Utah County town gets a boost after Post Malone’s tribute during Grammys performance
Feb 3, 2026, 6:00 AM
From left to right, Andrew Watt, Duff McKagan, Post Malone, Chad Smith and Slash perform onstage during the 68th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter, Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
(Kevin Winter, Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
SPANISH FORK — One of Utah’s most famous residents gave a subtle shoutout to Spanish Fork on the national stage Sunday night.
Singer Post Malone wore a hat from Spanish Fork’s Fiesta Days rodeo during his televised Grammy performance.
From left to right, Andrew Watt, Duff McKagan, Post Malone, and Chad Smith perform onstage during the 68th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter, Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
“I’ll bet it’s a very few cities in the state of Utah, or maybe cities across the country that can say they were featured at the Grammys,” Spanish Fork Mayor Mike Mendenhall said.
He stayed up to watch Post Malone’s tribute to Ozzy Osbourne on the awards show.
“Our nine year old son, Jagger, was in the room with us and so as soon as Post came out to start singing that Black Sabbath Ozzy Osbourne song, he yelled, ‘he’s wearing a Fiesta Days hat!,'” Mendenhall said. “We all went nuts in the house and then our phone started blowing up, and it was just a fun, fun night.”
They instantly recognized the nod to their hometown.
“That’s our hometown celebration,” said Mendenhall, who grew up in Spanish Fork. “We do get people from all over the country that not only come here to compete, but come here to watch because they know they’re watching the best athletes in the PRCA.”
Just last summer, Post Malone himself was one of their guests. That’s where he was given the hat, along with a belt buckle.
“When I gave him that hat and we gave him a buckle too, and said, ‘thanks for coming to our rodeo,’ he was completely generous and grateful and soft spoken,” Mendenhall said.
The singer’s subtle shoutout is the talk of the town.
“I thought it was really neat of him and unique of him to do something like that,” said Glade’s Drive Inn owner Lacy Johnston. “It kind of felt like he was trying to stand out to a small town, and he did.”
She hopes the national attention brings visitors.
“I think that we were already on the map, and I think that he just made it a little bit bigger for us,” she said.
The web searches ‘Spanish Fork,’ ‘Fiesta Days, and ‘Spanish Fork hat’ surged following Malone’s performance.
“Whoever made that decision, I’m grateful for it because it shines a light on our city,” Mendenhall said.
The mayor says it’s given his community an opportunity to be proud and connect with each other.
He said they’ll be riding this high until the next Fiesta Days, and they hope Post Malone comes back.
“We’re communicating to Post’s people that, ‘Hey, like the mayor told you last year, you’ve got the buckle, you’ve got the hat, come back next year and, I don’t know, maybe sing a couple songs for the fans here,'” Mendenhall said.
Fiesta Days 2026 starts July 20th and goes through the July 24 this year. Tickets go on sale in April.
