P!NK Teases 'Wild' Tony Awards 2026 Opening Number: 'There's Going to Be 170 People on Stage'

Self-proclaimed theater kid P!NK is hosting the 2026 Tony Awards, and she guarantees, "It's going to be an incredible show." While three Grammy Awards are nothing to sneeze at, the singer-songwriter admits that when she received the offer, her initial response was, "Why me? I've never been on Broadway." Known for her onstage acrobatics, the pop star was told, "We want more eyes on the show." After asking her daughter Willow for permission, P!NK signed on.

"At that moment, I felt like I had a purpose," she tells The Broadway Show in an interview at Top of The Rock, adding that "watching the Tonys with Willow while she was in her personally-designed The Great Gatsby costume that she made on tour was one of the most fun nights I've ever had."

P!NK’s “Raise Your Glass” is featured in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and “F**kin’ Perfect” can be heard in & Juliet, and she's already been confirmed as taking part in the Chicago 30th anniversary performance alongside Queen Latifah, Whitney Leavitt, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Alex Newell, Adrienne Warren, Julianne Hough, Dylan Mulvaney and more. We asked if she could tease anything else about the ceremony, and she gave us a taste that has us on the edge of our seats.

"The opening is going to be wild. There's going to be 170 people on stage and it's just a full-blown, ridiculous celebration. It's a throwback kind of, but new," she hints. "I told them my one caveat was that as soon as I step onto stage, I have to make fun of myself and make it absolutely just about fun and celebrating everyone. There's so much to celebrate."

Of the rehearsal process, she emphasizes that the Broadway community is made up of the "most talented people in the world," joking, "I should never do SNL, because a lot of it is very last-minute, and I'm a Virgo and I alphabetize my spices." Still, she's taking the quick pace in stride. "I got to sit in on a session the other day where I, thank God, already knew my part. But to watch people come in and learn a part in three-and-a-half seconds is wild. Everyone's just working their ass off."

The incoming host perfectly captures the magic of Broadway’s biggest night: "The fact that the Tony Awards are on TV and you can be in your home and watch the theater community come together, I always look at theater as the one safe place for all people. It's a place where all kinds of different people can come in and be goofy and love on each other. It's really joyous. It's one big celebration of us weirdos. I think it's really beautiful."

The American Theatre Wing's 79th Annual Tony Awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on June 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET from Radio City Music Hall.