Okay, so there was definitely a millennial in charge of the 2026 Golden Globes music, and they have a sense of humor too.
If you’ve never noticed the walk-on or walk-off music at the Golden Globes before (or any awards show, for that matter), that’s probably because the DJ isn’t usually playing nonstop 2000s club hits—with occasionally hilarious results. For instance, who is the mad genius responsible for the song, “Yeah” by Usher and Lil Jon playing as Stellan Skarsgård walked to the stage to accept his best-supporting-actor win for Sentimental Value? It could only be a millennial.
But the music choices went hard, in a distinctly born-between-1980-and-1995 kind of way, even when they made perfect sense. You’d never expect to hear a vintage Justin Timberlake track at the Globes, but when you think about it, “Rock Your Body” is actually perfect to play off the cast of Sinners. “Drop It Like It’s Hot” for Snoop Dogg is unambiguously correct. Carly Rae Jepson is the right answer in most cases, to be honest. “Pink Pony Club” isn’t really a millennial anthem, but it is still a diabolically apt song for Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams of Heated Rivalry.
Things got especially unhinged when the songs referenced a presenter’s literal name. “Return of the Mack” for Macaulay Culkin? Are you kidding with this? When Judd Apatow took the stage to present, the song playing was “APT” by Rosé and Bruno Mars. You know, the one with Korean lyrics that sound a lot like the name Apatow.
Social media called the Golden Globes music choices a “millennial sleeper cell playlist,” and “insane but elite” They had viewers “literally screaming” and wanting to know who was “playing all the bops.” Whoever they are, they definitely deserve a raise.
To see all the looks from the 2026 Golden Globes red carpet, and for more of Glamour’s live show coverage, click here.
