The 2026 Grammys took place last night (February 1) and proved to be something of a guitar music love-in. From Justin Bieber wielding a 1988 Yamaha RGX 612S, to Turnstile winning both Best Rock Album and, perhaps more controversially, Best Metal Performance, pop stars and quintessential rock bands alike were out in full force this year, flying the flag for the instrument.
The Ozzy Osbourne tribute (or should that be tributes?) took center stage across the weekend. Machine Gun Kelly and Jelly Roll both honored the Prince of Darkness at record executive Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammys gala on Saturday night – with MGK opting for 2007's I Don’t Wanna Stop and the country star giving a heartfelt rendition of 1991's Mama, I’m Coming Home.
Post Malone – who collaborated with Ozzy on Take What You Want and It’s a Raid from Osbourne’s first new album in a decade, 2019’s Ordinary Man – took up vocal duties on an abbreviated rendition of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, a version that visibly left the Osbourne family fighting back tears.
Aside from the Prince of Darkness, this year's In Memoriam segment kicked off with a voiceover from Bruce Springsteen, paying tribute to Beach Boys genius Brian Wilson: “The last of the Wilson brothers may be gone, but he leaves behind so many great songs, and good vibrations.”
John Mayer also paid his respects to Dead & Company bandmate and Grateful Dead legend Bob Weir, also in a voiceover: “He understood songwriting to its core, having written and performed some of the most enduring music in American history.
“Bob was a messenger, not only for the music he made with the Grateful Dead, but for the tapestry of influences that birthed it … Bob has left us, but the songs he sang will remain a road map for a better, more meaningful life. See you down the road, Ace.”
Neo-soul pioneer D'Angelo was honored by a host of artists and contemporaries: Lauryn Hill – marking her first Grammys performance since 1999 – Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, Leon Thomas, and Jon Batiste.
And while guitar stars, including the likes of Ace Frehley were included in the segment, Mastodon fans pointed out that Brent Hinds was noticeably omitted, with Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert and Zappa Plays Zappa bassist, Pete Griffin, taking to social media to call out the institution: “Shame on @grammys for not including my brother (and fellow Grammy winner) Brent Hinds in their ‘in memoriam’ segment.”
The omission seemed particularly odd, given Hinds had been nominated for no less than six Grammys, and won one in 2018 – Best Metal Performance for Sultan's Curse – during his tenure with Mastodon.
Yungblud, Ozzy’s mentee and part of the new vanguard leading rock into the future, won his first-ever Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for his career-making rendition of Changes at Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning concert.
“To grow up loving an idol who helped you develop your identity, not only as a musician, but as a man, is something that I’m truly grateful for,” he said in his acceptance speech.
“But then to get to know them and to form a relationship with them, and to honor them at their final show, and receive this because of it, is something that I and I think we are finding a bit strange to comprehend.
“We fucking love you, Ozzy,” he continued. “We would all like to thank Sharon, Jack, Kelly and Aimee [Osbourne] for this opportunity, and everyone at the Back To The Beginning show. Six generations of rock musicians came together in the name of our genre, in the name of Sabbath and in the name of Ozzy Osbourne.
“I deeply love this genre, it’s all I’ve ever known. I want to dedicate it to everyone in the guitar shop that I grew up in, and everyone in a guitar shop or in a bedroom with a dream. Rock music’s fucking coming back – watch out pop music, we’re gonna fucking get ya.”
And speaking of rock music's comeback, Turnstile bagged Best Rock Album for last year's triumphant album, Never Enough.
Accepting the award, frontman Brendan Yates commented, “The community we found through punk and hardcore music has given us a safe place to swing in the dark and land somewhere beautiful. So to our family, our friends, our partners, our peers, and to Baltimore, thank you. We love you.”
Perhaps more surprisingly, the genre-blending band also managed to win Best Metal Performance for Birds, beating the more metal through-and-through acts Dream Theater, Ghost, Sleep Token, and Spiritbox.
More standout guitar moments came by way of Bruno Mars, who, together with K-Pop star Rosé, delivered an overdriven rendition of their global hit APT.
Armed with a black Les Paul – as opposed to his signature Fender – Mars added some extra grit, as well as a squealing guitar solo, to the pop-punk-inflected track as the duo, who were nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, opened the show.
And it very much seemed like Justin Bieber went full-on Mk.gee with a stripped-down, guitar and looper performance of Yukon – from last year's album Swag (which, fun fact, included the contributions of both Mk.gee as well as his frequent collaborator Dijon).
Bieber’s guitar of choice was a left-handed purple 1988 Yamaha RGX 612S that definitely stood out on stage – an off-kilter choice that continues the trend of pop and indie stars à la Kesha and Phoebe Bridgers opting for ’80s and ’90s guitars more typically associated with metal or hardcore, whether for aesthetics or tone (or both).
