Television's composers, songwriters and music supervisors took center stage during the opening nights of the 78th Emmy Awards-but several of the ceremony's biggest musical names were unexpectedly left without trophies.
The music awards were divided across the two Creative Arts ceremonies held September 5 and 6, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Seven music categories were presented, honoring everything from television theme songs and dramatic scores to music supervision and live musical direction.
One of the evening's biggest upsets came in Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Gavin Brivik and Andrew Bird won for "Need Someone," the emotional song featured in the second season of HBO Max's The Pitt. Brivik composed the music, while Bird contributed music and lyrics.
The pair defeated a formidable group of nominees that included Lady Gaga, Andrew Watt and Henry Russell Walter's "The Dead Dance" from Wednesday and Trey Parker's "Christian Woman" from South Park. Also nominated were songs from The Boys, Hacks and Spider-Noir.
The result made Brivik and Bird the night's unlikely giant-slayers. Gaga brought considerable star power and an established awards pedigree to the contest, while Parker has decades of experience writing songs for television, film and Broadway. Bird, by comparison, was celebrating his first career Emmy nomination.
Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX halftime production was the other enormous music story. Music director Miguel Gandelman won Outstanding Music Direction for the NBC special, beating the music teams behind The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The Oscars, Saturday Night Live and Wicked: One Wonderful Night.
The halftime spectacular won all seven of its nominated categories, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live), choreography, directing, lighting, camerawork and sound mixing. The sweep earned Bad Bunny his first Emmy and made his Super Bowl production one of the most successful programs of the two-night celebration.
Widow's Bay also dominated the musical field. David Fleming won Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for the episode "Our History," while Toko Nagata received Outstanding Music Supervision for "Beach Reads." The Apple TV horror-comedy finished the Creative Arts ceremonies with eight awards overall, more than any other program.
Dave Porter claimed Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for Pluribus. It was part of a four-award showing for the Apple TV drama, which also won for production design, drama-series editing and sound mixing.
Sean Callery and Sara Barone received Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special for Netflix's The Beast in Me. Their winning score appeared in the episode "The Beast and Me."
Tyler Strickland won the newly titled Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary/Nonfiction or Reality Program for John Candy: I Like Me. The victory produced another notable upset: Strickland defeated a field containing Hans Zimmer, Anže Rozman and Kara Talve for Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, as well as previous Emmy winner Steven Price for Ocean With David Attenborough. Television Academy
The Seven Music Winners
- Outstanding Music Direction: Miguel Gandelman - The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny
- Outstanding Music Supervision: Toko Nagata - Widow's Bay
- Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics: Gavin Brivik and Andrew Bird - "Need Someone," The Pitt
- Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music: Dave Porter - Pluribus
- Outstanding Music Composition for a Series: David Fleming - Widow's Bay
- Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special: Sean Callery and Sara Barone - The Beast in Me
- Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary/Nonfiction or Reality Program: Tyler Strickland - John Candy: I Like Me
The most unexpected story was not merely who won, but who did not. Gaga, Parker, Zimmer and several other established contenders were all defeated, while less commercially prominent composers and songwriters enjoyed career-changing victories.
By the end of the two nights, the message from Emmy voters was unmistakable: famous names can attract attention, but they do not guarantee trophies.
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