The 2026 Grammy Awards were a night to remember, with Black artists making a strong showing among the winners, including several singers and musicians connected to the Catholic faith.
Jon Batiste, the Catholic-raised New Orleans crooner and multi-instrumentalist, was nominated in three categories, winning for Best Americana Album with his 2025 release “Big Money,” on which he also served as a producer and songwriter.
Though he was present for the ceremony, Batiste did not appear on stage to accept his award, instead speaking through a co-producer with strong words on the integrity of music and the current national political crisis.
“Thank God,” he said of his win. “Real musicians and real people playing in the same room together is one of the oldest traditions in humanity and must be protected… Americana comes in many different shades, and this is a country of immigrants, and we'd all like to remind you of that.”
Batiste did take part in a live tribute to soul legends D’Angelo, Roberta Flack, and Angie Stone, all of whom died last year. He performed D’Angelo’s 2000 hit “Africa” before joining Lauryn Hill—back on the Grammys stage for the first time in 27 years—for Flack’s “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.” He then sang Flack’s “Compared to What” with Leon Bridges and Alexia Jayy.
A fellow Catholic, “Queen of Funk” Chaka Khan, performed a duet of the Flack and Donny Hathaway classic “Where Is the Love?” with John Legend, before joining the entire star-studded tribute ensemble for a gospelized rendition of the Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” Khan was honored earlier in the night with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her 55-year music career, including 10 competitive Grammy wins.
“Thank you to the Recording Academy and the National Trustees for honoring not just a career—that’s right—but a lifelong relationship with music,” she said during her acceptance speech.
“Your love has carried me more than you know, and may we continue to lift one another and tell our truths and keep our magic of music alive.”
Also in the non-competitive categories, the famed Puerto Rican jazz artist Eddie Palmieri, who died in August, was honored with a Trustees Award for his influence on Latin jazz, Afro-Caribbean, and protest music. The Catholic-raised musician was previously the first Latino to win a Grammy, for his 1974 album “The Sun of Latin Music."
The album “A Tribute to the King of Zydeco,” honoring the late Black Catholic singer-songwriter and accordionist Clifton Chenier, won for Best Regional Roots Music Album—a category frequently dominated by Louisiana artists, including several featured on the Chenier tribute LP. Excepting “King of Zydeco,” which featured various artists from the U.S. and England, this year’s nominees were all Black Creoles.
Two Catholic-raised Brits also went home winners, with Cynthia Erivo taking Best Pop/Duo Group Performance for her cover of “Defying Gravity” with Ariana Grande for the 2024 musical theater film “Wicked.” FKA Twigs won her first-ever Grammy this year, securing Best Dance/Electronic Album for her 2025 release “Eusexua.”
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
