Grammy Awards 2026: Olivia Dean becomes emotional

Olivia Dean visibly became overwhelmed as she received award for “Best New Artist Award” at the Grammy Awards 2026.

The 26-year-old teared up in disbelief as Chappell Roan presented her the award and delivered an emotional speech.

She expressed her emotions and said, “I never really imagined that I would be up here, let alone nominated, so thank you so much. I guess I wanna say I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant. I wouldn’t be here … I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated. So, yeah, we’re nothing without each other”.

Alongside Dean, there were seven strong contenders in the Best New Artist category, including Katseye, The Marías, Addison Rae, Sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and Lola Young.

The Nice to Each Other songstress had her breakout year in 2025, as her album, Art of Loving, took off on streaming platforms as well as social media.

Dean had her live performances on Saturday Night Live, as well as on other television platforms, always delivering a dynamic performance.

Speaking of the new artists’ performances, Grammys producer Ben Winston earlier said, “We just thought, well, we have eight incredible best new artists. We wouldn’t really want to pick two or three or one or four. So, we were like, ‘Why don’t we try and do what we did last year but super-size it and go all eight’”.

He continued, “It’s hugely ambitious, but we’re going for it, and we’re really excited to showcase  the  best new artists because the nominees deserve such a moment.”

YEY!!! OLIVIA DEAN IS A GRAMMY WINNER!!! OMG, I’m so happy!!! The way she acknowledged being an immigrant and spoke about the importance of celebrating everyone made me admire and respect her even more. Congratulations!!! pic.twitter.com/b2ysjQSHiE

— Nikki Verder (@welverder) February 2, 2026