The 2026 Grammy Awards ceremony, which aired Sunday, February 1, on CBS, featured memorable tribute performances to Ozzy Osbourne, D’Angelo, and Roberta Flack. But some other music legends who passed away during the past year also were acknowledged with moving spoken-word homages.
Videos by American Songwriter
Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer, and Chaka Khan, respectively, recorded tributes to The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, and Sly Stone that were played during the Grammy broadcast. Each homage featured a montage of photos accompanied by musical snippets of some artists’ famous songs.
In Springsteen tribute, the Boss said, “Brian Wilson was the kind of shining musical genius who made generations of songwriters so much better. And I know this because I’m one of them. Brian somehow changed what a song could do, how much an album could contain, what it could mean. He defined the myth and our dreams about California—the sun, the sea, the beach.”
He concluded, “Brian, the last of the Wilson brothers, may be gone, but he leaves behind so many great songs and good vibrations that will live forever. Thank you, Brian.”
The homage included clips of The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” Wilson died on June 11, 2025, at age 82 from multiple health issues.
John Mayer Tribute to Bob Weir
During the last decade, Mayer played alongside Weir in the Grateful Dead spinoff group Dead & Company.
“To play music with Bob Weir was to learn from a master,” Mayer said in his homage. “He understood songwriting to its core, having written and performed some of the most enduring music in American history. Bob was a messenger, not only for the music he made with The Grateful Dead, but for the tapestry of influences that birthed it—rock, folk, blues, R&B, and country. He followed his muse wherever it led him, and that devotion was shared by all who followed him.”
Mayer added, “Bob has left us, but the songs he sang will remain a road map for a better, more meaningful life. See you down the road, Ace.”
The presentation included snippets of The Grateful Dead tunes “Playing In The Band” and “Sugar Magnolia.”
Weir died on January 10, 2026, from underlying lung issues after battling cancer. He was 78.
Chaka Khan on Sly Stone
After Khan performed with John Legend as part of the 2026 Grammy salute to Flack, her pre-taped homage to Sly and the Family Stone frontman Sylvester Stewart, a.k.a. Sly Stone, was shown.
“Sly Stone was a true pioneer,” Chaka said. “He showed us what music could be when everyone belonged—Black, white, women, men, all different voices moving as one. He created a revolutionary sound that spoke straight to the heart of a generation. With Sly and the Family Stone, he turned the idea of family into a movement.”
Khan concluded, “Sly is gone, but what he shared with us and the world lives on.”
The presentation was soundtracked by the Sly and the Family Stone hit “Everyday People.”
Stone died on June 9, 2025, after a long battle with the lung disease COPD and other health issues. He was 82.
Besides her participation in this year’s Grammys, Khan was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Recording Academy’s 2026 Special Merit Awards ceremony on January 30.
(Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images; Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
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