A gospel rendition of Super Mario music just won The 8-Bit Big Band its second Grammy Award. The orchestra, famous for its jazz arrangements of video game soundtracks, overcame stiff competition in the category of Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella.
The arrangement, titled "Super Mario Praise Break," beat out Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf, and the brass quartet The Westerlies for the award. The medley includes lively takes on the Super Mario Bros. theme, Bob-Omb Battlefield from Super Mario 64, Gusty Garden Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, and the Athletic Theme from Super Mario World.
"In this offering to the VGM community, we humbly present this medley of some of Super Mario Bros. greatest melodies to help you gain entrance into the Mushroom Kingdom of heaven," the video's YouTube description reads.
In 2022, The 8-Bit Big Band won an award for the same category for covering "Meta Knight's Revenge" from Kirby Super Star. The band also received a nomination at last year's Grammy Awards for an arrangement of "Last Surprise" from Persona 5. This year, the group's album "Orchestrator Emulator" was up for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album trophy.
The 8-Bit Big Band was founded in 2017 by Broadway orchestrator Charlie Rosen, who was on the Grammys stage to accept the award alongside co-arranger Bryan Carter. The band has 30 to 65 members, most of hailing from New York City.
In other Grammy news, composer Austin Wintory won the Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media award for his work on Sword of the Sea. Other nominees in the category were Helldivers 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and DLC packs for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws.
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The arrangement, titled "Super Mario Praise Break," beat out Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf, and the brass quartet The Westerlies for the award. The medley includes lively takes on the Super Mario Bros. theme, Bob-Omb Battlefield from Super Mario 64, Gusty Garden Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, and the Athletic Theme from Super Mario World.
"In this offering to the VGM community, we humbly present this medley of some of Super Mario Bros. greatest melodies to help you gain entrance into the Mushroom Kingdom of heaven," the video's YouTube description reads.
WE WON!!!!! @the8bitbigband #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/VSJRy3sKVG
— Matthew Whitaker Music(@_MattWhitaker) February 2, 2026
In 2022, The 8-Bit Big Band won an award for the same category for covering "Meta Knight's Revenge" from Kirby Super Star. The band also received a nomination at last year's Grammy Awards for an arrangement of "Last Surprise" from Persona 5. This year, the group's album "Orchestrator Emulator" was up for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album trophy.
The 8-Bit Big Band was founded in 2017 by Broadway orchestrator Charlie Rosen, who was on the Grammys stage to accept the award alongside co-arranger Bryan Carter. The band has 30 to 65 members, most of hailing from New York City.
In other Grammy news, composer Austin Wintory won the Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media award for his work on Sword of the Sea. Other nominees in the category were Helldivers 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and DLC packs for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws.
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