Justin Bieber Strips Down for Stripped-Down ‘Yukon’ at 2026 Grammys

Justin Bieber performed his R&B hit “Yukon” at 2026 Grammys on Sunday night (Feb. 1) at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles, in his first TV performance in years.

Coming on wearing an electric guitar — and not much else, as he went shirtless with just shorts — he built up the groove to “Yukon” on loop pedals (à la his “I Don’t Care” collaborator Ed Sheeran at the 2017 awards), then delivered a vulnerable solo rendition of the Swag ballad. The performance was met with a strong audience reception, including from his wife Hayley, who applauded directly to the camera.

Bieber is up for four awards at this year’s awards, including album of the year and best pop vocal album for his 2025 set Swag, and best pop solo performance for “Daisies.” He was also up for best R&B performance (for “Yukon”), which he lost during the pre-telecast awards to Kehlani for “Folded.”

Bieber has a long history with the Grammys, having been nominated 23 times dating back to 2011, and winning twice, though neither in the most predictable categories: best dance/electronic recording for “Where Are Ü Now” with Jack Ü, and best country duo/group performance for “10,000 Hours” with Dan + Shay. The album of the year nod for Swag is his third, having previously been nominated in 2017 for Purpose and in 2022 for Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe).

Both of Bieber’s nominated songs for this year’s Grammys are still in the top 40 of this week’s Billboard Hot 100 (dated Jan. 31) — “Daisies” at No. 15 (after previously peaking at No. 2) and “Yukon” at No. 31 (No,. 17) peak — over half a year after first debuting on the chart in July. Swag also still ranks at No. 88 on this week’s Billboard 200, after bowing at No. 2.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.