During Sunday’s 2026 Grammy Awards, Justin Bieber sang a stripped-down version of his song “Yukon” off his nominated album, Swag. The pop star stood in a single spotlight with a purple guitar, performing in just a pair of satin boxers and socks from his brand, Skylrk.
Grammys executive producer Ben Winston spoke about Bieber’s wardrobe choice during this week’s episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast—and how it wasn’t planned until the last minute. “I don’t think he decided what the outfit would be until he walked onstage,” Winston said.
The producer shared his impression of Bieber’s thought process, saying, “He’s not even really going, ‘This is what I’m going to do; this will look cool; this will break the internet.’ He’s like, ‘I’m going to probably do this. I don’t know. I’ll see how I feel on the day.’”
When Bieber agreed to perform, he wasn’t sure what he would sing, Winston added. He recalled watching Bieber during his onstage rehearsal. All performers had an hour-and-a-half slot to work through their set.
“We are seven minutes into his hour-and-a-half rehearsal,” Winston said. “And he goes, ‘How’d it look to you? You happy with it?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my God. It looked beautiful. I loved it.’ And he went, ‘Okay, fantastic. See you Sunday!’”
They got Bieber to run through the song one more time for the camera operators. It took about 15 minutes.
But Winston said that the results were incredibly effective, adding, “I think everybody would realize that’s all him. It is risky doing that. It’s a very real, raw, open, emotional performance.”
Beyond his intimate performance, Bieber appeared to reveal something else personal onstage: his new back tattoo, seemingly of his wife, Hailey Bieber. The face on the tattoo resembles a photo from the model’s March 2020 ELLE cover shoot. Fans quickly linked the two images on social media.
While Bieber sang, the camera panned to his wife as she proudly watched him. She also celebrated him after the show as they headed to an after-party. In an Instagram Story, she shared a picture of them together, writing, “That’s my baby!”
