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The 68th Grammys red carpet is in full swing with music’s biggest stars delivering fresh new takes on red carpet style from Addison Rae, Sabrina Carpenter, and FKA twigs.
The Grammys are a night of rule-breaking looks and memorable fashion statements where artists shed the traditional playbook of red carpet dressing and take style risks.
Stars respectfully toned down their attire last year, choosing instead to go with more subdued or all-black looks in light of the destruction left by the Los Angeles wildfires.
This year, some stars embodied their on-stage music personas on the carpet and played around with new looks, while others stuck with more traditional evening wear looks.
Tyla may have a song titled “Chanel,” but she went with Dsquared² for the red carpet. The South African singer wore a low-cut cream look that featured a long-feathered train and gold beaded detailing. She styled the look with a loose updo and braids.
Stars take playful approach
Red carpet attendees took playful approaches to their looks on Sunday.
The British rising stars, Lola Young and PinkPantheress, who are shaking up the music industry with their individual sounds, both opted for vastly different Vivienne Westwood lookson Sunday. Best new artist nominee Young, who is back after taking a brief hiatus last year, sported an army green sweatsuit printed with children’s toys on the carpet. PinkPantheress opted for a signature corseted off-the-shoulder gown draped with the Union Jack symbol.
Zara Larsson glowed on the carpet in her sunny yellow bra top and maxi skirt sequined set. The “Midnight Sun” singer made reference to the song with her radiant look. In keeping with her theme, the Swedish singer wore a circular ray around her skirt while performing at the Grammy’s Premiere Ceremony before removing the rays for her walk down the carpet.
FKA twigs brought her album “Eusexua” to life on the carpet, wearing a beige sheer, flowy Paolo Carzana dress, which she paired with a book and an orchid. The artist told Variety that the book is part of the lore of her “Eusexua” album, for which she won best dance/electronic album early in the night.
At the Grammys, the carpet is a chance for up-and-coming artists to shine among industry legends and their peers.
Coordinating on the carpet
British girl group Flo, a first-time nominee, paid homage to Destiny’s Child with their matching sets. Jorja Douglas, Stella Quaresma, and Renée Downer each wore coordinated beaded black and royal blue ensembles. Destiny’s Child famously wore matching green lace cut-out looks at the 2001 Grammys where the group won two awards for “Say My Name.”
Flo brought back that synergy with their unified aesthetic.
“We actually have a sixth sense and a lot of things we just agree on,” Quaresma told The Associated Press.
Former Destiny's Child member Michelle Williams arrived on the carpet in a black sheer gown embellished with gold leaves and a black satin train from Jean-Louis Sabaji.
Love bugs Yungblud and Jesse Jo Stark took a risqué approach to their coordinated attire. Yungblud showed off his bare chest under a leather Chrome Hearts jacket with a detachable animal print collar. Stark wore a leather halter dress. Yungblud won his first Grammy for best rock performance for “Changes,” alongside Nuno Bettencourt and Frank Bello.
Some stars accidentally took coordinating too far by wearing the same looks. Two stars had a fashion face-off at the start of the night, with singer Ledisi and TV host Jasmine Simpkins both flaunting the same off-the-shoulder pink peach dress with sparkly tinsel.
Rising stars take center stage
This year, a fashionable bunch of artists make up the hotly contested best new artist category. Rising star Rae aptly has a song titled “High Fashion.” The newcomer wore a structured white custom Alaia dress with a neckline that plunged down to her navel.
Rae appeared in the “12 to 12″ music video for another nominee in the category, Sombr. Sombr sparkled on the carpet in a shimmering silver Valentino suit paired with a lace undershirt.
Carpenter also paid tribute to the designer who died in January. Carpenter once again brought Old Hollywood glamour to the carpet with her chic custom Valentino white shimmering gown fitted with a sheer bolo jacket.
Unlike the tuxedos at other award shows, male Grammy nominees often shake things up. Singer-songwriter Darren Criss was one of the first to arrive shortly after the carpet opened. Criss, who is hosting the Grammys premiere ceremony, donned a shimmering lace suit from Tanner Fletcher with an off-white silk cravat shaped into a bow. He paired it with his signature painted nails.
