Kendrick Lamar and Kpop Demon Hunters Make Grammy History

Photo Credit: Kendrick Lamar during his Grammy acceptance speech for Best Rap Album for GNX / Recording Academy (YouTube)

Kendrick Lamar is now the most-awarded hip-hop artist in Grammy history, as Kpop Demon Hunters’ “Golden” becomes the first K-pop song to win a Grammy.

Music’s biggest night was one of many firsts for the Grammy Awards, as Kendrick Lamar surpassed Jay-Z as the most-awarded hip-hop artist, and Kpop Demon Hunters’ “Golden” became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy Award. It was also a night of touching tributes: members of Guns N’ Roses and the Red Hot Chili Peppers joined Post Malone in a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, while Lauryn Hill led an emotional tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack.

Kendrick Lamar made history on multiple fronts at the 2026 Grammys: he is the first male artist to win consecutively in the Record of the Year Category, the first rapper to win the category consecutively, and the first rapper to win the honor twice, after winning last year for “Not Like Us.” He also ousted Jay-Z as the most-awarded hip-hop artist in Grammy Award history.

Meanwhile, K-pop made an impressive showing this year, as Rosé of Blackpink fame became the first K-pop artist to open the ceremony. She also secured historic nominations in multiple categories, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. While Rosé didn’t win, she nonetheless made history with the most nominations for a K-pop act.

“Golden,” the hit from Netflix’s Kpop Demon Hunters, became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy Award, picking up Best Song for Visual Media, as well as a nomination for Song of the Year.

The ceremony paid respect to the artists lost in the past year, starting with a performance by Reba McEntire, who performed at the Grammys for the first time in her celebrated career. She honored lost legends with her newest single, “Trailblazer,” before the segment shifted into remembrances of Ozzy Osbourne and Roberta Flack. Duff McKagan, Alex Watt, Chad Smith, Slash, and Post Malone delivered a full performance of “War Pigs,” Osbourne’s iconic anti-war anthem with Black Sabbath.

Next came a transition to D’Angelo and Flack, in a medley of hits that began with Lauryn Hill performing her duet with D’Angelo, “Nothing Even Matters.” That was followed up with Lucky Daye, Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, and Leon Thomas, before Jon Batiste tied it all together with a performance of “Africa.”

Then, Hill joined Batiste for a transition to Flack with a charismatic performance of “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.” Batiste and Leon Bridges then sang “Compared to What,” while Lalah Hathaway and October London performed “The Closer I Get to You,” before John Legend and Chaka Khan sang, “Where Is the Love?” The tribute ended with “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” before Hill joined Wyclef Jean for Flack’s classic, “Killing Me Softly with His Song.”

Meanwhile, Bad Bunny also made history with Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which scored Album of the Year Accolades. 

With the award, Bad Bunny became the first artist to win the night’s top prize with a Spanish-language album. He also took home Best Música Urbana Album.

Beyond the historic wins for Kendrick, Bad Bunny, and KPop Demon Hunters, the 68th Grammy Awards saw Billie Eilish and Finneas claim Song of the Year for “Wildflower,” while Lady Gaga dominated the pop categories with wins for Best Pop Vocal Album (Mayhem) and Best Dance Pop Recording (“Abracadabra”).

SZA shared the Record of the Year spotlight for “Luther,” and newcomer Olivia Dean was crowned Best New Artist.

In the genre fields, Turnstile swept the Rock and Metal categories, The Cure took home Best Alternative Music Performance for “Alone,” and FKA Twigs scored Best Dance/Electronic Album for EUSEXUA. Additionally, the night featured surprising victories for The Dalai Lama in the spoken word category and Tyler, The Creator, who secured the inaugural award for Best Album Cover.

Incidentally, DMN’s Grammy crystal ball — powered by music data heavyweight Chartmetric — nailed a number of big wins.

But it turns out that even the most robust dataset couldn’t predict Justin Bieber performing in his boxers.