Here's the full list of winners and nominees in the big four categories – and the guitar-adjacent ones:
Song of the year
Billie Eilish - Wildflower
Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
Doechii – Anxiety
Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT.
Bad Bunny – DtMF
Hunter/x – Golden
Kendrick Lamar feat SZA – Luther
Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild
Record of the year
Kendrick Lamar feat SZA - Luther
Bad Bunny – DtMF
Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild
Doechii – Anxiety
Billie Eilish – Wildflower
Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
Chappell Roan – The Subway
Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT.
Album of the year
Winner: Bad Bunny – Debí Tirar Más Fotos
Justin Bieber – Swag
Sabrina Carpenter – Man's Best Friend
Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out
Lady Gaga – Mayhem
Kendrick Lamar – GNX
Leon Thomas – Mutt
Tyler, the Creator – Chromakopia
Best new artist
Olivia Dean
Katseye
The Marías
Addison Rae
Sombr
Leon Thomas
Alex Warren
Lola Young
Best pop solo performance
Lola Young – Messy
Justin Bieber – Daisies
Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild
Lady Gaga – Disease
Chappell Roan – The Subway
Best pop vocal album
Lady Gaga – Mayhem
Justin Bieber – Swag
Sabrina Carpenter – Man's Best Friend
Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful
Teddy Swims – I've Tried Everything But Therapy Pt 2
Best pop duo/group performance
Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande – Defying Gravity
Huntr/x – Golden
Katseye – Gabriela
Rosé & Bruno Mars – APT.
SZA With Kendrick Lamar – 30 For 30
Best traditional pop vocal album
Laufey – A Matter Of Time
Laila Biali – Wintersongs
Jennifer Hudson – The Gift Of Love
Elton John & Brandi Carlile – Who Believes In Angels?
Lady Gaga – Harlequin
Barbra Streisand – The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume 2
Best rock performance
Yungblud ft Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman, II – Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back To The Beginning
Amyl and The Sniffers – U Should Not Be Doing That
Linkin Park – The Emptiness Machine
Turnstile – Never Enough
Hayley Williams – Mirtazapine
Best rock song
Nine Inch Nails – As Alive As You Need Me To Be
Sleep Token – Caramel
Hayley Williams – Glum
Turnstile – Never Enough
Yungblud – Zombie
Best rock album
Turnstile – Never Enough
Deftones – Private Music
Haim – I Quit
Linkin Park – From Zero
Yungblud – Idols
Best alternative music album
The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World
Bon Iver – Sable, Fable
Tyler, The Creator – Don't Tap the Glass
Wet Leg – Moisturizer
Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
Best alternative music performance
The Cure – Alone
Bon Iver – Everything Is Peaceful Love
Turnstile – Seein' Stars
Wet Leg – Mangetout
Hayley Williams – Parachute
Best metal performance
Turnstile – Birds
Dream Theater – Night Terror
Ghost – Lachryma
Sleep Token – Emergence
Spiritbox – Soft Spine
Best country solo performance
Chris Stapleton – Bad As I Used To Be
Tyler Childers – Nose On The Grindstone
Shaboozey – Good News
Zach Top – I Never Lie
Lainey Wilson – Somewhere Over Laredo
Best country duo/group performance
Shaboozey & Jelly Roll – Amen
Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton – A Song To Sing
Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson – Trailblazer
Margo Price & Tyler Childers – Love Me Like You Used To Do
George Strait & Chris Stapleton – Honky Tonk Hall Of Fame
Best country song
Tyler Childers – Bitin' List
Shaboozey – Good News
Zach Top – I Never Lie
Lainey Wilson – Somewhere Over Laredo
Chris Stapleton – A Song To Sing
Best contemporary country album
Jelly Roll – Beautifully Broken
Kelsea Ballerini – Patterns
Tyler Childers – Snipe Hunter
Eric Church – Evangeline vs The Machine
Miranda Lambert – Postcards From Texas
Best R&B performance
Kehlani – Folded
Justin Bieber – Yukon
Chris Brown feat Bryson Tiller – It Depends
Leon Thomas – Mutt (Live From NPR's Tiny Desk)
Summer Walker – Heart Of A Woman
Best African music performance
Tyla – Push 2 Start
Burna Boy – Love
Davido feat Omah Lay – With You
Eddy Kenzo & Mehran Matin – Hope & Love
Ayra Starr feat Wizkid – Gimme Dat
Best Latin pop album
Natalia Lafourcade – Cancionera
Rauw Alejandro – Cosa Nuestra
Andrés Cepeda – Bogotá (Deluxe)
Karol G – Tropicoqueta
Alejandro Sanz – ¿Y ahora qué?
Best música urbana album
Bad Bunny – DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
J Balvin – Mixteip
Feid – Ferxxo Vol X: Sagrado
Nicki Nicole – Naiki
Trueno – Eub Deluxe
Yandel – Sinfónico (En Vivo)
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