Dalai Lama Wins his First Grammy, India Misses Out on the golden gramophone | Music News
3 min readFeb 2, 2026 11:30 AM IST
In a politically charged Grammy ceremony led by artists like Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, and Lady Gaga, where ‘ICE Out’ was the prominent refrain, the Dalai Lama, at 90, won his first Grammy for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording. The glittering 68th Grammy Awards were held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The Tibetan spiritual leader won the award for ‘Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness The Dalai Lama’.
Canadian-American singer Rufus Wainwright, who appears on the album alongwith American singers Maggie Rogers and Andra Day, accepted the award.
“It was a privilege to participate in this project. It is an honour to accept this recognition on behalf of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whose wisdom is at the heart of this work,” said Wainright while accepting the golden gramophone.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama Receives Grammy Recognition Highlighting Universal Responsibility and Compassion
Grammy Award Best Audiobook Narration – Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
I receive this recognition with gratitude and humility. I don’t see… pic.twitter.com/YhK5zlyhem
— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) February 2, 2026
The Dalai Lama, who is a first-time winner, beat US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and stand-up comedian and former Grammy host Trevor Noah, actor Kathy Garver and French musician Fab Morvan to win the award.
India ended the evening without a single win, despite nominations that spanned genres and generations, including those for sitar player Anoushka Shankar, who was nominated along with Alam Khan and Sarathy for her recent album titled ‘Chapters III: We Return to Light’. Madurai pianist Charu Suri, Indo-jazz outfit Shakti and a surprise debut nomination of Siddhant Bhatia for Sounds of Kumbha could not make the cut either.
Shankar, who was nominated in two categories, including Best Global Music Performances as well as Best Global Music Album (her 11th and 12th nominations, respectively) and who is currently on her India tour, addressed not attending the ceremony this year.
“Sometimes the process of spending literally thousands of dollars on the privilege of flying, attending, marketing and getting sucked into the machine, hugely anxious about outfits and red carpets, starting to hope to win and then not winning (again and again!) can take a toll. There is always a bigger mainstream artist dropping into our global categories who has MORE money to spend on marketing; there is always an artist who chooses to spend months networking, attending nominee events and ensuring their music and name lands in front of voters. I don’t say this from bitterness, but just to acknowledge what the behind-the-scenes reality can be. If tonight, I happen to win for the first time, of course, it will be a joyful experience, but I truly, truly believe it doesn’t matter in a deeper context,” she wrote on Facebook.
