Grammys live updates: Music stars bring bold fashion to the red carpet ahead of tonight’s awards

Country albums have been split in two this year, but it might be hard to tell the difference between the two sets of nominees.

A best traditional country album has been added, while the existing category has been renamed best contemporary country album.
The traditional nominees include Willie Nelson’s “Oh What A Beautiful World,” his son Lukas Nelson’s “American Romance,” Charley Crockett’s “Dollar A Day,” Margo Price’s “Hard Headed Woman” and Zach Top’s “Ain’t In It For My Health.”

The contemporary entries are Kelsea Ballerini’s “Patterns,” Tyler Childers’ “Snipe Hunter,” Eric Church’s “Evangeline vs. The Machine,” Jelly Roll’s “Beautifully Broken” and Miranda Lambert’s “Postcards from Texas.”

Some think the split was brought on by Beyoncé winning best country album last year for “Cowboy Carter.” The Recording Academy president says the changes had been in the works, though.

19 or so, telecast producers told the AP. In addition to all the best new artist nominees, performers include Bruno Mars, Rosé, Tyler, the Creator, Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Clipse and Pharrell Williams.

So far, here’s how the winners compare to predictions from the AP’s Maria Sherman and Jonathan Landrum Jr.

AWARD: Best pop/duo group performance
WINNER: “Defying Gravity,” Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
Sherman: “Golden,” HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI
Landrum: “APT.,” Rosé and Bruno Mars

AWARD: Best Latin pop album
WINNER: “Cancionera,” Natalia Lafourcade
Sherman: “Cancionera,” Natalia Lafourcade or “¿Y ahora qué?,” Alejandro Sanz
Landrum: “Tropicoqueta,” Karol G

AWARD: Best dance/electronic album
WINNER: “EUSEXUA,” FKA twigs
Sherman: “F--- U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol but UR Not! 3,” Skrillex
Landrum: “F--- U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol but UR Not! 3,” Skrillex

• Best album cover: It’s back for the first time in 53 years, honoring the art directors who create music’s evocative, wild and wonderful backdrops. This year’s nominees are Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia,” Djo’s “The Crux,” Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Perfume Genius’ “Glory” and Wet Leg’s “Moisturizer.”
• Best traditional country album: Best country album has been renamed to best contemporary country album, while the new category honors “traditional sound structures” and instruments like the acoustic guitar and banjo. While some viewed the switch as backlash from Beyoncé’s big “Cowboy Carter” wins last year, the Recording Academy said it isn’t related.

Accepting her Grammy for best R&B performance, Kehlani wore an “ICE OUT” pin and ended her speech with, “F--- ICE.” The previous award recipient, non-classical songwriter of the year Amy Allen, also wore a pin.

Celebrities — including Jason Isbell, Margo Price and Kehlani — are drawing attention to the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. Organizers have spent the week pressing stars to don black-and-white “BE GOOD” and “ICE OUT” pins in opposition to the heightened presence of federal agents in cities such as Minneapolis.

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon said he is wearing a whistle to honor legal observers, or everyday people trying to ensure agents uphold people’s rights as they carry out the immigration crackdown.

“I think there’s a reason that music exists and it’s to to heal and to bring people together,” Vernon said. “But the real work are those observers on the on the ground in Minneapolis. We just want to want to shout them out.”

The Cure won two Grammys in the alternative music categories but could not be at the ceremony because of the funeral of bandmate Perry Bamonte, who died in December at age 65, presenter Jesse Welles said.

Two stars happened to be pictured back-to-back on the red carpet with the same dress. Singer Ledisi and TV host Jasmine Simpkins both flaunted an off-the-shoulder pink peach dress with sparkly tinsel.

“The last time I saw Ozzy Osbourne, he asked me if there was anything he could do for me,” Yungblud recounted, standing next to Sharon Osbourne onstage and accepting the best rock performance award. Yungblud’s response? The music was enough. The singer is part of a tribute tonight to the late rock star.

Mariah Carey has blended pop, R&B, gospel and hip-hop into hit songs over five decades. But it was hearing a couple of cuts off her 1990s secret grunge album that had the superstar on her feet clapping.

