Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Win Best Pop Vocal Duo Grammy for ‘Defying Gravity’ After Oscars Snub: ‘Grateful to Share This’

By Charna Flam

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have taken home another Grammy — and in the wake of a major snub for the duo.

Ahead of the 2026 Grammys telecast on Sunday, Feb. 1, the Wicked: For Good stars scored the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance award for their work in the first musical film. The pair earned their Grammy for their “Defying Gravity” duet, featured in 2024’s Wicked.

Grande, 32, and Erivo, 39, were nominated alongside ROSÉ and Bruno Mars for “APT.,”  SZA and Kendrick Lamar for “30 dor 30,” KATSEYE‘s “Gabriela,” and HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI’s work on “Golden” for KPop Demon Hunters.

Grande celebrated the news with a series of posts on her Instagram Stories. The singer, who played Glinda in the film adaptation of the beloved musical, shared Republic Records’ announcement of the pair’s Grammy win with a caption expressing her gratitude for the award.

“this is so special :’) @recordingacademy thank you so so so much!” Grande wrote. “congratulations to the incredible @cynthiaerivo i love you & am so grateful to share this ♡”

She continued, “eternal gratitude to Steven, @steoremus @sirgregwells @simonhayessound and Arthur and Robin and Maggie, our entire sound and production family, @jonmchu @mikfliks always (and of course @republicrecords ♾️”

Grande followed the post with videos of the pair performing “Defying Gravity” for Wicked.

Erivo reposted Grande’s Instagram Story and wrote, “Wahhhh!!!” over the post. The singer, who played the role of Elphaba, also posted the pair’s performance of the iconic song at the 2025 Oscars in celebration of their win.

The duo’s win comes after Erivo took home her first Grammy in 2017 for Best Musical Theater Album, following her work in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple.

Meanwhile, Grande won Best Pop Vocal Album in 2019 for Sweetener, as well as Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2021 for “Rain on Me” with Lady Gaga.

Grande and Erivo’s Grammy victory comes weeks after the two stars were not included in the 2026 Oscar nominations, which were announced on Thursday, Jan. 22.

Wicked: For Good, the second installment of the two-part film adaptation of the Broadway musical, received no Academy Award nominations after the first part earned 10 nods. In 2025, Erivo was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Grande for Best Actress for Wicked. The film ultimately only took home two trophies, for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.

Along with Wicked‘s first Grammy win on Sunday, the first film was also nominated for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television); however, Ludwig Göransson won for his work on Sinners.

The Grammys are broadcasting live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on CBS, or stream them live and on demand on Paramount+.