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Adrian Horton Photograph: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
It’s time for the tributes: Bruce Springsteen for Brian Wilson, John Mayer for Bobby Weir, and for the first time ever at the Grammys (?!), Reba McEntire (along with Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson), saluting several of those lost in the past year – including her son (and Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband) Brandon Blackstock – with her new song Trailblazer.
Man, I forgot we lost so many legends – now it’s Andrew Watt, Guns N’ Roses’s Slash and Duff McKagan, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’s Chad Smith and Post Malone paying tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, among others.
Duff McKagan, Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Post Malone and Slash Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording AcademyShareAdrian HortonPharrell Williams. Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
We’re in the final hour now, so it’s tribute time – and the fourth recipient of the Dr Dre Global Impact award goes to Pharrell, the rapper, producer, mogul, innovator, entrepreneur and, as presenter Q-Tip put it, “alien”. (And no, his song Happy did not make the montage)
Still, “it’s always awkward for me to sit through these montages … for me it’s like listening to your voicemail over a loudspeaker”, he said.
Looking much, much younger than his 52 years, the son of a teacher and handyman from Virginia Beach, Virginia shouted out Q-Tip – “there’s no one like you and I call you a teacher every day” – as well as Dr Dre himself, “one of the greatest producers of all time”.
“To everyone in this room who believes in the power of Black music, thank you so much,” he added. “I’m so blessed to call this a job. I’ve never stopped loving this job. I’ve never stopped being a student.” And sounding very much like the millennial grind set, he encouraged younger musicians to “never stop working. Stop doing anything else but working” because “if you do what you love every day, you get paid for free”.
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Updated at 03.47 GMT
Adrian Horton Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters
Two-plus hours into the show, and we almost certainly have the performance of the evening: Tyler, the Creator, suiting up for an elaborate two-track, high-budget medley of tracks from his two (!) albums this year, Chromakopia and Don’t Tap the Glass. The high-concept set includes a full plot arc, Marty Supreme-era gas station (which explodes), car crash, singular Tyler interpretive dance and a transition performed by the one and only Regina King (!!)
It’s easily the most ambitious performance of the night, far more dramatic in scope than even Gaga, and by the time a (fake) bloodied Tyler collapses at the end, the entire floor – including Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar – is on their feet in salute.
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WINNER: Billie Eilish and Finneas, Wildflower – song of the year
Adrian HortonFinneas and Billie Eilish. Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
I thought this was going Bad Bunny’s way, but Billie Eilish and Finneas stay winning Grammys – this time, for song of the year (ie, the composition of the song, not the recording) for Hit Me Hard and Soft late single release, Wildflower.
Eilish kept it brief and blunt: “As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything, but that no one is illegal on stolen land,” she said to a standing ovation. “And yeah, it’s really hard to know what to say and what to do right now. I feel very hopeful in this room, and I feel like we need to keep fighting and keep speaking up and keep protesting.”
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Updated at 03.23 GMT
WINNER: Lola Young, Messy – best pop solo performance
Adrian HortonLola Young. Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
This is a surprise! Lola Young, a best new artist nominee tonight, beats out established stars such as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter for best pop solo performance on her track Messy.
The Brit seemed, fittingly, very surprised, bounding around her table in a shocked victory lap before taking the stage. “I don’t know what I’m going to say because I don’t have any speech prepared – messy, you know what I mean?” she near shouted. (“I very much relate to this song,” said presenter Charli xcx.) There’s some swearing, some bleeps, some apologies and thank yous so quick I couldn’t make them out – an endearingly messy entry to awards.
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Updated at 03.08 GMT
Benjamin Lee
As ever, no one does it quite like Lady Gaga (bit worried about any splinters though):
ShareAdrian Horton Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters
Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that Bruno Mars is a suave performer – he’s not my style, but his Valentine’s themed performance of new single I Just Might got several stars bopping along, including Sabrina Carpenter and, according to Trevor Noah, the one and only Joni Mitchell.
“I saw you looking at Bruno Mars thinking, I just might – I saw you Joni!” Noah joked. Speaking of, Mitchell just picked up her 11th Grammy award tonight, which I am happy to know.
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Updated at 02.58 GMT
WINNER: Lady Gaga, Mayhem – best pop vocal album
Adrian HortonLady Gaga. Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters
Oh, I am not mad about this – Lady Gaga wins for her killer vocal performances on Mayhem, and appeared as excited as a newbie to do so. “I’ve been making music since I was a little girl, and every time I’m here I still feel like I need to pinch myself,” she said before thanking her partner Michael Polansky, who convinced her to go back to pop music (thank you, Michael Polansky).
She also thanked her collaborators, Andrew Watt, Cirkut and Gesaffelstein, and advised women in music: “I know sometimes when you’re in the studio with a bunch of guys, it can be hard, so I urge you to always listen to yourself, fight for your ideas, fight for your songs … I believe in discipline and hard work and craftsmanship, and that’s really what Mayhem is to me.”
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Updated at 02.53 GMT
Benjamin Lee
And here’s Bad Bunny, whose rousing speech had the most vocal response of the night:
Bad Bunny’s full message to ICE and all republicans during his Grammys speech is SO important:
“We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans. Also, I want to say to the people…I know it’s tough not to hate on these days, and I was… pic.twitter.com/ApkGwSppJi
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) February 2, 2026Share
Updated at 02.50 GMT
Adrian HortonLady Gaga performs onstage. Photograph: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
And with that, it’s Gaga time – the pop star, never one to go easy on a live performance, blazes through a jazzy, Zombieboy-ified (IYKYK) rendition of her Mayhem track Abracadabra, wearing … a shredded basket hat? It’s no Copacabana beach Abracadabra (the single best performance of 2025, if you ask me), but it’s Gaga, so it’s successfully full commitment and slightly unnerving.
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Updated at 02.46 GMT
Benjamin Lee
There’s been a fair bit of anti-ICE and pro-immigration sentiment so far tonight, from pins to red carpet interview snippets. Here’s a reminder of Olivia Dean’s powerful speech (hopefully more like this to come):
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Updated at 02.36 GMT
