The Top Asian Moments From the 2026 Grammys

News
Written By Madelyn Chung

From Kehlani’s “f*ck I.C.E” speech to Kpop Demon Hunters making history yet again.

Rosé and Bruno Mars perform at the 2026 Grammy Awards. Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

On Sunday February 1st, musicians, producers and more gathered for music’s biggest night: the 2026 Grammy Awards. This year’s awards proved to be another big night for Asian talent, with history being made, particularly in the realm of k-pop. Keep reading for the highlights.

Rosé makes history as the first solo K-pop artist to perform at the Grammys

BLACKPINK’s Rosé opened the 68th annual Grammy awards with a performance of “APT.” alongside Bruno Mars. She is the first solo K-pop artist to perform at the Grammys. While the duo and their hit song did not win any of the three awards they were nominated for, the nods did mark the highest Grammy recognition for a K-pop soloist.

“Golden” makes history as the first-ever K-pop song to win a Grammy award

“Golden,” the smash hit from Kpop Demon Hunters scored an early win on Sunday with the award for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the show’s Premiere Ceremony. Written by EJAE, Park Hong Jun, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Seo Jeong Hoon and Mark Sonnenblick, this song marks the first win for any Korean songwriters or producers in the award show’s history.

Kehlani wins first Grammy; says “fuck I.C.E.” in acceptance speech

Kehlani took home two awards for her single “Folded”: Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song. While accepting her R&B Performance award, the singer reiterated the importance of standing up to ICE as an artistic community.

“What I wanna make sure that I say is that everybody is so powerful in this room and in this room later,” Kehlani said. “And together we're stronger in numbers to speak against all the injustice going on in the world right now. So instead of letting it be just a couple of you here and there, I hope everybody is inspired to join together as a community of artists and speak out against what's going on. And I'm going to leave this and say, fuck ICE.”

Audrey Nuna wears Thom Browne as a tribute to her immigrant family

Kpop Demon Hunters’ Audrey Nuna paid tribute to her immigrant family with her Grammys ensemble. “I’m wearing Thom Browne couture tonight,” she told E!. “It’s a really meaningful look for me ‘cause I’m obviously a proud daughter of immigrants. Our story of survival is around clothing manufacturing and Thom Browne is one of the first brands that my grandpa ever fulfilled orders for, so it’s a huge full-circle.”

KATSEYE makes Grammys debut performing “Gnarly”

KATSEYE, the global girl group consisting of Yoonchae, Daniela Avanzini, Manon Bannerman, Lara Raj, Sophia Laforteza and Megan Skiendiel took to the stage as part of a montage of Best New Artist performances. And ngl, we screamed seeing HUNTR/X members EJAE and Audrey Nuna cheering them on!

Laufey wins Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

Laufey won for the award for her third studio album, A Matter of Time, marking the second time she has won this award at the Grammys.

“I never, in a million years, thought that this would happen,” she said in her acceptance speech. “I just want to thank my lovely team and my parents, my grandparents—for introducing me to music—and the classical and jazz communities of the world that have taught me so much. I owe everything to them.”

She continued, “And the biggest thank-you to my twin sister, Junia, who is my biggest supporter and [who] has helped me through this most exciting time in my life. Thank you so much.”

Lola Young wins Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance

Lola Young took home the award for Best Pop Solo Performance for her hit single “Messy.” The 25-year-old singer, who accepted the award from Charli XCX was stunned, telling the crowd “I don’t have any speech prepared. Obviously, I don’t! It’s ‘Messy,’ you know what I mean?” Young also performed as a part of the Best New Artist showcase earlier that evening, the first time since she collapsed on stage at All Things Go in September and cancelled upcoming performances for health reasons.

Tyla wins Best African Music Performance for “Push 2 Start”

The 24-year-old “Water” singer won the award during the pre-show. This marks her second Grammy win.

Madelyn Chung

Madelyn Chung is an impact-driven entrepreneurial creative and registered psychotherapist bridging media, mental health and representation. She’s the founder and editor-in-chief of RepresentASIAN Project, the leading Canadian media platform dedicated to the Asian North American diaspora and the Blossom Mental Health Fund, a registered non-profit that supports the mental health of Asian Canadians. She’s written and created content for major brands such as Netflix, HuffPost Canada, FASHION and Yahoo! and has made numerous television and radio appearances on networks such as CBC, CP24, CityTV, Global News, Entertainment Tonight Canada and etalk. When she’s not busy working, you can find Madelyn catching up on reality TV shows and cuddling with her dog, Ralphy.

https://www.madelynchung.com/
Next

Scarborough’s Coach Kuya Naredo Believes the Game is Bigger than the Court