent quicker autumn aft Morvan and his bandmate Rob Pilatus were revealed not to person sung connected Milli Vanilli’s records.

As portion of the fallout, the academy revoked the duo’s grant for champion caller creator — the lone clip that’s happened successful the Grammys’ astir seven-decade history.

“It was specified a shock,” Mason says of the lip-syncing scandal. “How bash you grip that? I’m gladsome I wasn’t successful the spot erstwhile that was going on.”

Mason calls Morvan’s instrumentality “one of the astir unsocial Grammy stories ever” and says, “We’ll spot if the voters implicit the ellipse by giving him the win.”

Goodbye and hello

Should the Grammys’ leaving CBS mean thing to the mean viewer?

“It decidedly means thing to me,” Winston says. “I don’t deliberation I would person got this occupation if it hadn’t been connected CBS due to the fact that I was moving ‘The Late Late Show’ [with James Corden], and Jack Sussman, who was astatine CBS astatine the time, went, ‘Hey, that feline seems each close — you should conscionable him, Recording Academy.’”

Winston says Sunday’s amusement volition diagnostic “a infinitesimal looking backmost astatine what an unthinkable 50 years it’s been connected CBS.” But he’s not funny successful “a nostalgia play wherever we bring retired each the hosts from erstwhile years oregon thing similar that.”

Looking up to the Grammys’ determination to ABC — a 10-year woody for which Disney paid much than $500 million, according to the Wall Street Journal — the shaper says he’d “love the amusement to germinate successful immoderate way” astatine its caller home.

Adds Mason: “You’ll spot changes, I’m definite of it. If we’re not making changes, we’re doing the incorrect thing.”

Asked for his thoughts connected the quality that the Academy Awards volition spell to YouTube successful 2029, Mason says, “The squad astatine the Oscars are precise sharp. They’ve done a bully occupation with their organization, and I look guardant to seeing what that brings, due to the fact that it’s thing that’s different.” (Winston declined to comment.)

The thought of the Grammys connected YouTube — tin Mason envision it?

“The thought of the Grammys connected ABC and Disney+ and Hulu — that’s what was breathtaking for us,” helium says.