The Recording Academy has announced the nominees for Best New Artist at the 68th Grammy Awards, one of music’s most closely watched and hotly debated categories. The 2026 nominees are Olivia Dean, KATSEYE, The Marías, Addison Rae, sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, and Lola Young. It’s a lineup that captures the current state of pop and its many offshoots, from TikTok-born success stories, slow-burn indie acts, to genre-bending R&B singers. Every year, the award aims to spotlight acts shaping the sound and mood of contemporary music — artists whose work feels genuinely new, whether in experimentation, creative voice, or career trajectory.
The likely winners of pop’s biggest debut award would either go to HYBE’s biggest girl group KATSEYE, who have proven their pop power with Beautiful Chaos, a tightly produced sophomore EP that cements them as one of the most polished girl groups in the field. On the other hand, The Marías’ dreamy bilingual pop has finally crossed from cult acclaim to Grammy recognition, a long-deserved nod for their distinct sound. However, with Leon Thomas on the roster, one of R&B’s most skilled vocalists and producers, he stands out as the most seasoned nominee, balancing commercial reach and musical depth.
But it’s Addison Rae who best embodies the idea of “new.” After breaking through as a viral personality, she has reinvented herself as a legitimate pop artist in her debut album, Addison, a full-length release with a sound that straddles the lines between bygone downtempo and contemporary R&B. Her rise from online celebrity to pop provocateur mirrors how pop itself continues to evolve in the digital era.
The category may be stacked, but the Grammys’ challenge remains the same: honoring not just who is popular, but who is actually pushing the pop sound forward.
The 68th Grammy Awards will take place on February 1.
