Noah Kahan Will Perform This Classic Song During ‘In Memoriam’ Spot at 2026 Emmy Awards

You know it by heart. Noah Kahan at Noah Kahan - The Great Divide World Tour held at Fenway Park on July 11, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. Christopher Polk/Billboard Trending on Billboard Noah Kahan is set to perform Simon & Garfunkel’s classic power ballad “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the “in memoriam” segment on the 2026 Primetime Emmys. The show will be held Monday (Sept. 14) at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. NBC will air the ceremony live coast-to-coast starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show will also stream on Peacock. Gold Derby was first to report the news about Kahan’s performance. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks in 1970 and went on to win Grammys for record and song of the year. It was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and has long been a go-to song for such occasions. Kahan is expected to be a major factor in the Grammy nominations which will be announced on Nov. 16. The show will include a tribute to Dolly Parton, who died Aug. 25 at age 80. This is expected to be the first of many awards-show tributes to the beloved star. Details of the tribute have not yet been announced. Parton won a Primetime Emmy in 2001 as executive producer of Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, which was voted outstanding television movie. Mariska Hargitay, who won two awards last weekend as director and producer of My Mom Jayne: A Film By Mariska Hargitay (about her mom, 1960s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield), is set to host Monday’s ceremonies. Presenters include Zendaya, Keke Palmer, Amy Poehler, Marcello Hernández and Alan Cumming. Michael J. Fox will receive the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, which was established in 2002. Fox starred in both a TV series (Family Ties) and a hit film (Back to the Future) that spawned No. 1 hits on the Hot 100. Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay of Jesse Collins Entertainment will executive produce the telecast. The first two nights of the Primetime Emmys, formerly known as the Creative Arts ceremonies, were held on Sept. 5-6. They did not air or stream live. Instead, both programs will be edited into a single broadcast, which is set to air on Saturday, Sept. 12, on FXX at 8 p.m. ET/PT and streaming on Hulu the next day. Here’s a list of the song that was performed during the In Memoriam spot on every Primetime Emmy telecast since 2013. 2013: Carrie Underwood performed The Beatles’ “Yesterday” 2014: Sara Bareilles performed Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” 2015: A recording of the late Eva Cassidy singing the Oscar-winning “Over the Rainbow” was played. 2016: Tori Kelly performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” 2017: Christopher Jackson performed Stevie Wonder’s “As” 2018: Aretha Franklin performed the gospel classic “Amazing Grace” 2019: Halsey performed “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman 2020: H.E.R. performed Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” 2021: Leon Bridges and Jon Batiste performed Batiste’s “River” 2022: John Legend performed his “Pieces” 2023: Charlie Puth and The War and Treaty performed Puth’s co-write “See You Again” and the Friends theme “I’ll Be There for You” 2024: Jelly Roll performed his “I Am Not Okay” 2025: Vince Gill and Lainey Wilson performed Gill’s “Go Rest High on That Mountain” 2026: Noah Kahan is slated to perform Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up