Alex Warren Reveals “Horrifying” Moment During 2026 Grammy Performance

Alex Warren had one shot at a Grammy Awards debut. It was going to be a rehearsed, polished, everything-is-perfect shot. And then, 30 seconds before hitting the stage, his in-ear monitors went completely dead. Because of course they did. Yikes! What a nightmare. Let’s see what transpired. 

Alex Warren Scoops to Alex Cooper 

The 25-year-old pop singer, who was nominated for Best New Artist at the 68th Grammy Awards this past February 2026, finally broke his silence about the technical disaster during an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, released March 11. The behind-the-scenes account is way more stressful than watching the actual performance.

What Happened to Alex Warren at the Grammys

Warren had spent the whole week rehearsing his performance of “Ordinary” as part of the Best New Artist medley, alongside fellow nominees Olivia Dean, Leon Thomas, Addison Rae, Sombr, and others. By all accounts, it was tight. It was ready. It was good. Then the show went live – and everything fell apart.

“It was horrifying,” Warren told host Alex Cooper. “We had rehearsed it all week. It was perfect. To this day, I don’t know exactly what happened.”

What Warren does know is that his in-ear monitors cut out completely right as Katseye wrapped their portion of the medley. With the countdown ticking – 30 seconds, 25 seconds – and a crew member essentially shrugging at him in real time, Warren had exactly zero good options. He recalled: 

“I said, ‘I can’t hear anything. I can’t hear myself… The guy’s like, ‘It’s live TV. Twenty-five seconds.’ I go, ‘Guys, something’s wrong.'”

Nobody fixed it – because nobody could fix it.

Alex Warren Pushed Through – and It Showed

If you watched the performance, you already know it was rough. Warren visibly lagged behind the music, reached behind his suit jacket to adjust his earpieces mid-song, and then ripped them out entirely. It was the kind of moment that makes you wince from your couch or armchair – and apparently, it made Warren want to disappear completely.

Without a proper monitor mix, he could only hear his own voice echoing back at him, which, for a performer trying to stay on beat, is pretty useless. He eventually got a brief moment of clarity when his ear “clicked” back in – right as he was standing on an elevated platform several feet in the air, terrified of heights, trying to finish a Grammy performance in front of millions of people.

“I just wanted to get over it,” he said. Cool, cool. Completely normal experience.

Warren suspects the malfunction may have been caused by radio frequency interference from the sheer number of cell phones in the arena. Whether that’s the actual cause or not, the result was the same: one of the biggest nights of his career, derailed by something out of his control.

Chappell Roan Was the MVP Alex Warren Needed That Night

After the performance, Warren essentially shut down. Head on his wife’s shoulder, not making eye contact with anyone, fully convinced he had tanked his shot at winning Best New Artist. Which, to be fair, is a pretty reasonable response to what he’d just been through.

Enter Chappell Roan. She was 2025’s Best New Artist winner and, apparently, the person everyone should want in their corner during a crisis.

Roan spotted Warren looking “distraught” and made a point of walking over to his table. Per the Mirror, Warren recalled: 

“She was like, ‘Dude, if anyone understands, it’s the people in this room, and you sounded amazing… I will never forget how sweet she was because of that.”

That’s it – the wholesome moment buried inside this otherwise chaotic story. Getting cheered up by Roan.

Alex Warren Watched Olivia Dean Win – and Held It Together

Here’s where it gets truly brutal. Right after Warren’s nightmare performance, while he was still processing the wreckage, the ceremony cut straight to the Best New Artist announcement. He hadn’t even had time to breathe. 

Olivia Dean took home the award. Warren, to his credit, said she absolutely deserved it. But he also made no attempt to pretend he wasn’t gutted about it. 

Warren came into the 2026 Grammys as a legitimate contender – a TikTok-turned-pop-star with a Billboard Hot 100 number one and a Best New Artist nomination to his name. The night didn’t go the way he planned, but the fact that he powered through a technically broken performance on one of the biggest stages in music says more about him than a clean performance run ever could have.