The 2026 Grammy Awards took place on Sunday (1st) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The 68th annual awards ceremony started at 8:00 p.m. ET, with a pre-recorded early Grammy Awards ceremony kicking off hours earlier at 3:30 p.m. ET. Metal Insider has looked at some of the highlights of the event, including Frank Bello leaving 70000tons of Metal early to attend a potential win, along with other wins, live performances, snubs, and more. Here’s everything metal-related highlighted below:
01) Anthrax’s Frank Bello leaves 70000tons of Metal early to attend a Grammy win
When two worlds collide: while attending 70000tons of Metal this year, we were there during Anthrax’s Pool Deck set, their second of two performances, when guitarist Scott Ian explained why Armored Saint’s Joey Vera was filling in for bassist Frank Bello on their second performance on the cruise. Ian then revealed that on port day, which was moved from Day 3 to Day 2 of the voyage due to anticipated cold and windy weather, Bello flew straight to LA to attend the Grammys for a hopeful win for Best Rock Performance with Yungblud for a live cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes,” alongside artists Nuno Bettencourt and Adam Wakeman II. Luckily, Bello was part of the winning team, as the award went to them over nominees Amyl and the Sniffers’ “U Should Not Be Doing That,” Linkin Park’s “The Emptiness Machine,” Turnstile’s “Never Genough,” and Hayley Williams’ “Mirtazapine.” You can watch Yungblud’s acceptance speech here.
Yunglud expressed:
“To grow up loving an idol who helps figure out your identity, not only as a musician but as a man, is something I’m truly grateful for. But then to form a relationship with them and honor them at their final show… we’re finding it so strange to comprehend.
We would all like to thank Sharon, Jack, Kelly and Aimee for this opportunity, and everyone at the Back to the Beginning show. The whole band with me right now are six generations who came together in the name of our genre, in the name of Sabbath and the name of Ozzy Osbourne.”
02) The heavy winners
In terms of the Grammys, these were the winners for the metal and heavier categories. You can view all winners at this location. The 68th Annual Awards marked major milestones, including Turnstile becoming the first artist to win in both the Rock and Metal categories in a single year. The band held five nominations across the Rock, Alternative, and Metal categories, all tied to their new album, Never Enough.
Nine Inch Nails won their third Grammy at the 2026 Awards, taking home Best Rock Song for “As Alive as You Need Me To Be,” featured on the Tron: Ares soundtrack. The song also marked an overall fifth Grammy win for Trent Reznor, who has previously been honored for his film score work. While they secured the award, the band was not in attendance to accept it.
See all winners in the heavier categories below:
Best Metal Performance
WINNER: “BIRDS” — Turnstile
“Night Terror” — Dream Theater
“Lachryma” — Ghost
“Emergence” — Sleep Token
“Soft Spine” — Spiritbox
Best Alternative Music Album
WINNER: “Songs Of A Lost World,” The Cure
“SABLE, fABLE,” Bon Iver
“DON’T TAP THE GLASS,” Tyler, The Creator
“moisturizer,” Wet Leg
“Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party,” Hayley Williams
Best Alternative Music Performance
WINNER: “Alone,” The Cure
“Everything Is Peaceful Love,” Bon Iver
“SEEIN’ STARS,” Turnstile
“mangetout,” Wet Leg
“Parachute,” Hayley Williams
Best Rock Album
WINNER: “NEVER ENOUGH” — Turnstile
“private music” — Deftones
“I quit” — HAIM
“From Zero” — Linkin Park
“Idols” — YUNGBLUD
Best Rock Song
WINNER: “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” — Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)
“Caramel” — Vessel1 & Vessel2, songwriters (Sleep Token)
“Glum” — Daniel James & Hayley Williams, songwriters (Hayley Williams)
“NEVER ENOUGH” — Daniel Fang, Franz Lyons, Pat McCrory, Meg Mills & Brendan Yates, songwriters (Turnstile)
“Zombie” — Dominic Harrison & Matt Schwartz, songwriters (YUNGBLUD)
Best Rock Performance
WINNER: “Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back To The Beginning” — YUNGBLUD, featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman, II
“U Should Not Be Doing That” — Amyl and The Sniffers
“The Emptiness Machine” — Linkin Park
“NEVER ENOUGH” — Turnstile
“Mirtazapine” — Hayley Williams
Best Song Written For Visual Media
WINNER: “Golden” — From “KPop Demon Hunters,” EJAE, Park Hong Jun, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo & Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI)
“As Alive As You Need Me To Be” — From “TRON: Ares,” Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)
“I Lied to You” — From “Sinners,” Ludwig Göransson & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Miles Caton)
“Never Too Late” — From “Elton John: Never Too Late,” Brandi Carlile, Elton John, Bernie Taupin & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Elton John, Brandi Carlile)
“Pale, Pale Moon” — From “Sinners,” Ludwig Göransson & Brittany Howard, songwriters (Jayme Lawson)
“Sinners” — From “Sinners,” Leonard Denisenko, Rodarius Green, Travis Harrington, Tarkan Kozluklu, Kyris Mingo & Darius Poviliunas, songwriters (Rod Wave)
03) Ozzy Osbourne remembered
Post Malone, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, along with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and producer Andrew Watt, delivered a heartfelt tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne during the Grammy Awards, performing a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” Sharon, Kelly, and Jack Osbourne were seen in the audience, clearly moved by the performance.
04) In Memoriam snubs?
Metal and heavy music artists were pushed to the sidelines. While Ms. Lauryn Hill delivered a beautiful tribute honoring D’Angelo and Roberta Flack, and the Ozzy Osbourne tribute based on the clips available, extended beyond Ozzy with an in memoriam segment that included heavier artists such as former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, several names still seemed absent. Reba McEntire also made history with her first-ever Grammy performance at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, delivering an emotional rendition of “Trailblazer” during the in memoriam segment. However, many rock artists appeared to be left out, including Sam Rivers of Limp Bizkit and, as widely noted in headlines, the late former Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds.
The late At the Gates singer Tomas Lindberg was also missing from both segments. While it’s unclear whether some names were mentioned due to editing choices, the presentation made it seem as though the Ozzy Osbourne tribute focused solely on the Black Sabbath legend. The extended format (three separate performances) ultimately felt longer yet more confusing, once again leaving questions about omitting heavier artists. As is often the case, the Academy pointed viewers to the full online memorial list, viewable here, meaning those artists were not entirely excluded, despite being absent from the live broadcast.
05) Spiritbox’s explosive “Soft Spine” performance
Spiritbox delivered an explosive performance of their 68th Annual Grammy-nominated song, “Soft Spine.” The track was nominated for Best Metal Performance, though, as noted above, the award ultimately went to Turnstile. Regardless, their performance added a heavier edge to the ceremony. Watch the clip at this location.
