Grammys 2026: Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, and In Memoriam are highlights
From a show-opening performance by Rosé and Bruno Mars to the best new artist nominees and the all-star ensembles performing during the In Memoriam section, the Grammy Awards delivered as always on the live performance front.
Yes, the Grammys are an awards show, but the vast majority of the 90-plus Grammys are handed out in the pre-show before primetime. Instead, the last three-and-a-half hours get tons of live music from all manner of musicians.
Sabrina Carpenter followed Bruno and Rosé with an elaborate production for her Grammy-nominated song “Manchild,” which featured her dancing around a set that included a huge airport-themed backdrop.
Lady Gaga reimagined her past performances of “Abracadabra” into something stripped-down but still mesmerizing. And each of the eight best new artist nominees, from the Marias and Alex Warren to Katseye and the eventual winner Olivia Dean, got a few minutes to show why their music earned them their nominations.
Tyler, the Creator played a pair of songs with all the theatricality of one of his concert performances, too, but it was the tribute to music legends who died in 2025 that really nailed the unexpected power of the Grammy live performances.
Country singer Reba McEntire, remarkably in her first-ever live performance at the Grammys, was joined by Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson to play Reba’s song “Trailblazers” as the screens filled with the faces and names of music industry icons who died in the previous year.
A tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne followed with a band that included Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagen, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, musician-producer Andrew Watt, and singer Post Malone performing songs by Ozzy and Black Sabbath. Osbourne’s wife Sharon and children Kelly and Jack Osbourne looked on while the band rocked hard and blasts of flame illuminated the stage.
Lauryn Hill then led an all-star R&B/soul ensemble that paid tribute to the late D’Angelo and Roberta Flack by singing songs by both artists; Hill called out one performer after another – John Legend, Chaka Khan, Jon Batiste, and Leon Thomas among them – before wrapping up with a joyful version of the Fugees’ cover of Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.”
The live performances wrapped with a gospel-themed performance by Pharrell Williams, earlier in the show, the recipient of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, and the rap duo the Clipse, that ended on a stage as snow, the fake kind, sure, fell on the performers.