The Best And Worst Moments

We can’t lie to you: We didn’t recognize every single name on this year’s Grammy nominations list. (There were many, and we’re getting old!)

But when it came time for the Grammys broadcast on Sunday night, we could easily recognize the ceremony’s best and worst moments, which we’ve gathered in the list below.

It might surprise you that an awards show running over three-and-a-half hours didn’t yield more moments than the ones we’re recapping here. But as with anything important in life, it’s about quality, not quantity: The highlights were very high (like Lauryn Hill & Co.’s divine tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack), while the lows were real low. (What was up with that Cher segment?)

Our list also includes a Trevor Noah/Bad Bunny comedy bit that went on way too long, an appropriately “Messy” acceptance speech from Lola Young, and a wardrobe win that Teyana Taylor can add to her long list of recent achievements.

Keep scrolling for our takes on the 2026 Grammys ceremony, then drop a comment with your own!

It’s safe to say there weren’t too many Barbz in the audience at this year’s Grammy Awards. When host Trevor Noah mentioned during his opening monologue that Nicki Minaj was not in attendance, the announcement was met with a flood of applause, laughter, and enthusiastic “woo”s from the crowd.

Noah assured the audience that Minaj is “still at the White House with Donald Trump discussing very important issues,” before slipping into a surprisingly spot-on (and profoundly unsettling) impersonation of Trump: “Actually, Nicki, I have the biggest a**. Everybody’s saying it, Nicki. I know they say it to you, but it’s big. WAP, WAP, WAP. Look at it.”

This Grammy-wide Minaj roast comes just days after the rapper called herself Trump’s “number one fan,” following her controversial appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference. — Andy Swift

Last year, the Grammys’ decision to showcase all of the Best New Artist nominees with a medley of their performances went on to be one of the broadcast’s highlights, giving us everything from Benson Boone’s flips to Doechii’s magnetic choreography. This year’s medley was, well… different! Though there were some highlights, like KATSEYE’s high-energy showing and a sublime turn from eventual category winner Olivia Dean (pictured above), the segment got bogged down in moments like Addison Rae’s clunky offstage performance and Alex Warren’s technical issues that briefly left him singing way behind the tempo of his song. If nothing else, this part of the show was just long, with eight nominees suddenly feeling like way too many. (Grade the medley here.) — Rebecca Luther

With the unspeakable chaos still unfolding in Minneapolis, stars like Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish wasted no time in addressing the elephant in the room when accepting their Grammys.

“Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say, ‘ICE out,'” Bad Bunny said, acknowledging the aggressive tactics of President Trump’s immigration enforcement agency and earning a standing ovation from the crowd. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens,” the Puerto Rican chart-topper added. “We are humans, and we are Americans.”

Eilish spoke up as well, declaring that “no one is illegal on stolen land” and saying something that got bleeped out by CBS censors but looked an awful lot like “F*** ICE.” It’s a turbulent time right now politically, to be sure, but these two rose to meet the moment. — Dave Nemetz

Teyana Taylor might have lost her Grammy category this year (Best R&B Album), but as far as we’re concerned, she became a winner the moment she stepped on stage alongside Nikki Glaser to present the award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Not only was her jaw-dropping look met with raucous applause from the audience — including a speechless stare from SZA — but the best was yet to come.

When it came time to read the teleprompter, Taylor pulled out a pair of glasses, eliciting a shocked (and thirsty) response from Glaser. “How do you look even hotter with glasses on?” she asked Taylor in disbelief. “Your eyes really are up there. Sometimes I forget.”

The love fest continued with a recap of Taylor’s recent accomplishments, including her Golden Globe win, her Oscar nomination, and her turn as “Saturday Night Live” host. Like we said, a winner! — A.S.

We’ll always take a candidly off-the-cuff acceptance speech over a buttoned-up one, and Lola Young gave us one such moment after her song “Messy” won the Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance. After bounding on stage in shock at her win, Young let us know that she had no speech planned, then said in one breathless burst, “Mom, I love you, I love everybody, everybody, everyone here!” She also dropped an F-bomb while expressing her gratitude — and we assume whoever had their finger on the [bleep] button got a stern talking-to backstage, as they failed to censor Young’s expletive at the right time. — R.L.

As stirring as Bad Bunny’s “ICE Out” acceptance speech was, his comedy bits with host Trevor Noah fell flat. It was fine the first time that Noah pressed Bad Bunny to sing… even though he was contractually forbidden from doing so because he’s performing at the Super Bowl.

But then Noah and Bad Bunny went back to the same well later for a second segment, which dragged on for what felt like ages. Even the payoff, when Bad Bunny finally sang briefly with a backup brass band, wasn’t worth it. In the time that all that took, we could’ve watched someone else actually sing, you know. — D.N.

It’s not often that In Memoriam segments are the main highlight of an awards show, but the Grammys’ various tributes on Sunday to beloved late performers — including an homage to Ozzy Osbourne — might just have been the best parts of the broadcast. Case in point: an appearance from music icon (but infrequent live performer) Lauryn Hill, who honored D’Angelo and Roberta Flack not just herself, but with assists from a stunning lineup of R&B and soul legends. It was already delightful to see Hill back on stage, but to watch her and Wyclef Jean (!) lead the Grammys crowd in a performance of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” — in the year 2026, no less! — was practically surreal. — R.L.

By the time the third hour of the Grammys rolled around, our eyelids were getting pretty heavy, which made it the perfect time for CBS to tease a new trailer for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” (which you can watch in full online). The first notes of Madonna’s “Vogue” instantly perked us up like an IV of black coffee, and the sight of Meryl Streep in that iconic Miranda Priestley wig made us nostalgic for 2006 in a way we definitely didn’t think we would have been if you asked us back in 2006.

The running gag about Miranda not remembering Andy and Emily? Brilliant. Emily taking a cheap shot at Andy’s eyebrows? Comfort food. We had our doubts about this movie, as we do with all sequels, but we’re relieved to say that the runway is suddenly looking much brighter.

(Yes, we know this was barely about the Grammys, but like we said, it came in the third hour. We needed the break!) — A.S.

Lifetime achievement awards are usually pretty big deals at televised events, complete with career retrospectives and a performance of the artist’s greatest hits. So can someone explain to us why neither of those were present for Cher’s moment in the spotlight at the Grammys?

Yes, the audience gave the legend an appropriately lively reaction when she took the stage, but Cher had already started speaking when host Trevor Noah suddenly rushed into frame, Grammy Award in hand. “Cher, before you carry on, forgive me for cutting you off,” he said. “I will let you finish.” He then announced Cher as the recipient of the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award. Her speech turned out fine, but where was the fanfare? Where was the excitement? Why was this treated like some sort of surprise?

Never mind that Cher tried to leave the stage before announcing the nominees for Record of the Year. Honestly, the fact that she also presented an award made her Lifetime Achievement moment feel even more like an afterthought. (She doesn’t even like talking on stage!) — A.S.

How did you enjoy the 2026 Grammy Awards? Grade Sunday’s broadcast in our poll below, then hit the comments with all of your reactions.