Foo Fighters blasted through “Someone’s Ugly Daughter” with Taylor Momsen on lead vocals. They followed up with “Love is a Scam” as Carey sang along from her front table.

Carey was honored for her musical achievements and philanthropic efforts as MusiCares Person of the Year on Friday night, two days before the Grammy Awards. The award is given in the week ahead of the Grammys by MusiCares, a charity that supports musicians in need.

“She is one of one,” longtime collaborator Babyface said. “Mariah, you are every songwriter and producer’s dream. You strike a lot of gold. You are a blueprint of a great songwriter.”

▶ Read more from our dispatch from the event

Steven Spielberg has a Grammy to go with his three Oscars. He won best music film as a producer of “Music by John Williams.”

“Sinners” won a pair of Grammys days after getting a record 16 Oscar nominations. It won best compilation soundtrack for visual media and best score soundtrack for visual media.

Timothée Chalamet is a first-time Grammy nominee and his category is an odd mix of last year’s Oscar nominations and this year’s.
He’s up for best compilation soundtrack for visual media — which usually just means movie soundtracks — for his singing as Bob Dylan in 2024’s “A Complete Unknown.” His competition includes Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo from “Wicked” – the first one, not “Wicked: For Good,” which was seriously snubbed at the Oscar nominations.

The category’s filled out by the soundtrack of the most Oscar-nominated movie of all time, “Sinners,” and two other freshly minted Oscar nominees, “F1” and “KPop Demon Hunters.”

FKA Twigs brought her album “Eusexua” to life on the carpet wearing a beige sheer flowy dress which she paired with a book. Twigs won best dance/electronic album early in the night.

“I wanted to bring the book and the lore of ‘Eusexua’ and combine it with this orchid, which is a symbol of my early career,” she told Variety. “It’s celebrating who I am now and where I’ve been.”

The best remixed recording category is one of few that honors singles or tracks that aren’t necessarily new — just newly altered. These aren’t covers, re-recordings or remastered tracks: To qualify as a remix, the remixer has to substantially change the original recording. Shortening the track or adding a featured artist, for example, wouldn’t cut it. “Abracadabra,” remixed by Gesaffelstein (original: Lady Gaga) won the award, over these other nominees:

• “Don’t Forget About Us,” remixed by KAYTRANADA (original: Mariah Carey)
• “A Dreams A Dream,” remixed by Ron Trent (original: Soul II Soul)
• “Galvanize,” remixed by Chris Lake (original: The Chemical Brothers)
• “Golden,” remixed by David Guetta (original: HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)

He accepted the award in person but declined to speak.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s “Defying Gravity,” which won best pop duo/group performance. Neither was on hand to accept it, as host Darren Criss revealed after a brief interlude of the band playing “Uptown Funk.”

Premiere Ceremony host Darren Criss told nominees that with 86 awards to hand out, winners need to keep their speeches to 45 seconds. That’s the same length Oscar nominees are told to hold their speeches to. No substitutions allowed, either.

There are 95 awards at this year’s Grammys, including two new ones: best album cover and best traditional country album.

All those awards can’t fit into a three-hour telecast, so most of them — 86, to be precise — are presented at the Premiere Ceremony.

But the major awards — including album of the year, record of the year, song of the year and best new artist — are presented during the main awards ceremony.

The pre-telecast awards ceremony, where the majority of the Grammys are handed out, opens with a performance of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star” performed by Israel Houghton, Lila Ike, Grace Potter, Maggie Rose and Trombone Shorty.

The ceremony is being hosted by Darren Criss. Presenters — who announce batches of awards — include Édgar Barrera, Jesse Welles, Jimmy Jam, Sierra Hull, Trombone Shorty, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Dave Koz. Performers include Zara Larsson, Spiritbox, Tasha Combs Leonard and Criss and “Maybe Happy Ending” co-star Helen J. Shen.

The Grammys have nearly 100 awards to hand out. There’s simply not enough time to fit all of that, plus performances and acceptance speeches, into a three-hour, prime-time telecast. That’s where the Premiere Ceremony comes in.

