2026 Primetime Emmys music winners: Lady Gaga loses out as The Pitt, Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter score major wins
Music played a major role at the 2026 Emmy Awards, with The Pitt pulling off a surprise victory over Lady Gaga, while Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter were among the biggest music stars celebrating their first Emmy wins.
The first two nights of the 78th Emmy Awards took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 5 and 6, with the weekend covering categories previously presented under the Creative Arts Emmys banner.
And when it came to music, there were a few results fans might not have seen coming, writes Music News Blitz’s Anna Ferraz.
Lady Gaga loses Emmy to The Pitt
One of Sunday night's most closely-watched music categories was Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.
Lady Gaga was nominated for “The Dead Dance”, her Wednesday track co-written with Andrew Watt and Cirkut, but the award instead went to Gavin Brivik and Andrew Bird for “Need Someone” from HBO Max drama The Pitt.
The pair also beat South Park creator Trey Parker, who was nominated for “Christian Woman”, alongside songs from The Boys and Spider-Noir.
The win gave both Brivik and Bird their first Primetime Emmy Awards.
Widow's Bay wins two major music Emmys
Apple TV series Widow's Bay had an especially strong night, picking up eight awards overall.
Composer David Fleming won Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for “Our History”, while Toko Nagata took home her first Emmy for Outstanding Music Supervision for the episode “Beach Reads”.
Elsewhere, Dave Porter won Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for Pluribus, while Sean Callery and Sara Barone won Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special for Netflix's The Beast in Me.
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Bad Bunny dominates with historic Emmy haul
The weekend's biggest crossover between television and pop music came courtesy of Bad Bunny.
His Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show swept all seven categories in which it was nominated, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Music Direction, Choreography, Directing and Sound Mixing.
The haul gave Bad Bunny his first Emmy and made the halftime show the most-awarded programme on the opening night.
Music director Miguel Gandelman specifically won Outstanding Music Direction for the performance.
Sabrina Carpenter also earns her first Emmy
Sabrina Carpenter joined Bad Bunny in becoming a first-time Emmy winner after The Muppet Show, which she executive produced and appeared in, won Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded).
The special beat a competitive field that included Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour special and ultimately collected four awards across the night.
With Gaga's surprise loss, Bad Bunny's seven-award sweep and Carpenter joining the growing list of pop stars with an Emmy to their name, music ended up providing some of the biggest talking points from the opening weekend of the 2026 Emmy Awards.
The main 78th Emmy Awards ceremony takes place on September 14, airing live on NBC and streaming on Peacock.
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