Grammy 2026: Dalai Lama Secures Maiden Win, Find Out Which Category

The Dalai Lama has attained another milestone in his remarkable career. The Tibetan spiritual guru was honored with his first Grammy Award during the 68th Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 1. This is a historic time in which spirituality and pop culture have collided in an unprecedented way.

Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the 90-year-old spiritual leader’s audiobook, narration, and storytelling recording, won a Grammy Award. This award was presented at the pre-telecast ceremony, which was livestreamed on YouTube.

The Dalai Lama defeats host Trevor Noah

The Dalai Lama received the award despite heavy competition in the category. He overcame other nominations including Grammy Awards host Trevor Noah, US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Milli Vanilli’s Fab Morvan.

Rufus Wainwright, a singer-songwriter who is involved with this project, accepted the prize on behalf of the Dalai Lama. Rufus Wainwright began his speech by saying, ‘Okay, I’m not the Dalai Lama, obviously,’ before thanking the organizers for the opportunity to participate in a project based on wisdom, reflection, and compassion. He also stated that it was a pleasure to accept the Grammy Award on behalf of the spiritual teacher whose teachings form the basis of the record.

It’s a very different tone than last year. The 2025 award event was fully rebuilt and refocused on relief efforts following the disastrous wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The focus has shifted back to music in 2026, with Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, and others competing in the televised ceremony.

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What exactly is Meditations: Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama?

Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama combines spoken word meditations with Hindustani classical music.

Who’s nominated at the 2025 Grammys?

Kendrick Lamar has the most Grammy Award nominations in 2026, with nine. Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff, and Cirkut, a Canadian record producer/songwriter, all have seven nominations.

Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas, and Serban Ghenea each have six nominations. Andrew Watt, Clipse, Doechii, Sounwave, SZA, Turnstile, and Tyler, The Creator all have five.