The Premiere Ceremony runs for three hours, starting at 12:30 p.m. Pacific/3:30 p.m. Eastern. It’s where categories like best audiobook narration are handed out and it’s often where many stars earn their EGOT — like Viola Davis, in 2023 — or where people more famous for realms outside entertainment — like Barack Obama and Michelle Obama — pick up a Grammy. (The Obamas have two Grammys each.)

First-time nominee PinkPantheress posed on the carpet in a Vivienne Westwood Union Jack gown. When the star first started, she told The Associated Press, she didn’t want like to show or face or be perceived.

The singer embraced by Gen Z and known for her U.K. garage hits is nominated for two awards tonight.

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Lady Gaga arrives at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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Nicki Minaj, right, and guest arrive at the 54th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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FILE - This Feb. 23, 2000 file photo shows Jennifer Lopez in a Versace jungle dress of green silk chiffon at the 42nd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Prior to Lopez making the dress with the plunging neckline among the most famous of all time, it was a runway piece that had been featured in a Versace ad campaign and was worn by Geri Halliwell and Donatella, the latter to the 1999 Met Gala. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)

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Harry Styles arrives at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

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Troye Sivan arrives at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

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An egg, the pope and a sheer suit. Grammys red carpet fashion is all about the drama. Forget the old Hollywood glamour of elegant gowns and tuxedos — stars deliver bold and daring ensembles for music’s biggest night.

Pop princesses and chart-topping artists alike make the carpet their own fashion spectacle with sleek looks, sexy cut outs or over-the-top headdresses. Lady Gaga was carried onto the 2011 Grammys’ carpet in an egg. The following year, Nicki Minaj arrived in a red-hooded look with a date dressed like the pope. Even the celebrities who opt for dresses bring the edge. Jennifer Lopez’s green Versace dress at the 2000 Grammys played a role in the creation of Google Images.

The men also don’t stick to standard dressing. Harry Styles wore a glittery colorful jumpsuit that revealed his chest tattoos in 2023 and Troye Sivan wore a sheer lavender suit with a matching scarf last year.

Kendrick Lamar leads the pack with nine nominations including nods in record, song and album of the year for “GNX.” It’s the third time he’s netted simultaneous nominations in the night’s biggest categories.

Trailing close behind are Lady Gaga and her “Mayhem,” Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut with seven nominations each.

Leon Thomas, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny and audio engineer Serban Ghenea follow with six.

Our Grammys red carpet live show, hosted by Leslie Ambriz, Gary Gerard Hamilton and Liam McEwan, is one of AP’s biggest productions in the entertainment realm, with a team of three hosts, several camera operators and more than a dozen supporting technicians, producers, editors and directors.

We’ll be switching between four cameras on our platform interview space; Recording Academy pool feeds showing attendees stepping out of their limousines and posing for fashion photographers; and a studio back in New York where we’ll get fashion analysis live from Morgan Evans.

This year, we’re also joined on the red carpet by fashion designer and YouTuber Kiana Bonollo, who will also provide fashion analysis.

Joining us on the red carpet is fashion designer Kiana Bonollo, who has built a large following on YouTube with red-carpet dress recreations and pattern making and sewing videos. Bonollo made a dress especially for the Grammys and will be revealing it on the AP’s livestream later. You can watch her make the outfit on her channel.

From Raleigh, North Carolina, Bonollo also has an Etsy shop, Kiana Bonollo Designs, where she has sold over 70,000 digital sewing patterns.

▶ Read AP’s interview with the best new artist nominee

...Recording Academy favorites Adele, Beyoncé or Taylor Swift are not nominated. That may partially explain the competitiveness of the 2026 Grammy Awards — there are few predictable winners. (But we went ahead and tried anyway.)

Olivia Dean

• Recent release: “The Art of Loving” with 12 songs
• Most streamed song on Spotify: “Man I Need” with well over 665 million
• Spotify monthly listeners: A tad over 57 million
• Fun fact: Dean briefly toured with Sabrina Carpenter, who was nominated for the award last year

KATSEYE

The girl group is made up of Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Manon Bannerman, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza and Yoonchae Jeung, all better known by their first names.

