2026 Grammys on the Hill takes aim at AI, honors Coons and Salazar

Tolu Talabi

The Hill

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2026 Grammys on the Hill takes aim at AI, honors Coons and Salazar

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) were honored on Tuesday for their work in protecting musical artists during the Grammys on the Hill awards ceremony, an annual event that focused on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music community.

Lawmakers like Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), as well as Grammy-nominated artists and award winners, songwriters, producers and DJs attended Tuesday night’s event hosted by the Recording Academy. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was also in attendance.

The event in Washington opened with a performance by six-time Grammy-nominated blues-rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who played the national anthem.

During the event, which marked its 25th anniversary, Coons told the audience that as he’s traveled the world over decades, he’s seen “how our music, really your music, helps inspire and uplift the world, helps to inspire people’s spirits, helps them to understand the American story, and helps them to remain connected around the world.”

Coons is sponsoring the No Fakes Act, bipartisan legislation that would hold individuals and companies liable for using AI to produce or share unauthorized digital replicas of a person’s voice or likeness without their consent.

He told The Hill that protecting musicians is important to him because he has a stepbrother who is a songwriter, singer and a guitarist in a rock band.

“So, I’ve had a ringside seat to what it means to have his singing, his writing, pirated,” he told The Hill.

The night had up-tempo sounds from guitars, pianos and drums that had the audience swaying in their seats. D.C.-region native singer-songwriter Maggie Rose and singer-songwriter Grace Potter performed the song “Poison In My Well.”

As Salazar accepted her award, the Little Havana, Miami-born native said, “I was going to read the prompter, but I’ve decided not to, because when you speak from the heart, you cannot be reading.”

She said her constituents include Shakira, Pitbull and Gloria Estefan, in addition to hundreds of other artists who deserve to be protected and respected.

“That’s the reason why we’re here,” she said

During her speech, Salazar said she jokingly told her deputy chief of staff that “this room is full of very important, talented artists. And all we talk about is immigration, tariffs, Iran, you know. So, this is really a fresh air that we are here tonight, and that we are surrounded by people that create something different than legislation on tariffs.”

Salazar is also sponsoring the House’s version of the No Fakes Act and previously sponsored the Take It Down Act, which was signed into law last year and protects individuals from nonconsensual AI generated images and content. The senate version of the No Fakes Act is introduced by Coons and Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

“And the reality is that I believe I didn’t really do anything. I only did my job,” Salazar said about her award, adding that her job is not only to protect business owners and those involved in immigration and the private sector but to protect artists against AI.

Johnaye Kendrick, a member of the three-time grammy award winning vocal supergroup, säje, told The Hill that she’s also a music professor, and even in academia, students are utilizing AI to write their music, which affects the art they are creating and is “simplifying everything that we work so hard for them to develop.”

“To be an artist is such a beautiful blessing, and to have an opportunity to express ourselves in this way, it’s just a sacred experience,” Kendrick said. “And bringing AI into the mix kind of sucks all of the life and the thing that makes it special, and the soul of music.”

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2026 Grammys on the Hill takes aim at AI, honors Coons and Salazar

Tolu Talabi

© The Hill