The Pop Culture Moments That Defined Q1 2026

From the Grammys and the Oscars to press tours, the first quarter of 2026 had a moment at every turn, a report of everything that went down in the first three months of this year

The first quarter of any year sets the tone, and Q1 2026 did it loudly, dramatically and without pause. Between the award circuits, the music moments and the film releases, the culture moved fast and left very little room to catch up. So, here is a roundup of what’s happened so far. 

JANUARY 2026

2026 is the New 2016
The year kicked off with a viral trend declaring 2026 the cultural reset year, drawing comparisons to 2016, widely considered one of the most chaotic and defining years in recent pop culture history. The conversation spread across social media, with users citing the sheer number of major events happening simultaneously as proof. This trend largely evoked nostalgia, bringing out the less-curated versions of ourselves from 2016 and showcasing them online.

Zara Larsson, “Lush Life” Chart Return
More than a decade after its original release, Zara Larsson’s “Lush Life” made an unexpected return to the global charts, along with the resurgence on TikTok. The moment sparked conversation about the song and reminded the internet why 2016 pop held up, along with taking this generation back with nostalgia. 

Golden Globes 
Nikki Glaser returned to host for the second year and was just as sharp. “One Battle After Another” led the film wins with four awards, “Hamnet” took Best Picture Drama, and Timothée Chalamet won Best Actor Musical or Comedy for “Marty Supreme,” delivering a notably quiet speech for a major promo tour. On television, “Adolescence” swept with four wins, including Best Limited Series. Jean Smart won her third Golden Globe for “Hacks,” while “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” won Best Original Song, the first K-pop song to win a Golden Globe. 

BTS Reunion and World Tour Announcement
After completing their mandatory military service, BTS announced their reunion and their 2026-2027 “Arirang” world tour, which is going to have 79 shows spanning across 34 regions, including Asia, North America, Europe, South America, and Australia. The response was global, immediate, and entirely predictable. This was one of the most anticipated moments of 2026. 

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FEBRUARY 2026

The 68th Annual Grammy Awards
This year saw many monumental moments. Bad Bunny won Album of the Year for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” the first all-Spanish language album to win the category since 1959, and the first to win both the Grammy and Latin Grammy for Album of the Year. Kendrick Lamar won Record of the Year for “Luther” with SZA for the second consecutive year. While Olivia Dean won Best New Artist, Billie Eilish and Finneas won Song of the Year for “WILDFLOWER.” The show included notable performances from Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, ROSÉ and Post Malone.

Super Bowl LX
Bad Bunny headlined the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show and performed entirely in Spanish on one of the largest television audiences in the world. Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin also appeared as special guests. The lineup before the game also included performances by Green Day, Charlie Puth, Brandi Carlile and Coco Jones, making this a major pop-culture moment.

BLACKPINK Deadline
BLACKPINK released its third EP, “Deadline,” on February 27. It is a five-track project that sold 1.46 million copies on its first day. This became a major pop culture moment when February became the month for this four-year-awaited comeback, along with record-breaking sales and incredible fashion collaborations featuring “PINK IS THE NEW BLACK” slogans, varsity jackets, and hoodies.

“Wuthering Heights” - The Book, The Film, the Press Tour
Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel has been adapted more times than anyone can count, and yet every generation insists on doing it again, because the story of Heathcliff and Catherine refuses to age. Emerald Fennell’s version, starring Margot Robbie as Catherine and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, arrived on February 13, the eve of Valentine’s Day, along with a Charli XCX soundtrack. The reviews were divided, but the press tour did justice to the classic. 

Robbie dressed the entire press tour as if she had never fully left the Yorkshire moors. Gothic, romantic and slightly undone. Elordi matched the energy without even trying. Together, they made the press tour feel like an extension of the film, which is either very good styling or very good casting. Probably both. 

MARCH 2026

The Oscars
The Oscars had some iconic moments with “Sinners” coming in with 16 nominations, the most of any film, and left with four wins, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan and Best Actress for Jessie Buckley. A moment where Jordan went straight to In-N-Out Burger in a custom Louis Vuitton suit, Oscar in hand, was the image that became a major highlight of the night. Zendaya also appeared as a surprise presenter. Anne Hathaway and Anna Wintour shared a stage in a moment so precisely timed for the “The Devil Wears Prada 2” campaign that it barely seemed accidental. Wintour dismissed Hathaway by calling her “Emily,” and this quickly went viral. 

Timothée Chalamet’s Opera and Ballet Comments
At a CNN and Variety Town Hall in early March, Chalamet said he did not want cinema to end up like ballet or opera, which are arts that people are trying to “keep alive even though no one cares.” This comment did not land well, as the ballet world responded with strong backlash. It also carried all the way to the Oscars, where Conan O’Brien opened his monologue jokingly with, “Security is extremely tight tonight- I am told there are concerns about an attack from both the opera and ballet communities.” 

Zendaya’s “The Drama” Press Tour Dressing
Every outfit on Zendaya’s press tour for “The Drama” was a deliberate expansion of the film, each look a reference to its themes, characters, and visual language. While the film revolved around the concept of a wedding, the direction for the dressing of the press tour followed the traditional approach of including something old, new, borrowed, and blue. It dominated the fashion conversation for weeks, and Law Roach absolutely delivered. 

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” Press Tour 
Towards the end of March, Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway landed in Mexico City, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, New York and London, for the press tour of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Every city was chosen deliberately, and the outfits were coordinated to match the elements of the location of the press tour. The promotions for the film were one of the most interesting takes on how to market a movie.