Teyana Taylor tearfully reacts to receiving first-ever Grammy nomination: ‘It all mattered’

Taylor’s ‘Escape Room’ will go up against Coco Jones, Giveon, Leon Thomas and Ledisi for Best R&B Album.

This is the season of Teyana Taylor and we’re all just living in it.

Days after nominations were announced for the 2026 Grammy Awards, the actress/singer shared a heartwarming video on Instagram reacting to the news that her “Escape Room” album was nominated for Best R&B album and gave a testimony about never losing faith in her journey.

“Two decades of chapters—highs, heartbreaks, reinvention, revelation, rooms I prayed to enter, rooms I had to walk away from, and rooms I had to build myself,” she began her caption. Every tear. Every closed door. Every whispered prayer at 3am in the studio. Every moment I wondered if what I carried would ever be seen… It all mattered.”

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“Escape Room” arrived months after Taylor finalized her public and messy divorce from former NBA star Iman Shumpert and five years after “The Album,” what would have been her final project as she retired from music to focus on creative directing and other projects.

She continued, “To finally receive my first GRAMMY nomination after 20 yearsssssss whew, my heart can barely hold the gratitude,” she continued. “To be seen this way. To be acknowledged for something I created from pure truth and obedience… It feels like God saying, ‘I never forgot you.'”

Taylor revealed that the news came nearly twenty years to the day after she signed her first record deal and chronicled the various eras she had to go through to arrive at this moment. From “My Super Sweet 16” to launching her career on Pharrell’s Star Trak Entertainment label and then joining Kanye West’s GOOD Music, Taylor has seen it all and done it all.

In the video, Taylor can be spotted wearing a facial mask and doing her best not to cry as she’s bombarded with phone calls and FaceTimes from family and friends who’ve been there every step of the way.

The actress is also garnering serious Oscar buzz for her role as Perfidia Beverly Hills in “One Battle After Another” co-starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall and Chase Infiniti. 

“You can see my patience being in this game since I was 15, doing a little bit of everything,” Taylor told The Hollywood Reporter about her chances of taking home the award for Best Supporting Actress. “This moment hits a lot harder than it would’ve if everything had gone my way when I wanted it to.”

February and March of 2026 could be peak Teyana Time, but she’ll have some tough competition for Best R&B Album. Also nominated are Giveon, Leon Thomas, Coco Jones and Ledisi.