Chappell Roan, who won best new artist last year, donned a yellow tulle archival Jean Paul Gaultier couture gown printed with Degas’ famous ballerinas on the carpet. She later wore several other looks throughout the ceremony.
Some at the Grammys sought to draw attention to protests over the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in cities. Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Kehlani, and Rhiannon Giddens were among the artists wearing protest apparel on the Grammys red carpet.
How to watch
The Associated Press is streaming a four-hour red carpet show with interviews and fashion footage. It will be streamed on YouTube and APNews.com.
The main show will air live from LA’s Crypto.com Arena on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Sunday. Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the telecast live, too. (Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.)
The Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and FuboTV.
Entertainment’s awards season has coincided with the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign in Minneapolis, forcing artists to decide whether and how to join the growing cultural revolt against immigration crackdowns.
Pushback from music’s biggest stars was visible Sunday from the Grammys red carpet and throughout the telecast. Activists spent the week pressing celebrities to don pins protesting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in cities, working with their teams to spread the message and circulating them at the many events leading up to the ceremony.
Billie Eilish, Finneas, and Carole King wore pins while appearing onstage. Even Justin and Hailey Bieber, who don’t normally address American politics, had them. Eilish began her song of the year speech by professing that “no one is illegal on stolen land.” British soul pop singer Olivia Dean, recognized as best new artist, shared that she is the granddaughter of an immigrant, people who she said “deserve to be celebrated.” Expletives flew as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement got cursed multiple times by winners,s including Kehlani.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE out,” Bad Bunny said to great applause while accepting the award for best música urbana album. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.”
The frequent pushback and buttons’ prevalence marked a much stronger showing of support than organizers saw at last month’s Golden Globes. Public backlash has grown since a Border Patrol officer shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti and federal agents detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. The recent arrest of journalist Don Lemon, who attended Sunday’s ceremony, only added to the outcry.
Plus, as one organizer noted, the Grammys tend to draw a less risk-averse crowd than Hollywood’s shows.
“These are folks who are known for six-stage shows, crazy costumes, being kind of rebellious, punk rock — like that’s the music industry. And so, I think it makes sense that we would see good support,” Maremoto Executive Director Jess Morales Rocketto said ahead of the show. “These pins are about so much more than a red carpet moment. It’s about people taking a stand and doing what they can to show up to say that ICE should be out of our communities.”
Protest pins on the red carpet
Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Kehlani, and Rhiannon Giddens were among the other artists wearing protest apparel on the Grammys red carpet.
Justin Vernon, whose band Bon Iver is up for best alternative music album, said he wore a whistle to honor the legal observers who are documenting federal agents’ actions on the streets.
“I think there’s a reason that music exists and it’s to heal and to bring people together,” he told The Associated Press. “But the real work is those observers on the ground in Minneapolis. We just want to shout them out.”
Earlier in the week, Mexican American singer Becky G had an explicit message for ICE on the nails she wore to the MusiCares Person of the Year gala. And at the Sundance Film Festival, several celebrities wore pins saying “ICE OUT” during their red carpet appearances, including Natalie Portman, Olivia Wilde and Zoey Deutch, who also wore a “BE GOOD” pin, referencing Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE officer last month.
Wilde told the AP that she was “horrified by this string of murders that we are somehow legitimizing and normalizing.”
“It’s really difficult to be here and to be celebrating something so joyous and beautiful and positive when we know what’s happening on the streets,” she added. “Americans are out on the streets marching and demanding justice, and we’re there with them. And if we can do anything with our platforms, you know, we can speak out and demand that ICE get out.”
Portman got emotional when asked about her “ICE OUT” pin at the premiere of her new film, “The Gallerist.”
“I’m so lucky to be here in a joyful, creative community celebrating a movie we’re really proud of. But it’s impossible to ignore what ICE is doing to our country. And I’m very inspired, though, by all of the amazing, amazing Americans who are coming out and supporting each other and being there in communities. It’s beautiful,” the actor said as she teared up.
