A Cultural Review of the 68th Grammys Ceremony
Trinity Larsen | Feb. 17, 2026
Grammy Award Statues at the 16th Latin GRAMMY Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, NV. (Vecteezy/Kathy Hutchins)
The 68th Grammys aired live on Feb. 2 and it was a big night for artists who have mastered their vocals and artists who are just starting their singing career. Held in the Crypto.com arena, the ceremony marked the sixth time Trevor Noah has hosted. The Grammys this year was a big deal for Bad Bunny who represented the country at a time of distress by winning the biggest award, and artists like Addison Ray who performed for the first time on the Grammys stage. But how did the Grammys first get its start?
The Grammys was first established in 1957 , after other famous award shows like the Oscars and the Emmys in order to honor those in the field of music. The name “Grammy” comes from the music listening device, the Gramophone, invented by Thomas Edison. The first Grammy awards happened on May 4, 1959 in the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The decade's biggest music stars who appeared at the first Grammys were Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Perry Como.
To kick off this year’s Grammys, Trevor Noah opened with a perhaps-politically controversial monologue with several jabs directed toward the president. The host made pointed jokes about Niki Minaj's meeting with repeated jabs at Donald Trump for his obsession with Greenland and Epstein's Island, to which Trump replied in a social post that Noah is lying and his lawyers will come for him. However, during the show Noah claimed he didn’t care about his jokes going too far, with it being his final year hosting.
This year, Bad Bunny won album of the year for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos”. He went up against Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, Leon Thomas and Tyler, the Creator for the honor. Historically, album of the year has been the biggest award of the Grammys. It was huge for the award to go to the Grammys first ever Spanish language winner. It was clear that Bad Bunny’s album resonated with millions of The Academy voters, but why?
“He's able to bring that feeling of nostalgia that only really your home and where you're from can provide,” Katie Little, a Warren Wilson College (WWC) senior and lover of pop music, said.
Song of the year went to Billish Ellish and Finneas O’Connell for “Wildflower”. They were in a category among songs “Abracadabra”, “Anxiety”, “APT.”, “DtMF”, “Golden”, “Luther” and “Manchild”.
When asked what award she was disappointed by, Little said it was Billie Ellish’s win of the night.
“I think there's definitely people that the academy favors, and Billie Eilish is one of them,” Little said. “I'm still waiting for freaking Lana Del Rey to win…she's had such an impact on this decade of pop culture.”
Along with Kendrick Lamar and SZA winning Record of the Year for “Luther”, and Olivia Dean Best New Artist, there were performances by nominees from each of the categories as well. One performance that stood out to Little was Addison Rae, who was nominated for Best New Artist.
“This is my hot take,” Little said. “I love Addison Ray…you can just tell she has so much potential, and she loves what she's doing, but she needs a little bit more training on the vocal and the breath control side and she clearly has a vision.”
But amongst the new artists at the Grammys, Bad Bunny captured the audience's attention and represented a lot of viewer opinions back home. Lura Torres, a sophomore and proud Puerto Rican, commented on what it meant for Bad Bunny to win a Grammy.
“It gets us the representation and media awareness by the rest of the world that is so necessary for a place that's literally a modern day colony,” Torres said.
Bad Bunny will be sure to attract new fans from the night’s big wins and his calm and cool demeanor. How can new fans groove into Latino music?
“Learn Spanish, look up the lyrics…even if you're not understanding it, you could still dance to it,” Torres said. “You can still feel that beat, and then when you learn the words, there's a stronger connection.”
All in all, the 2026 Grammys were a showcase of artists who have perfected their craft and those who are quickly rising to the top. To say music is not subjective would be a lie, but it is also what brings us together in a country that feels like it's been torn.
“Pop culture feeds off of the public's opinions,” Little said. “It's important for people to have opinions on it. You wouldn't have pop culture without what makes it popular, which is other people.”