Snubs & Surprises at the 2026 Grammy Awards

Carpenter went 0-6 on the night, a disappointment after she went 2-4 last year, winning best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance. On the plus side, Carpenter was the only artist to perform on both the 2025 and 2026 telecasts, with elaborate productions both times. Last year, she delivered a medley of “Please Please Please” and “Espresso.” This year, she offered an airport-set performance of “Manchild.”

Young’s “Messy” won best pop solo performance, beating Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” which was nominated for both record and song of the year, and Chappell Roan’s “The Subway,” which was nominated for record of the year, among others. “Messy” was not nominated in either of those marquee categories. If it had been, it might have been a contender.

The siblings became the first three-time winners of song of the year in Grammy history. They won this year for “Wildflower,” having previously won for “Bad Guy” and “What Was I Made For?” The song was a big hit, but wasn’t nearly as big as several of the other nominees in the category, including three songs that topped the Hot 100 (“Golden,” “Luther” and “Manchild.”) Also, it was the fourth single from Eilish’s latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, following “Lunch,” “Birds of a Feather” and “Chihiro.” It’s unusual for a song released this deep into an album’s run to make this strong an impression.

Erivo and Grande won best pop duo/group performance for “Defying Gravity,” beating four songs that were much bigger radio hits. It was also a surprise because there has been some backlash to the sequel, Wicked: For Good. It was still a ginormous hit, but not as big as the first Wicked. And there was that cutting (but pretty funny) jab that host Nikki Glaser made on the Golden Globes, calling the film Wicked: For Money. But backlash or no, Erivo and Grande are both superb singers, and this is a category that focuses on vocal performance. Grande won in the category five years ago for “Rain on Me,” a collab with Lady Gaga.

The Cure won its first Grammys in a 50-year career — best alternative music album for Songs of a Lost World and best alternative music performance for “Alone.” The Cure’s only previous Grammy nods were for Wish and Bloodflowers, both of which were nominated for best alternative music album.

Jelly’s Beautifully Broken won best contemporary country album. The project entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 in late 2024 and was nominated for album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in early 2025. But it was subsequently passed over for a nod in that category at the Country Music Association Awards, which seemed to dim its Grammy prospects.

Jelly Roll won two other awards on the night: best country duo/group performance for “Amen” with Shaboozey, and best contemporary Christian music performance/song for “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Brandon Lake.

Church’s Evangeline Vs. the Machine lost its bid to win best contemporary country album. Church’s career Grammy track record now stands at 0-11. Church has won album of the year twice at the CMA Awards and once at the ACM Awards. Billboard ranked his album No. 1 on its list of the 10 best country albums of 2025.

Criss and Noah both did a great job hosting the Grammy Premiere Ceremony and the live telecast, respectively, but that didn’t translate into a Grammy win for either artist. Criss was nominated for best musical theater album for Maybe Happy Ending (for which he won a Tony in June), but lost to Buena Vista Social Club. Noah was nominated for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for Into the Uncut Grass, but lost to The Dalai Lama’s Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness The Dalai Lama.