Live updates: 2026 Grammys excitement builds ahead of red carpet and awards show

By Canadian Press on February 1, 2026.

The 68th annual Grammy Awards are just about here, airing live from Los Angeles on CBS and Paramount+ on Sunday night.

Kendrick Lamar’s dominance continues at the Grammys, where he leads the nominations with nine this year. He’s followed closely by Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut, who boast seven nominations each.

Comedian Trevor Noah returns to host the show for his sixth consecutive time — and his last.

The Latest:

Why is Timothée Chalamet nominated for a Grammy?

Timothée Chalamet is a first-time Grammy nominee and his category is an odd mix of last year’s Oscar nominations and this year’s. He’s up for best compilation soundtrack for visual media — which usually just means movie soundtracks — for his singing as Bob Dylan in 2024’s “A Complete Unknown.” His competition includes Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo from “Wicked” – the first one, not “Wicked: For Good,” which was seriously snubbed at the Oscar nominations.

The category’s filled out by the soundtrack of the most Oscar-nominated movie of all time, “Sinners,” and two other freshly minted Oscar nominees, “F1” and “KPop Demon Hunters.”

And the first Grammy goes to…

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s “Defying Gravity,” which won best pop duo/group performance. Neither was on hand to accept it, as host Darren Criss revealed after a brief interlude of the band playing “Uptown Funk.”

Just how many Grammy Awards are there?

There are 95 awards at this year’s Grammys, including two new ones: best album cover and best traditional country album.

All those awards can’t fit into a three-hour telecast, so most of them — 86, to be precise — are presented at the Premiere Ceremony.

But the major awards — including album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist — are presented during the main awards ceremony.

The Premier

e Ceremony is underway

The pre-telecast awards ceremony, where the majority of the Grammys are handed out, opens with a performance of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star” performed by Israel Houghton, Lila Ike, Grace Potter, Maggie Rose and Trombone Shorty.

The ceremony is being hosted by Darren Criss. Presenters — who announce batches of awards — include Édgar Barrera, Jesse Welles, Jimmy Jam, Sierra Hull, Trombone Shorty, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Dave Koz. Performers include Zara Larsson, Spiritbox, Tasha Combs Leonard and Criss and “Maybe Happy Ending” co-star Helen J. Shen.

What is the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony?

The Grammys have nearly 100 awards to hand out. There’s simply not enough time to fit all of that, plus performances and acceptance speeches, into a three-hour, prime-time telecast. That’s where the Premiere Ceremony comes in.

The Premiere Ceremony runs for three hours, starting at 12:30 p.m. Pacific/3:30 p.m. Eastern. It’s where categories like best audiobook narration are handed out and it’s often where many stars earn their EGOT — like Viola Davis, in 2023 — or where people more famous for realms outside entertainment — like Barack Obama and Michelle Obama — pick up a Grammy. (The Obamas have two Grammys each.)

Cheat sheet: The top nominees

Kendrick Lamar leads the pack with nine nominations including nods in record, song and album of the year for “GNX.” It’s the third time he’s netted simultaneous nominations in the night’s biggest categories.

Trailing close behind are Lady Gaga and her “Mayhem,” Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut with seven nominations each.

Leon Thomas, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny and audio engineer Serban Ghenea follow with six.

What to expect from AP’s live show

Our Grammys red carpet live show, hosted by Leslie Ambriz, Gary Gerard Hamilton and Liam McEwan, is one of AP’s biggest productions in the entertainment realm, with a team of three hosts, several camera operators and more than a dozen supporting technicians, producers, editors and directors.

We’ll be switching between four cameras on our platform interview space; Recording Academy pool feeds showing attendees stepping out of their limousines and posing for fashion photographers; and a studio back in New York where we’ll get fashion analysis live from Morgan Evans.

This year, we’re also joined on the red carpet by fashion designer and YouTuber Kiana Bonollo, who will also provide fashion analysis.

Best album cover is a standalone category for the first time in 50 years

The nominees for the return of the best album cover category are Wet Leg’s “Moisturizer,” Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia,” Perfume Genius’ “Glory” and Djo’s “The Crux.” The award goes to the project’s art directors, which includes recording artists in all cases except for “Glory.”

In recent years, covers had been assessed as part of the best recording package category, which considers all physical materials and images. The package for Charli xcx’s “Brat,” with its pop culture-infiltrating green, won last year. That category lives on this year too, with a different crop of nominees.

For the creative teams, the standalone cover award amplifies what goes into building the visual worlds of music. “When a cover in a campaign hits right,” photographer Neil Krug, nominated for “The Crux,” told the AP, “it’s part of the language and the fabric of what makes a great record a great record.”

Read more about the best album cover category, and this year’s nominees.

Where to watch the Grammys

The main awards ceremony is set to start at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific.

You can watch the awards ceremony live on CBS and stream it on Paramount+. Subscribers with the SHOWTIME add-on can stream the ceremony live, and Essential subscribers can watch it on demand the following day.

But the Premiere Ceremony, where most of the 95 awards are presented, will begin at 3:30 p.m. Eastern/12:30 p.m. Pacific.

The Premiere Ceremony, and other content like the red carpet and interviews, will be available at live.grammy.com.

The Associated Press

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