• Recent release: “BEAUTIFUL CHAOS,” an EP with five songs. They have also released three other singles last year
• Most streamed song on Spotify: “Gabriela” with roughly 611 million streams
• Spotify monthly listeners: Nearly 37 million
• Fun fact: KATSEYE is a group “fashioned in the image of the K-pop idol system” and reflects how the genre could win big this year
  

The Marías

The indie-pop band features vocalist María Zardoya, drummer and producer Josh Conway, guitarist Jesse Perlman and keyboardist Edward James.

• Recent release: “Submarine” with 14 songs in 2024. The band also released a single last year.
• Most streamed song on Spotify: “No One Noticed” with about 927 million streams
• Spotify monthly listeners: Almost 36 million
• Fun fact: They are not all named Maria. And if they were to win, they’d be the first traditional band — think instrumentalists and vocalists — since Fun in 2013.
  

Addison Rae

• Recent release: Simply titled “Addison” with 12 songs
• Most streamed song on Spotify: “Fame is a Gun” with about 232 million streams
• Spotify monthly listeners: Almost 17 million
• Fun fact: Rae got her start as a social media personality on TikTok. And who can forget those dance moves she showed Jimmy Fallon during the pandemic, and the controversy that followed?

sombr

• Recent release: “I Barely Know Her” with 10 songs
• Most streamed song on Spotify: “back to friends” with over 1.4 billion
• Spotify monthly listeners: About 56 million
• Fun fact: sombr is the stage name for Shane Boose
  

  

  

Leon Thomas

• Recent release: “MUTT Deluxe: HEEL” with a whopping 23 songs
• Most streamed song on Spotify: The title track “MUTT” with almost 364 million
• Spotify monthly listeners: About 13 million
• Fun fact: Have you ever watched Nickelodeon’s “Victorious”? If so, you may recognize this R&B-rock-funk artist.

Alex Warren

• Recent release: “You’ll Be Alright, Kid” with 10 songs
• Most streamed song on Spotify: “Ordinary” with over 1.5 billion
• Spotify monthly listeners: About 49 million
• Fun fact: He cried into his wife’s arms when he found out about the nomination

Lola Young

• Recent release: “I’m Only F---ing Myself,” with 14 songs
• Most streamed song on Spotify: “Messy” with over 1 billion
• Spotify monthly listeners: About 27 million
• Fun fact: She is part of a growing class of talented young U.K.-born vocalists, and one of two nominated for the award this year — along with Dean.

The nominees for the return of the best album cover category are Wet Leg’s “Moisturizer,” Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia,” Perfume Genius’ “Glory” and Djo’s “The Crux.” The award goes to the project’s art directors, which includes recording artists in all cases except for “Glory.”

In recent years, covers had been assessed as part of the best recording package category, which considers all physical materials and images. The package for Charli xcx’s “Brat,” with its pop culture-infiltrating green, won last year. That category lives on this year too, with a different crop of nominees.

For the creative teams, the standalone cover award amplifies what goes into building the visual worlds of music. “When a cover in a campaign hits right,” photographer Neil Krug, nominated for “The Crux,” told the AP, “it’s part of the language and the fabric of what makes a great record a great record.”

Read more about the best album cover category, and this year’s nominees.

▶ Read more about the best album cover category, and this year’s nominees

Teyana Taylor scored her first Grammy and Oscar nominations this awards season with nods for both best R&B album (“Escape Room”) and best supporting actress (“One Battle After Another”) at the respective shows.

They’re recognitions well-earned for the multihyphenate who entered the music industry at 15 years old, choreographing the music video for Beyoncé’s 2006 single “Ring the Alarm.” Her film credits include Tyler Perry’s 2011 comedy “Madea’s Big Happy Family.”

Who do you think will win record of the year? Make your prediction and then compare it to AP Music Writer Maria Sherman and AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr.'s picks.