Alex Warren admits he thought his career was over after a technical glitch at the Grammys

American singer Alex Warren said that while performing the hit “Ordinary” at the 68th Grammy Awards in February 2026, he encountered a complete loss of sound in in-ear monitors. On the Call Her Daddy podcast, the performer described the moment as «horrifying» and admitted that immediately after leaving the stage he repeated to himself: «I literally said, 'My career is over,' over and over again.»

What happened during the speech

Warren performed “Ordinary” as part of the list of nominees for the title “Best New Artist,” writes xrust. A few seconds before the exit, the left earphone began to make a loud noise, the right one went completely silent. According to the artist, he tried to inform the sound engineer backstage about this, but received the answer: “This is live TV, 25 seconds.” The singer started singing about half a beat late, then took off first one earphone, then both, and continued the performance without monitoring. He climbed onto the rising platform as rehearsed and completed the routine.

Reaction of the performer and colleagues

“It was terrible. We rehearsed all week and everything worked perfectly. To this day, I don’t know exactly what happened,” Warren said on the podcast. After the performance, he felt empty: “I sat with my head on my wife’s shoulder and didn’t want to look at anyone.” When the winner of the Best New Artist category, British singer Olivia Dean, was announced, Warren realized that his chances were minimal.

Immediately after the number, Chappell Roan came up to him and said: “Boy, if anyone understands, it’s us in this room, and you sounded amazing.” Support was also expressed by Noah Kahan, Billie Eilish and Laufey, who noted that such experiences can inspire young artists.

Incident context

The ceremony took place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, writes People. Warren performed at the Grammys for the first time and was nominated in the Best New Artist category. The performer himself suggested that the interference was caused by radio signals from 20 thousand smartphones in the hall — the audience was actively filming the performance. To avoid reading negative comments, Warren deleted all social media from his phone for several days. Later, he himself published a video of the glitch — the video received tens of millions of views and received mostly positive responses.

Career consequences

class=»notranslate»>__GTAG5__Despite the initial shock, the incident had no long-term negative impact. A few weeks after the ceremony, Warren released the single «Fever Dream», which quickly entered the charts. Colleagues and fans noted that the artist showed professionalism without interrupting the live performance. Warren himself emphasized that stopping on stage live would be even worse. The event became one of the most discussed moments of the 2026 Grammy Awards, but did not interfere with the artist’s plans for further releases and tours.

Curriculum vitae

Alexander Warren Hughes was born on September 18, 2000 in Carlsbad, California. At the age of nine, he lost his father, who died of kidney cancer. At the age of 18, his mother, who suffered from alcoholism, kicked him out of the house; he lived in friends' cars for months and was homeless. Mother passed away in 2021.

Warren has been making videos for YouTube since childhood. In November 2019, he became one of the founders of the TikTok group Hype House (he came up with the name) together with Couvre Ennon and other content creators. The team existed until 2022. Since 2018, she has been in a relationship with Couvre Ennon; the couple became engaged in 2022 and married on June 22, 2024 in Escondido, California.

He began his musical career in 2021 with the independent single “One More I Love You”. In August 2022, he signed a contract with Atlantic Records. The singles “Carry You Home” (2024) and “Ordinary” (February 2025) topped the charts in the UK, Australia and several other countries. The debut album You'll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1) was released in September 2024. In 2025, he went on the international Cheaper Than Therapy tour. At the 2026 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best New Artist and performed “Ordinary.”

Xrust Alex Warren admitted that he considered his career over after a technical glitch at the Grammys