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Grammys 2026: The Race for Best New Artist

Last year’s lineup was stacked with heavy hitters. This year’s field? Leaner on marquee names but packed with a slew of buzzy upstarts and industry darlings who promise to make this the Grammys’ most unpredictable horse race.

From left: Jessie Murph, Leon Thomas, Ravyn Lenae, Addison Rae, María Zardoya, Gigi Perez and Alex Warren
From left: Jessie Murph, Leon Thomas, Ravyn Lenae, Addison Rae, María Zardoya, Gigi Perez and Alex Warren Erika Goldring/WireImage; Marcus Ingram/Getty Images; Christopher Polk/Billboard/Getty Images; Bryan Bedder/Getty Images; Joshua Applegate/WireImage; Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images; Natasha Moustache/Getty Images

Best new artist 2025 was a clash of ’24’s titans. By the time Chappell Roan fended off Sabrina Carpenter to snag her first-ever Grammy, both had gone supernova. And their competition? Any other year and Benson Boone, Doechii, Raye, Shaboozey or Teddy Swims might have taken the trophy.

The potential best new artist class of ’26 is not an all-star team but a promising roundup of rookies (though many are veterans of TikTok and/or YouTube). THR looks at the rising stars we hope to see going for Grammy gold.

ADDISON RAE

This year, the Grammys lapped up “Espresso,” awarding Carpenter best pop solo performance. Time will tell if the voting body also has a taste for Rae’s “Diet Pepsi.” (The Columbia artist has submitted the effervescent track — her first to chart on the Hot 100 — for consideration in the record of the year, song of the year, best pop vocal album and best music video categories.) As for the 25-year-old herself, this summer the Recording Academy invited her to join its membership — a sign the best new artist nom is within grasp? If so, it’d be the ultimate validation of her hard-fought evolution from TikTok influencer to top-tier recording artist.

ALEX WARREN

Already crowned best new artist at September’s MTV VMAs, Warren is the pop radio story of the year. The Californian’s inescapable “Ordinary” lorded over the Hot 100 for 10 nonconsecutive weeks this year. It’s been a four-year journey/self-fulfilling prophecy for the TikToker/YouTuber, who independently released his first singles in 2021. In 2022, Warren, 25, signed to Atlantic, home to last year’s EP, You’ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1), and this year’s LP version, featuring collabs with best new artist ’24 contender Jelly Roll and Blackpink breakout Rosé.

 

GIGI PEREZ

The Jersey-born Floridian is a dark horse, but she’s also a 21st century case study in how to make it in music. Months after Perez began uploading DIY tracks to TikTok in 2021, she had viral hits, a deal with Interscope and big gigs supporting Coldplay and Noah Cyrus. It all might have gone away after the major dropped her in 2023, but no label, no problem. Soon after, she self-released “Sailor Song,” showcasing her unique, androgynous voice, and the gauzy queer love song went from online smash to Billboard Hot 100 breakout to all-format favorite — amassing 1.3 billion streams. Along the way, the 25-year-old signed with Island, which released her 2025 debut album, At the Beach, in Every Life.

JESSIE MURPH

Her influences run the gamut from Adele, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse and Lil Baby to Drake, Patsy Cline and Wanda Jackson. That everything-and-the-kitchen-sink record collection informs the Alabaman’s signature genre-blending sound. It makes sense, then, that the Columbia signee likes duetting with artists who also refuse to pick a lane: Jelly Roll, Maren Morris, Swims, Diplo. Murph, 21, released a trio of albums in less than three years, with two (That Ain’t No Man That’s the Devil and Sex Hysteria) during this eligibility period.

LEON THOMAS

Thomas already has a Grammy (for co-writing the 2024 best R&B song, “Snooze,” by SZA), so it’ll be up to the screening committee to decide if he gets a nod. Thomas has been singing on a stage for 23 of his 32 years (he made his Broadway debut as Young Simba in The Lion King at 10; more on page 23). However, with 2025 being the Brooklyn native’s breakthrough year as an artist in his own right, here’s hoping his hat’s in this ring. After penning and producing numerous songs for the likes of Ariana Grande, Post Malone and Drake as one half of The Rascals, Thomas has finally tasted success under his own name with his 2024 sophomore album, Mutt, a brilliant record that couldn’t have been made by a neophyte.

 

LOLA YOUNG

The U.K. singer-songwriter’s “Messy” wasn’t just an international smash (here in the U.S., it’s Young’s first Hot 100 hit and topped the Pop Airplay chart). It’s a Gen Z anthem, the 24-year-old’s ode to ADHD and a cultural, cathartic moment in post-millennium music. Released in May 2024, “Messy” (more on page 56)is ineligible for 2026 song of the year or record of the year. It’s still on the Academy’s mind, though. With the track peaking in U.S. popularity this past summer and Young capitalizing on its ubiquity by dropping her third album, I’m Only F***ing Myself (Island), in September, the Ivor Novello ’25 rising star recipient is almost guaranteed a look.

THE MARIAS

The L.A. indie-pop act notched a 2023 nod for co-writing and performing on the first-ever Spanish-language album of the year nominee, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti. That would’ve disqualified the bilingual band from a subsequent best new artist bid, but a new Recording Academy rule reinstates their eligibility since their contribution — the track, “Otro Atardecer” — amounts to less than 20 percent of the album’s total playing time. That prior nod now tees them up for Grammy voters, as do their genre-bending sophomore album, Submarine, captivating frontwoman (María Zardoya) and star-making set at Coachella 2025.

SOMBR

At 6-foot-7, Sombr would likely be Grammy’s tallest nominee; at 20, he could be the youngest. The New York City artist’s songs — and the smoldering vulnerability he breathes into them onstage — are what truly make the stylish alt rocker, born Shane Boose, a standout (see sidebar). Sombr’s album, I Barely Know Her, has only been out since August, but that’s a good thing when it comes to Grammy (the Academy has a short memory). Plus, that Warner Records LP feels like a greatest hits thanks to the Hot 100 singles “Undressed,” “Back to Friends” and “12 to 12” and the handful of album tracks that also scaled the rock charts.

Other contenders in the mix: BigXthaPlug, Ella Langley, Sleep Token, Zach Top, Ravyn Lenae, The Red Clay Strays, Reneé Rapp, Myles Smith, Role Model, Megan Moroney.

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Read more from THR’Music Issue

This story appeared in the Oct. 1 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Author: Lori Majewski

Source: THR (The Hollywood Reporter)

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