\n\tBest new artist 2025 was a clash of \u201924\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe potential best new artist class of \u201926 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.<\/p>\n
\t\tADDISON RAE\t<\/p>\n
\n\tThis year, the Grammys<\/a> lapped up \u201cEspresso,\u201d awarding Carpenter best pop solo performance. Time will tell if the voting body also has a taste for Rae\u2019s \u201cDiet Pepsi.\u201d (The Columbia artist has submitted the effervescent track \u2014 her first to chart on the Hot 100 \u2014 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 \u2014 a sign the best new artist nom is within grasp? If so, it\u2019d be the ultimate validation of her hard-fought evolution from TikTok influencer to top-tier recording artist.<\/p>\n \t\tALEX WARREN\t<\/p>\n \n\tAlready crowned best new artist at September\u2019s MTV VMAs, Warren is the pop radio story of the year. The Californian\u2019s inescapable \u201cOrdinary\u201d lorded over the Hot 100 for 10 nonconsecutive weeks this year. It\u2019s 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\u2019s EP, You\u2019ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1), and this year\u2019s LP version, featuring collabs with best new artist \u201924 contender Jelly Roll and Blackpink breakout Ros\u00e9.<\/p>\n \t\tGIGI PEREZ\t<\/p>\n \n\tThe Jersey-born Floridian is a dark horse, but she\u2019s 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 \u201cSailor Song,\u201d showcasing her unique, androgynous voice, and the gauzy queer love song went from online smash to Billboard Hot 100 breakout to all-format favorite \u2014 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.<\/p>\n \t\tJESSIE MURPH \t<\/p>\n \n\tHer 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\u2019s 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\u2019t No Man That\u2019s the Devil and Sex Hysteria) during this eligibility period.<\/p>\n \t\tLEON THOMAS\t<\/p>\n \n\tThomas already has a Grammy (for co-writing the 2024 best R&B song, \u201cSnooze,\u201d by SZA), so it\u2019ll 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\u2019s breakthrough year as an artist in his own right, here\u2019s hoping his hat\u2019s 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\u2019t have been made by a neophyte.<\/p>\n \t\tLOLA YOUNG\t<\/p>\n \n\tThe U.K. singer-songwriter\u2019s \u201cMessy\u201d wasn\u2019t just an international smash (here in the U.S., it\u2019s Young\u2019s first Hot 100 hit and topped the Pop Airplay chart). It\u2019s a Gen Z anthem, the 24-year-old\u2019s ode to ADHD and a cultural, cathartic moment in post-millennium music. Released in May 2024, \u201cMessy\u201d (more on page 56)is ineligible for 2026 song of the year or record of the year. It\u2019s still on the Academy\u2019s 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\u2019m Only F***ing Myself (Island), in September, the Ivor Novello \u201925 rising star recipient is almost guaranteed a look.<\/p>\n \t\tTHE MARIAS\t<\/p>\n \n\tThe 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\u2019s Un Verano Sin Ti. That would\u2019ve disqualified the bilingual band from a subsequent best new artist bid, but a new Recording Academy rule reinstates their eligibility since their contribution \u2014 the track, \u201cOtro Atardecer\u201d \u2014 amounts to less than 20 percent of the album\u2019s total playing time. That prior nod now tees them up for Grammy voters, as do their genre-bending sophomore album, Submarine, captivating frontwoman (Mar\u00eda Zardoya) and star-making set at Coachella 2025.<\/p>\n \t\tSOMBR\t<\/p>\n \n\tAt 6-foot-7, Sombr would likely be Grammy\u2019s tallest nominee; at 20, he could be the youngest. The New York City artist\u2019s songs \u2014 and the smoldering vulnerability he breathes into them onstage \u2014 are what truly make the stylish alt rocker, born Shane Boose, a standout (see sidebar). Sombr\u2019s album, I Barely Know Her, has only been out since August, but that\u2019s 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 \u201cUndressed,\u201d \u201cBack to Friends\u201d and \u201c12 to 12\u201d and the handful of album tracks that also scaled the rock charts.<\/p>\n \n\tOther contenders in the mix: BigXthaPlug, Djo, Ella Langley, Sleep Token, Zach Top, Ravyn Lenae, The Red Clay Strays, Rene\u00e9 Rapp, Myles Smith, Role Model, Megan Moroney. <\/p>\n \n\t***<\/p>\n \n\tRead more from\u00a0THR\u2019<\/a>s\u00a0Music Issue<\/a><\/p>\n