Kendrick Lamar overtakes Jay-Z as most-awarded rapper in Grammys history
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Less than half an hour into the 68th Grammy Awards, Kendrick Lamar had already made history.
Lamar became the most-awarded rapper of all time at the Grammys, with 26 wins, which became 27 at the end of the night. Lamar received three awards during Sunday‘s premiere ceremony before the telecast and racked up more throughout the show.
Lamar led nominations for this year’s awards, with nine total.
Here’s the winners list for the 2026 Grammy Awards, updating live. The night’s major awards went to Olivia Dean for new artist, Billie Eilish and Finneas for song, Kendrick Lamar with SZA for record and Bad Bunny for album.
He took home the rap album award for “GNX” early in the evening, surpassing the record previously held by Jay-Z, who has 25 wins. Lamar also won for record of the year for “Luther,” rap song for “TV Off,” melodic rap performance for “Luther” and rap performance for Clipse’s “Chains & Whips.”
“It is hip-hop as usual, man. I’m not good at talking about myself, but I express it through the music. It’s an honor to be here,” Lamar said while accepting the rap album award. “Hip-hop is going to always be right here. We are going to be in these suits looking good, having our folks with us. We are going to be having the culture with us.”
Olivia Dean, the British R&B singer who scored a major pop hit with ‘Man I Need,’ has won the Grammy for best new artist.
He also became the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.
Lamar kicked off 2025 with the Super Bowl halftime performance, becoming the first rapper to headline music’s biggest stage as a solo act.
He swept the top awards last year with his hit diss track “Not Like Us.” The song won five awards, including record and song of the year.
