Are you confused about what a Sombr is? Are you forever forgetting the difference between Song of the Year and Record of the Year? Who are these people, and where’s Taylor Swift?

The 2026 Grammy Awards are on Sunday night, and music’s biggest night always spawns plenty of water-cooler chatter among the pop-culturally savvy and your most pretentious friend who won’t shut up about his speakers.

In comparison to its more staid awards show counterparts, the Grammys are zanier and more bombastic. It’s where Jennifer Lopez infamously showed up on the red carpet in her barely there green Versace dress, where Nicki Minaj sort of took part in an exorcism and where Adele seemed genuinely upset that she beat Beyoncé. Even if you’re not immersed in the goings-on of artists and new music, you’ll still be able to hold your own with your coolest coworkers on Monday morning with our small talk guide.

Let’s start with the basics: There are dozens of awards up for grabs at the Grammys, which are voted on by members of the Recording Academy. The four major ones are: Best New Artist, Song of the Year (which goes to songwriters), Record of the Year (which goes to producers of a song) and Album of the Year, which is considered the night’s biggest honor and often generates the most controversy. Remember how massive it was when Beyoncé finally won for Cowboy Carter in 2025?

Unlike other shows that focus on celebrity banter and speeches, the Grammys are all about performances. According to producer Ben Winston, there will be at least 18 or 19 of them.

Now, let’s talk about what’s actually going to happen.

Conversation starter: Who’s going to win — and who should win — the night’s biggest prize?

Many are predicting Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS will win Album of the Year, which would make it the first all-Spanish album to claim the category. It would be a massive victory for the artist as he prepares to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show next week. Bad Bunny, who’s also a budding actor, knows people don’t always understand his lyrics, but he doesn’t mind. After all, he’s the biggest global artist of the last year.

Others predict it could finally be Kendrick Lamar’s year. He won five last year for the song “Not Like Us” alone, but he has still never nabbed Album of the Year. Never forget the time that Macklemore won over Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed good kid, m.A.A.d city, and then posted his text apology to him. It’s time to correct this wrong, and GNX is really good.

Hot take: You’ll have more fun if you root for the underdogs 

There’s no denying that Bruno Mars is the favorite child of the Recording Academy with 16 wins across his career. Spread the wealth, y’all! Another victory would feel villainous. Mars’s collaboration with Rosé, “Apt.,” is up for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, after it dominated streaming in 2025. It seems Mars’s power is only growing — he won big last year, both at the Grammys and on the charts, and he’s poised to continue his reign with new music in 2026. I love my short prince of pop, but give someone else a second to shine!

For the sake of the narrative, which is more important to pop stardom than you’d think, I say it would be way more interesting if the artist who has made a magnificent return to her over-the-top pop superstar persona was rewarded for her efforts. “Abracadabra” rejuvenated vibes in a way we so desperately need, and Lady Gaga should be honored for overcoming health struggles to make her return to high-energy freak behavior (let us not forget when she showed up to the 2011 Grammys entombed inside a giant egg, only hatching for her performance). Technically, she won a Grammy in 2025 for “Die with a Smile,” but that was a collaboration with — you guessed it —  Mars! Get back to Vegas, Bruno, it’s Mother Monster’s time to shine.

Whether the song from KPop Demon Hunters wins any of its categories or goes home empty-handed, “Golden” already made its mark as the most shocking nominee. Yes, the biggest banger from the most popular movie of 2025 — aimed at children, mind you — is actually genuinely good. It’s also fantastic that it’s a  K-pop song, cementing the genre’s status and staying power in the U.S.

Hold your own: Keep an eye out for Sabrina (and dozens of other performances)

Even if Sabrina Carpenter’s six Grammy nominations don’t yield a win, I predict that she’ll steal the show. The pint-sized pop star is allergic to delivering anything other than an iconic performance. At last year’s ceremony, she warmed up the stage with a vaudeville-style mashup, and over the summer, she brought the house down at the VMAs by spotlighting drag queens and channeling Britney Spears. Don’t get me started on all her viral tour moments. She was born for this.

Justin Bieber, who’s up for four awards, is set for his first major public performance in four years, after scrapping his tour in 2022. Since then, he’s had a kid, split with his manager, fought very publicly with his wife and generally made fans worried about him. One of his decade-old songs is currently charting on Spotify, so if he successfully pulls off this performance, I’ll officially declare the 2016 Renaissance valid.

The Grammys have been slow to announce other performers, but we’re expecting infectious choreography and borderline nonsensical lyrics from girl group Katseye — remember their viral jeans ad? Also in the announced line-up: All eight of the Best New Artist nominees, including Addison Rae, Alex Warren, Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, Sombr and Lola Young. Pharrell will be there for some reason.

Impress your coworkers: You’re going to start having to take TikTok singers seriously

Best New Artist will be among the most-watched categories of the evening because of the way it can help a budding singer build momentum. Sometimes they’re a bit of a flop — has anyone heard from Alessia Cara or Victoria Monet recently? No? Sorry! But in years past, the Grammys have bestowed the honor upon Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and Olivia Rodrigo, which arguably helped catapult them to superstardom.

This year, many were shocked to see the likes of Alex Warren and Addison Rae among the nominees — they’re both TikTok stars who were part of the infamous content creation collective known as the Hype House. They used their fame to build something deeper and more meaningful for themselves: a music career. Warren snagged the unofficial honor of Song of the Summer for his secular praise music bop “Ordinary,” and Rae went from flop to pop star by embracing irony, Britney Spears-esque vocals and strong visuals.

Still, they probably won’t win. That honor will probably go to Olivia Dean or Leon Thomas. Yes, I’ll explain who they are.

So, wait, who are all these people?

You’re going to be seeing a lot of faces you don’t recognize. Don’t panic. You’ve probably heard most of them on the radio.

Olivia Dean: This jazzy lady performed on SNL last year, but you undoubtedly have heard her song “Man I Need” at the grocery store or blaring from the speakers of a buggy sliding around in the snow. It is honestly becoming unavoidable.

Leon Thomas: You’ve also definitely heard the semi-annoying song “Mutt,” which is heinously catchy, but Thomas is more likable than that — he starred in the kids’ show Victorious with Ariana Grande, and it’d be lovely to see another Nickelodeon standout go mainstream, even if it is roughly a decade late. He’s the second most-nominated artist of the night!

Sombr: The floppy-haired Gen Z-er got himself into trouble this year for beefing with a fan, but don’t let his youthful follies distract from his musical prowess.

Lola Young: The mullet-sporting Brit is responsible for another inescapable song, “Messy,” but she’s got a lot of good ones. It’s nice to see someone with a thick accent and a unique sense of style taking the stage — and she’s just now returning to performing after a rough year. If you see her, root for her.

And where is Taylor Swift? 

Swift didn’t release an album during the eligibility period for this year’s Grammys — The Life of a Showgirl will get its turn in 2027. She has not yet been announced as a performer or a presenter, so we might not see her at all.

What’s different for Swift this year, though, is that her fiancée, Travis Kelce, will actually be free on Sunday night because the Chiefs didn’t make it to the Super Bowl for the first time since they got together. Is a Grammys red carpet debut in order, or are they saving that for wedlock?