Calypso Rose Receives Standing Ovation at 2026 Caribbean Music Awards: 6 Best Moments

Yung Bredda’s “Greatest Bend Over” was easily the biggest song on Full Blown’s incredibly successful “Big Links” riddim last year, so it was a shame that he was unable to join the brother duo (and Machel Montano and Ayetian) for their crowd-rocking “Big Links” medley at last year’s ceremony.

When Majah Hype announced “Greatest Bend Over” as this year’s winner of soca song of the year, Bredda accepted the award in person alongside Full Blown — and in his home country, for that matter. Not only is the song still fresh, but this full-circle moment also made the whole riddim even sweeter.

“First things first, I want to say ‘Thank you’ to the Most High God; you know I always put God first in everything,” he began his acceptance speech. “Thank you for such a wonderful team that I have behind me… we coming from since COVID time ’til now, and [we have] an even further journey to go. I want to thank each and every person out there that’s been supporting what we’re doing and all my music.”

“Shake It to the Max” may have ultimately been deemed ineligible to compete for the 2026 Grammys, but MOLIY still got her awards moment for her career-skyrocketing dancehall crossover smash.

Alongside collaborators Shenseea, Skillibeng, Silent Addy and Disco Neil, MOLIY beat out an incredibly stacked lineup that included Skippa (“WYFL”), Armanii (“BBB – Snapchat”), Jada Kingdom (“G.A.D.”), Vybz Kartel (“God Is the Greatest”), Valiant (“Passenger Princess”), Masicka (“Rich Sex”) and Ayetian & Govana (“Wah Yo Deh Pan”). MOLIY also won dancehall collaboration of the year for “Shake It to the Max.”

Once Yung Bredda announced “Shake It to the Max” as the winner, MOLIY hit her signature waist-whining, hands-covering-face dance move before making her way to the stage. “When I wrote this song, I had no idea the doors it would open for me,” she said, her face beaming with pride and excitement. “I had no idea I would be welcomed into this amazing community. And I feel like I belong here! I feel like I might stay a while; I feel like y’all should get used to having me around!”

Last year, Bajan soca superstar Alison Hinds made an appearance and gave a sweet shoutout to fellow Bajan musician Rihanna to celebrate 20 years of her classic debut single, “Pon De Replay.” This year, Hinds honored another fellow powerhouse woman when she presented Patra with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Patra, a Jamaican reggae star who frequently charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the mid-’90s and recently starred in the buzzy British television series Get Millie Back, joins previous Lifetime Achievement honorees, including Marcia Griffiths, Machel Montano and Bounty Killer. Fittingly, Patra also closed out the ceremony with a career-spanning medley of hits.

“I’ve gone through a lot, but I’m happy now,” Patra said during her tearful acceptance speech. “And, to my fans, you guys have been holding me down for years… I highly recommend to you ladies: Please love yourselves. And take care of yourself. Don’t be afraid to be alone and reassess stuff. Love who you are, okay? And stop going around talking about aging and being ungrateful. Be thankful!”

Jah Mason’s “My Princess Gone” is arguably one of the most beloved reggae ballads of the 21st century, and Mason proved as much when he took the stage to perform the classic at the 2026 Caribbean Music Awards.

Taking the stage shortly after 450’s dancehall-driven set, Mason immediately spiked the crowd’s energy with the opening notes of “Princess,” and by the time the first chorus hit, the audience practically sang the song for him. Inside the NAPA, it was particularly difficult to loosen up the Caribbean Music Awards crowd, but Mason did so with little effort at all.

From Spicemas to jab jab, Grenada has significantly upped its profile on the international stage this year. At the 2026 Caribbean Music Awards, three of the island nation’s most resonant voices — V’ghn, Lil Kerry and Muddy — mounted a high-energy medley of their three jab-hailing soca hits.

V’ghn, who eventually won jab artist of the year and jab song of the year, kicked things off with a spirited rendition of his Terra D Governor-assisted “Jab Decisions.” That segment quickly gave way to Muddy’s “Payroll,” which snagged a coveted spot on Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Songs of 2025 list last year. As dancers filled the stage with the raw energy of the road, Lil Kerry closed out the medley with “Mayhem,” the anthem that earned him his second consecutive Grenada Road March title after winning with “Bury All” in 2025. Now, this is how you put on for your island and seize your moment in the spotlight.

Calypso Rose easily had the best moment of the night — and it happened fairly early in the ceremony.

Trinidadian soca artist Terri Lyons elegantly presented Calypso Rose with the Elite Calypso Honor in commemoration of her historic, boundary-obliterating career. Widely regarded as the “Mother of Calypso,” Rose was the first bonafide female calypso star in the Caribbean, and her incredible success and impactful lyricism even spurred the renaming of the Calypso King competition to Calypso Monarch instead. In 2019, Rose made her Coachella debut at 78 years old, marking the first time a calypso artist played a full set at the iconic festival and cementing her as the two-weekend extravaganza’s oldest performer to date.

After a video package ran through Rose’s decades-long career, Lyons led the packed audience in a singalong of “Calypso Queen,” featuring animated ad-libs from the Queen of Calypso herself. It was truly heartwarming to watch multiple generations of artists and fans come together to honor a true pioneer while she’s still with us.