Reasons celebrities may not speak out
As far as the Grammys go, Morales Rocketto, the community organizer who founded the Latino advocacy group Maremoto, said it’s “kind of a crapshoot” as to which entertainers actually wear the pins.
She described a range of industry forces working against artists’ political expression. Objections could come from record companies, managers, or corporate partners.
“Maybe the design house that did their fashion deal for the red carpet didn’t want them to literally poke holes in the dress,” she said. “There’s like a million reasons for people not to do it.”
Artists might also face personal dangers themselves. Morales Rocketto pointed to the Trump administration’s threats to place ICE agents at the upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance by Bad Bunny, “one of the most invincible” entertainers in her view.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some Latino artists wearing them,” she said of the pins. “But the reality is that just because Latino artists are rich and famous, it doesn’t mean that they are exempt from the lack of safety that permeates so many Latinos and Latino families. They themselves may be undocumented or only have a green card or have mixed-status families.”
Leon Thomas and Olivia Dean brought soul, global girl group Katseye and Addison Rae performed electric pop, and Lola Young made a triumphant return to the stage.
Those acts, alongside The MarÃas, sombr and Alex Warren, make up the 2026 Grammys’ best new artist nominees and were the headliners of Spotify’s annual pre-Grammy party Thursday night in Los Angeles.
The event at the Lot at Formosa in West Hollywood spotlighted up-and-coming talent across genres and backgrounds. Each act ran through three to four songs, introducing themselves to an audience of new listeners and dedicated fans in seemingly equal measure.
To hasten the transitions, the stage rotated to reveal another backline, leaving the audience to guess who would emerge next.
First up was Thomas. It was sensuality and swagger from the jump as he worked through three of his hits, ending with the ubiquitous “Mutt.” Consider it an amuse-bouche of tracks from an artist, Ty Dolla $ig,n previously described to The Associated Press as the future of R&B.
“I love y’all so much,” Thomas told the crowd as he began to leave. And then, a reminder: “My name is Leon Thomas.”
When the stage turned a few minutes later, a trepidatious Lola Young was standing in front of a set of chintzy, fringe lamps like those found in a vintage living room. It gave her four-song set a feeling of intimacy, which was amplified by the performance being her first since Sept. 27, when she fainted on stage at the All Things Go Festival in New York.
“I’m back and feeling better,” she told the crowd. “Thank you to everybody here.”
Her vocal delivery was fierce and full-throated, though she opted not to perform “Messy,” the single that launched her career into the mainstream.
“Take care of yourselves,” she said as she exited the stage, a simple message with layered meaning.
The rest of the performances arrived fast and furious. The MarÃas brought their Mazzy Star-indebted, bilingual dream pop. They were followed by “Ordinary” singer Alex Warren’s anthemic radio pop.
Everything became “gnarly” from there as Katseye commanded the room as if it were their own stadium. Where other acts opted for complex sets, they stripped the stage bare. Instead, their hyperactive pop and athletic choreography filled the space.
Sombr’s pop-rock pulled from a mélange of nostalgic genres for the TikTok generation.
“I couldn’t get into this party last year,” he joked from the stage.
Spotify did not host the annual event in 2025 following the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires that shaped a very different kind of Grammy Awards.
In the end, there were two: Addison Rae and Olivia Dean. Rae brought her sensual, hypnotic pop in a medley of “In the Rain,” “High Fashion,” and “Diet Pepsi.” She described the latter song as starting “so much for me.”
Dean, an old soul with a timeless voice, was a fitting closer.
The pair further confirmed what was already evident in this year’s best new artist class: an inventive vision and a diversity of sound can take you far.
Music’s biggest night was filled with highs and lows.
The 2026 Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah on Sunday, Feb. 1, started off with a bang thanks to an electric performance by Rosé and Bruno Mars — and the show only (mostly) got better from there.
Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Addison Rae, Sombr, Justin Bieber, and more also took the stage with their own show-stopping acts during the three-hour telecast.
The biggest winners of the night included Olivia Dean (Best New Artist), Kendrick Lamar (Record of the Year), and Bad Bunny (Album of the Year).
But the show also had a few low notes, such as Bieber’s near-naked performance and Noah’s awkward exchanges in the audience with Bad Bunny.
