The 68th annual Grammy Awards return to Los Angeles on Sunday night, promising one of the most competitive lineups in years and a broadcast designed as much for streaming audiences as for traditional TV viewers. From where to watch “music’s biggest night” around the world to the artists vying for top honors, the 2026 ceremony reflects how the Grammys are trying to balance legacy prestige with an industry being reshaped by TikTok, touring booms and blockbuster soundtracks.
When and where are the 68th Grammys?
The 68th Grammy Awards take place tonight, Sunday, February 1, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, the longtime home of the show.
The primetime telecast runs:
- 8:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. Eastern (5:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Pacific) on the CBS Television Network in the United States.
Before the main show, the Recording Academy will hold its Premiere Ceremony, where the majority of the Grammys are actually handed out, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT, streamed free on YouTube and live.GRAMMY.com.
Comedian Trevor Noah returns as host for his sixth and final year, anchoring a night that will feature performances from a cross‑section of 2026’s biggest names (lineups vary by outlet but include multiple nominees across pop, hip‑hop and country).
How to watch in the US and internationally
United States
US viewers can watch the 68th Grammys in several ways:
- Broadcast TV: Live on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. ET. Check local listings for your CBS channel.
- Paramount+:
- Paramount+ with Showtime / Premium subscribers can stream the ceremony live via their local CBS feed and watch on demand after.
- Paramount+ Essential subscribers get on‑demand access the following day, but not the live CBS simulcast.
- Live TV streaming bundles: Services that carry CBS in your market, such as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and Fubo also allow subscribers to watch the Grammys live.
India and Asia
In India, the Grammys unfold early Monday:
- Date: Monday, February 2, 2026 (India time)
- Live time: 6:30 a.m. IST onwards for the main broadcast.
- Streaming platform: JioHotstar, accessible via an OTTplay Premium plan that bundles multiple services.
Other international markets
Internationally, the Recording Academy and its partners are treating CBS and Paramount+ as the primary global hubs:
- CBS / local partners: In many regions, local broadcasters carry a delayed or live feed licensed from CBS.
- Paramount+: Available in selected countries, offering either live streams (via Premium tiers) or next‑day on‑demand access.
- In some territories, Hulu + Live TV (where available) or equivalent bundles can be used to watch the CBS broadcast.
Wherever you are, the Premiere Ceremony remains globally accessible on YouTube, making it the easiest way to see many genre and craft awards handed out in real time.
The big categories: key nominees
While the Grammys feature more than 90 categories, several headline races are set to define the night.
Record of the Year
“Record of the Year” honors overall excellence in a single track’s performance and production. A widely shared nomination list for 2026 includes:
- “DtMF” — Bad Bunny
- “Manchild” — Sabrina Carpenter
- “Anxiety” — Doechii
- “Wildflower” — Billie Eilish
- “Abracadabra” — Lady Gaga
- “Luther” — Kendrick Lamar with SZA
- “The Subway” — Chappell Roan
- “APT.” — Rosé, Bruno Mars
The field pits established Grammy heavyweights like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar against rising forces such as Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii and Chappell Roan, underlining how streaming‑era breakout hits now share top billing with legacy acts.
Album of the Year
“Album of the Year” celebrates a full‑length body of work and often acts as a referendum on where the industry thinks the year’s centre of gravity lay. This year’s full slate spans Latin pop, hip‑hop, alt‑pop and more; nominations published by outlets such as indy100 and Parade highlight projects from:
- Lady Gaga – Mayhem
- Kendrick Lamar – GNX
- Tyler, the Creator – Chromakopia
- Leon Thomas – Mutt
…and other critically lauded sets representing both commercial clout and artistic experimentation.
Best New Artist
The “Best New Artist” category remains a bellwether for who might dominate playlists and festival bills in the next few years. For 2026, the nominees include:
- Olivia Dean
- Katseye
- The Marías
- Addison Rae
- sombr
- Leon Thomas
- Alex Warren
The mix reflects how the Grammys are trying to capture both streaming‑native creators (including social media crossovers like Addison Rae and Alex Warren) and more traditional band and singer‑songwriter breakouts like The Marías and Olivia Dean.
Beyond the marquee races
Outside the telecast’s highest‑profile segments, dozens of genres and sub‑fields will get their moment during the afternoon Premiere Ceremony.
Jazz and classical outlets have zeroed in on nominations such as:
- Best Jazz Performance, with nods for “Windows – Live” by Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade, and “Peace of Mind / Dreams Come True” by Samara Joy.
- Best Jazz Vocal Album, where projects like Elemental by Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap sit alongside newer voices.
In gospel and contemporary Christian music, songs such as “Church” by Tasha Cobbs Leonard and John Legend, and “Still (Live)” by Jonathan McReynolds & Jamal Roberts, headline their categories. Christian and inspirational tracks like “Your Way’s Better” by Forrest Frank and “Hard Fought Hallelujah” by Brandon Lake with Jelly Roll pepper the faith‑based fields.
The Grammys’ long‑running focus on music for visual media continues with Best Song Written for Visual Media, featuring pieces such as “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, written by EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick, and entries tied to films like Sinners and animated franchises.
A show tuned for a streaming era
If the nominations read like a snapshot of an industry in flux, the distribution strategy underscores how the Recording Academy and CBS are trying to future‑proof “music’s biggest night.”
Where earlier Grammys lived almost exclusively on linear television, the 68th edition is stitched across:
- A traditional network broadcast (CBS).
- A flagship US streaming partner (Paramount+), with different rights for Premium and Essential tiers.
- Regional OTT deals (JioHotstar and OTTplay in India).
- A free global stream for much of the afternoon’s awards on YouTube.
For viewers, that means more flexibility but also more fragmentation: how you watch depends on where you live, which bundle you pay for and whether you want the full red‑carpet‑to‑encore experience or just the highlights.
What remains constant is the Grammys’ core proposition: three‑plus hours of trophies and television designed to distil a year’s worth of arguments about taste, influence, and cultural impact into a single night. Whether the 68th edition will be remembered for surprise upsets, landmark performances or simply for getting the technical logistics right in a multi‑platform world will be clear soon enough starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, when the cameras go live in downtown Los Angeles.
