The 68th Grammy Awards began its celebration with an afternoon Premiere Ceremony in Los Angeles, where 86 awards were distributed prior to the main evening event. Hosted by Darren Criss, this initial segment combined performances and award presentations to honor a diverse array of musical talents.
Among those recognized early in the ceremony were acclaimed artists such as FKA twigs, who secured the Best Dance/Electronic Album award for her work titled "EUSEXUA." In the realm of pop, the duet of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande was awarded Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Defying Gravity." The rock genre saw Turnstile receive the award for Best Rock Album for "Never Enough."
Leon Thomas was honored with the Best R&B Album accolade for "Mutt," while traditional pop vocal excellence was awarded to Laufey for the album "A Matter of Time." Latin music was well represented with Natalia Lafourcade winning Best Latin Pop Album for "Cancionera" and Carín León taking the Best Música Mexicana Album with "Palabra De To’s (Seca)."
The realm of visual media soundtracks also featured prominently, as "Sinners," a compilation of various artists, received the Best Compilation Soundtrack award. Ludwig Göransson was individually recognized with the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for his contributions to "Sinners."
Religious and spiritual music categories included Darrel Walls and PJ Morton earning Best Gospel Album for "Heart of Mine," and the contemporary Christian music sphere was represented by Israel & New Breed's "Coritos Vol. 1."
In other categories, the song "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" was awarded Best Song Written for Visual Media, while jazz saw Samara Joy win Best Jazz Vocal Album for "Portrait," and Sullivan Fortner's instrumental work "Southern Nights," featuring Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore, was honored with Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
African music was celebrated with Tyla's "Push 2 Start" winning Best African Music Performance. The reggae genre also saw recognition, with Keznamdi's "BLXXD & FYAH" receiving Best Reggae Album honors.
Further accolades included Best Music Video awarded to Doechii for "Anxiety," and Best Music Film was given to "Music by John Williams." Alternative music was represented by The Cure winning Best Alternative Music Album for "Songs of a Lost World."
Several distinguished individual recognitions were also announced: Amy Allen titled Songwriter of the Year, and Cirkut was awarded Producer of the Year in the non-classical category. Nate Bargatze's comedy album "Your Friend, Nate Bargatze" won Best Comedy Album.
In spoken word and audio storytelling, the Dalai Lama's "Meditations: The Reflections of his Holiness The Dalai Lama" won Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording, while Mad Skillz was recognized for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album with "Words for Days Vol. 1." The Best Album Cover award was presented to "Chromakopia."
The primary Grammy Awards telecast, highlighting the biggest categories, is scheduled to begin later in the evening on CBS.