Eight-Year-Old Wins Grammy

Aura V is the youngest person ever to win music’s top award.

Aura V and her father, Fyütch, accept their Grammy Award at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California.

In many ways, Aura V is just a regular third grader. But as of February 1, she’s also a Grammy winner! The 8-year-old from Maryland is now the youngest person ever to win one of music’s most celebrated awards.

Aura won the award for Best Children’s Music Album for the album Harmony, which she made with her dad, musician Harold Simmons II. Simmons, whose stage name is Fyütch, makes music that promotes kindness and racial equality. His work as a teacher inspired him to make a children’s album.

“I actually enjoyed…working with students, showing them how to express themselves through the arts,” he told ABC News. “And when I started making songs for my students and combining my skills as an artist and using it to [make] songs that could educate them, that’s when my career really took off, serving…songs that educate, entertain and empower.”

Aura’s dad holds her up to the microphone so she can speak to the audience after winning a Grammy Award.

The album Harmony began taking shape after Simmons created a song called “Harmony” for the Wolf Trap Center for the Arts in Virginia. The process got him thinking about how music can bring people together. Soon he was writing songs and making videos with Aura.

“That started our journey, and the songs just kept getting bigger,” he told ABC News. “We started shooting videos, they started going viral. Before you know it, we had enough songs to make a whole album.”

Aura comes from a long line of musicians, so it was natural that the father and daughter decided to work together.

“We’re a musical family,” Simmons said. “My dad plays on the [Harmony] album. My grandpa was a trumpeter in the Army. So to pass on this musical legacy to her and to get this [recognition], you know, it’s really meaningful.”

Aura strikes a pose at the Grammy Awards preshow.

The previous youngest-ever Grammy winner was Blue Ivy Carter. Blue Ivy was 9 years old in 2021, when she shared a Grammy Award with her mom, Beyoncé.

In an interview before the awards ceremony, Aura was asked how she felt about possibly becoming the youngest-ever Grammy winner.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless,” she told WMAR in Baltimore, Maryland.

NEWS EXTRA

Olympic Highlights!

Kokomo Murase of Japan competes in the women’s big air final at the 2026 Olympic Games.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are in full swing in Italy! Don’t worry if you’ve been missing the action—the Games will continue until February 22.

Here’s just a taste of what has happened so far.

In big air snowboarding, athletes go down a ramp and then do a trick in the air. Kokomo Murase of Japan completed a trick called a frontside triple 14 to win a gold medal in the women’s big air finals. Kira Kimura, also of Japan, won the gold medal in the men’s big air finals. His winning trick is called the Run 3 switch backside 1980.

Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland is the reigning king of alpine skiing! The 24-year-old won gold in all three alpine events: the downhill, the super-G, and the men’s team combined. On the women’s side, Olympic legend Lindsey Vonn of the United States broke her leg in the downhill race. The injury ended her attempt to make a comeback. American Breezy Johnson won the gold medal.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France took home the gold medal in ice dancing. Three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States had been favored to win. Chock and Bates came in second, winning the silver medal.

Italian speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida won gold medals in the women’s 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races. This brings her Olympic career medal total to four. The home crowd cheered when Lollobrigida completed the 5,000-meter race just one-tenth of a second before Merel Conijn of the Netherlands, who won the silver. Lollobrigida has now won more Olympic medals than any other Italian speed skater in the history of the Games.

Did You Know?

Kendrick Lamar accepts one of many Grammy Awards on February 1, 2026.

In 2026, Kendrick Lamar became the first male artist and the first rapper to win the Record of the Year Grammy Award two years in a row. Lamar had the most Grammy nominations, with nine.

Celebrate Lunar New Year!

A shopkeeper arranges Lunar New Year decorations that are for sale at a store in China. Some of the products celebrate the Year of the Horse.

Starting on February 17, one-quarter of the world’s population will celebrate the Lunar New Year. The annual 15-day holiday is celebrated in many countries. The Chinese New Year, which originated in China, is the best known.

Lunar New Year is an opportunity for a fresh start. People often clean their homes before the new year to remove any bad luck from the previous year. They also decorate their homes in red, which is said to ward off bad luck. Families get together for a feast, and children receive red envelopes filled with money.

In the traditional lunar calendar, each year is represented by an animal. The year 2026 is the Year of the Horse.

According to the Chinese zodiac, people born in a certain year have the personality of that year’s animal. You can find your animal in the image below.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Find your birth year to learn which animal is linked to it.

A Legend’s Story

Did you know that Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Beyoncé formed her first singing group when she was 9 years old? You can learn more about Beyoncé at Britannica!

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Part of speech:

noun

Definition:

: an award or an expression of praise

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