This year’s best new artist race might have looked very different if the Grammys hadn’t quietly changed one important rule. Until this year, artists only got three shots at being “new.” Now they get four — a small tweak that put several contenders back in play.
Most notably, Ella Langley. The country singer already had used up her three chances, which under the old rules would have made her ineligible this year just as her career was taking off. Instead, she’s back for a fourth try — and has emerged as one of the strongest contenders in the field. If she wins, she would become the first country act to take best new artist since Zac Brown Band in 2010.
The rest of the prospective class is an unusually lively mix. Pop dominates, but the indie band Geese, rapper Don Toliver and hard-to-classify hyperpop singer Slayyyter add a welcome change of pace. And the likely inclusion of siblings Audrey Hobert and Malcolm Todd could produce something the category has never seen before: a brother and sister competing against each other. Here, THR games the Grammy newcomers.
The Brooklyn indie act has no shortage of famous fans — Hayley Williams, Patti Smith, Mick Jagger and Courtney Love are just a few who have celebrated Geese as the future of rock. The group is notoriously polarizing among indie-heads — headlines calling the band a psyop for manufacturing virality only further fanned the flames — but Geese inarguably has the cool factor that’s brought rock back on the map in recent years.
Hobert brought a refreshingly earnest and needed perspective to the pop scene with her first album, Who’s the Clown? Her quirky, lyrically dense tracks about wanting to sleep with her ex (“Sue Me”) or feeling awkward at Hollywood parties (“Chateau”) have resonated with the online crowd and pop lovers alike. Initially finding success as a songwriter for singers like her childhood best friend Gracie Abrams, she seems firmly focused on her own pop career these days. She did, however, still write the catchy “Minibar” on her pal’s most recent album. She also contributed a track for fellow best new artist hopeful Malcolm Todd’s self-titled album — she also happens to be his big sister.
Barring some sort of controversy, Langley is the overwhelming favorite to win best new artist this year, perhaps the clearest frontrunner in the category since Olivia Rodrigo took home the award back in 2022. Her hit single “Choosin’ Texas” broke the record for longest-ever run atop the Hot 100 this year, spending 24 weeks at No. 1. She’s had two other hits glued to the top 10 this summer as well, with her Morgan Wallen duet “I Can’t Love You Anymore” and the viral hit “Be Her.” Her second studio album, Dandelion, meanwhile, has been one of the biggest albums of 2026, making its debut atop the albums chart.
The singer, whose real name is Tucker Pillsbury, saw his track “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” become a viral hit in 2025. The song helped push him into the mainstream, but his third album, Chuck Timely & the Hourglass, released in August, proved he has the staying power.
Earlier this year, the singer’s inclusion seemed like a possibility — now it seems as if it’s a certainty. After hustling in the industry for the better part of a decade, her profile has completely exploded over the past few months. Her latest album, Worst Girl in America — her first major label release — has landed the singer her highest debut on the albums chart to date.
The British soul singer has been one of the buzziest acts in the industry this year, with a generational voice drawing comparisons to fellow English powerhouses Adele and Amy Winehouse. Her debut album, Visitor, debuted at No. 9 on Billboard’s albums chart (and No. 2 on the U.K. chart), and odds are this is only the beginning for Spiro, who’s just 20 years old. That album housed record of the year candidate “Die on This Hill” and fellow TikTok smash “You Stole the Show,” while she contributed the biggest song on The Devil Wears Prada 2 with “Material Lover.”
Todd’s 2024 song “Earrings” had a resurgence last year and has become a long-lasting hit for the 23-year-old — at press time, it sits at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 4 on Spotify’s weekly chart. His brand of indie pop has been particularly popular on TikTok, which has spurred much of his recent rise. Do That Again, his second studio album, which was released in June, debuted at No. 5 on the albums chart.
In a year short on new rap stars, Toliver is one of the genre’s few major breakouts, with his album Octane debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 to the tune of 162,000 week-one units. He’s a live powerhouse, too, with his Octane Tour selling out arenas nationwide.
This story appeared in the Oct. 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
