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Last Sunday, the Grammy Awards gathered celebrities and entertainers to celebrate noteworthy, popular and occasionally questionable music and music-adjacent releases over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Music\u2019s biggest night came and went, with wins both expected and surprising, stunning performances and a thick atmosphere of politics. From the red carpet to the afterparties, the Grammys showcased the world of entertainment, stretching from the 2026 Best New Artist to remembering great musical artists who passed in the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The awards this year came with far less controversy than past years, specifically Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s wins in Country Album of the Year and Album of the Year with \u201cCowboy Carter.\u201d The choice for AOTY was seen as a snub to Billie Eilish\u2019s hugely successful \u201cHit Me Hard and Soft,\u201d and many country fans were dismayed that the category was won by a predominantly pop-filled album. This year\u2019s main wins included Bad Bunny\u2019s \u201cDeB\u00cd TiRAR M\u00e1S FOToS\u201d winning Album of the Year and Latin Album of the Year, Eilish\u2019s \u201cWildflower\u201d as Song of the Year, \u201cLuther\u201d by SZA and Kendrick Lamar for Record of the Year and Olivia Dean winning Best New Artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
None of these were particularly surprising, as the top few choices in each category were remarkably strong, though the dearth of wins for Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s album \u201cMan\u2019s Best Friend\u201d was somewhat surprising. It remains my belief that the song \u201cGolden\u201d from \u201cK-Pop Demon Hunters\u201d did not deserve any wins, and Billie winning Song of the Year was an admission of wrongdoing last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As always, the stage at the Grammys hosted the year\u2019s hottest artists for a number of live performances, and this year\u2019s collection was especially strong. Bruno Mars performed his new lead single \u201cI Just Might\u201d for the first time, and his effortless vocals and 70s-inspired choreography left zero room for improvement. Lady Gaga demonstrated her incredible voice in a re-harmonized version of \u201cAbracadabra,\u201d dressed as the cage from her Mayhem tour, and the best new artists performances were excellent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lola Young\u2019s \u201cMessy\u201d was impassioned, Addison Rae channeled Britney Spears in her opening performance and despite some technical issues, Alex Warren performed the Tik Tok-famous \u201cOrdinary\u201d with an impressive level of performing maturity. However, two performances made the largest impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, Best New Artist nominee Sombr sang his song \u201c12 to 12\u201d in a performance remarkably evocative of the 70s and 80s rock scene, and despite losing the Grammy, Sombr made it clear he will remain a musical force in a genre that has mostly disappeared in the pop music world. The star of the performances, albeit divisive, was Justin Bieber who performed an acoustic version of \u201cYukon\u201d in nothing but boxers and socks. However, despite some awkward moments that have led the internet to question Bieber\u2019s mental state, his vocals were crisp and sultry and created a calm, pensive atmosphere during the flashy and chaotic ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As usual, politics were not hidden at a Hollywood celebration, and in light of the recent events in Minnesota, many singers and celebrities wore \u201cICE Out\u201d pins. The anti-ICE sentiment was even more explicit in the speeches given, with Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny repeating the same, and Eilish stating in her acceptance speech: \u201cNobody is illegal on stolen land\u201d and \u201cF*** ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While some praise the activism, many conservatives have decried the statement, calling such acts \u201cperformative\u201d and \u201cout of touch.\u201d Comedian Ricky Gervais also chimed in, calling out political statements as useless, especially coming from individuals who live life in a protected, money and power-filled circle of influence. Whether one sees the actions as ridiculous and \u201cwoke\u201d or is glad to see those with a platform using it for good, the constant emphasis on political views creates very strong emotions around the various awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the biggest night in music passed, listeners can look forward to notable summer releases to see where music will go in the upcoming year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Highlights from the 2026 Grammy Awards<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[221],"tags":[84,21,45],"class_list":["post-1293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-andrew-hutchinson","tag-entertainment","tag-issue-2026-02-13"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-13-14-mic-drop-moments-1.jpg",992,505,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-13-14-mic-drop-moments-1.jpg",150,76,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-13-14-mic-drop-moments-1.jpg",300,153,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-13-14-mic-drop-moments-1.jpg",768,391,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-13-14-mic-drop-moments-1.jpg",992,505,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-13-14-mic-drop-moments-1.jpg",992,505,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-13-14-mic-drop-moments-1.jpg",992,505,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Highlights from the 2026 Grammy Awards","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1762,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1293\/revisions\/1762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}