Cher also provided an iconic moment — and major flub — when she announced the winner of Record of the Year.
Here are the best and worst moments of the 2026 Grammy Awards.
BEST: Rosé and Bruno Mars
Dressed in matching black and white outfits, the duo kicked off the show performing their 2024 single “APT,” which was up for three awards: Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
“Ladies and gentleman, big bad Rosie,” Mars, 40, screamed out to the crowd as Rosé, 28, belted out the hit song. The audience, filled with some of the biggest stars in music, got on their feet just minutes into the show thanks to Rosé and Mars.
WORST: Alex Warren’s sound malfunction
Alex Warren’s performance during the Best New Artist medley went awry due to a sound malfunction.
While singing “Ordinary,” the 25-year-old struggled to stay on tempo as some of his lyrics were buried by the instruments. He also appeared to have an in-ear monitor which may have been the source of the technical difficulties.
Regardless, Warren kept his composure and got through the full performance like a pro.
BEST: Olivia Dean wins Best New Artist
So deserved! Olivia Dean took home the coveted Best New Artist trophy against some impressive competition, including Warren, Katseye, Lola Young, and Sombr.
The 26-year-old gave a shoutout to immigrants after accepting the award onstage from last year’s winner, Chappell Roan.
“I’m up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant,” Dean said. “I’m a product of braver,y and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.”
WORST: Justin Bieber’s performance
The sparkly boxers couldn’t save the show. Justin Bieber’s first major performance in four years was odd, to say the least, given that he wore nothing but a pair of grey boxers and matching socks as he did a stripped-down version of “Yukon.”
Then, Bieber randomly started walking off the stage as the music was still playing, only to turn back around… and then leave the stage for good.
Still, everyone in the audience — including Justin’s wife Hailey — cheered for him. It’s doubtful he got as many cheers from the viewers at home.
BEST: Sabrina Carpenter’s performance
Sabrina Carpenter is ready for takeoff. The pop star, 26, wowed the crowd early in the night, performing her hit “Manchild” while channeling a sultry pilot. She was decked out in an all-white ensemble and took the stage down a baggage claim carousel while belting out her track from her “Man’s Best Friend” album.
“Hey Grammys, how are you doing? It’s your captain, Sabrina speaking,” she said through a loudspeaker as the crowd danced along to the banger.
WORST: Trevor Noah is bothering Bad Bunny
Given it was his sixth time hosting the Grammys, you’d think Trevor Noah would know that dumb bits rarely work at award shows. But he still decided to do an ongoing segment in the audience with Bad Bunny, chatting up the Latin superstar about all different topics.
The exchanges were more awkward than anything, especially when the comedian tried to sing Bad Bunny’s lyrics in English. Stop wasting our time, Trevor.
BEST: Ozzy Osbourne tribute
The late Ozzy Osbourne got his due at the Grammys in an emotional tribute led by Post Malone, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith, and producer Andrew Watt.
The group performed Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” as a black-and-white photo of Ozzy appeared in the background. The iconic musician died at age 76 in July 2025.
During the performance, Ozzy’s wife Sharon and daughter Kelly were seen crying in the audience. His son Jack and rarely-seen daughter Aimee were in the crowd as well.
BEST: Cher’s big flub
When Cher returned to the stage, she mistakenly announced that the winner was Luther Vandross — instead of Kendrick Lamar.
The award went to Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s song “Luther,” named after the late R&B/soul singer singer who died of a stroke at age 54 in July 2005.
Lamar, SZA, and the producers on the song all went on stage to accept the award, and Lamar mentioned Vandross as Cher just awkwardly stood there with the group. “I love live television,” Noah quipped after the debacle.
oh katseye the once in a generation talents you are #GRAMMY pic.twitter.com/NSdkt5T0VG
— ericeffiorg (@ericeffiorg) February 2, 2026
Bad Bunny's full message to ICE and all republicans during his Grammys speech is SO important:
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) February 2, 2026
"We're not savage. We're not animals. We're not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans. Also, I want to say to the people...I know it's tough not to hate on these days, and I was… pic.twitter.com/ApkGwSppJi