Grammy Awards 2026: The Dalai Lama, K-pop win first Grammys, Steven Spielberg achieves EGOT status

The 68th annual Grammy Awards are taking place Sunday and spirits were high from the jump after a few back-to-back, history making moments.

The Dalai Lama won his first Grammy for Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording for his album Meditation: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, beating out Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Grammys host Trevor Noah, to claim the Grammy.




"I am not the Dalai Lama," Rufus Wainwright joked in an acceptance speech. "It was a privilege to participate on this project."

K-Pop scores first Grammy Win

"Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" won song written for visual media at the Premiere Ceremony, marking the first time a K-pop act has won a Grammy. Songwriters delivered their acceptance speech in both English and Korean, highlighting the song's bilingual appeal.

Steven Spielberg wins EGOT

Music film went to "Music for John Williams," which means director Steven Spielberg has officially won his first Grammy. That makes him an EGOT winner - an artist with an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande win for 'Wicked'

The Premiere Ceremony, a pre-telecast show held at the adjacent Peacock Theater, began with musician and host Darren Criss setting the scene - giving out the first award of the day, for best pop/duo group performance to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for "Defying Gravity." They were not present to accept the award.

Grammy Premiere Ceremony

An impressive 86 Grammys will be handed out pre-broadcast.

Yungblud won his first Grammy for rock performance for his cover of Black Sabbath's "Changes (live from Villa Park)," which he performed at Ozzy Osbourne's final show. Hardcore band Turnstile also won their first Grammy for rock album and later, metal performance.

"To Baltimore, thank you, we love you," said frontman Brendan Yates.

The Cure won alternative music performance but were unable to attend as they were attending the funeral of Perry Archangelo Bamonte, the Cure's longtime guitarist and keyboardist, who died last month.

FKA twigs won her first Grammy for best dance/electronic album for "EUSEXUA," becoming only the second Black woman to win in the category. "I didn't expect to come up here. I was just so happy to be nominated," she said in her speech. "Thank you so much - wow."

"All the Latino kids in the hood watching, anything is possible," said rapper Lefty Gunplay, who also won his first Grammy for rap performance for his role on Kendrick Lamar's "TV Off."

Earlier on, Edgar Barrera handed out some of the Latin music categories: Natalia Lafourcade won best Latin pop album for "Cancionera"; best Latin Rock or Alternative album to CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso for "Papota." It is their first win on their first nomination. In their speech, in Spanish, they thanked their home country of Argentina and all of Latin America. Musica Mexicana album (including Tejano) went to Carin Leon for "Palabra De To's (Seca)." It is his second win on his second nomination.

See More: Grammy Awards 2026 Live Updates: Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish win top honoursGet the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”