It happens every year: The Grammys release their nominees for Best New Artist, and the list contains acts far too established to be described as "new." But musicians have to be submitted for consideration in these categories, which means either the artist or someone from their business operation thrust them into that conversation.
This year, 337 artists were submitted for Best New Artist consideration, as Billboard points out. There are some veritable locks among them, like rising pop stars Alex Warren and Sombr. I wouldn't be surprised to see applicants Addison Rae or Role Model in there either.
But there are plenty of wild cards too. For instance, Bandcamp's favorite son Alex G, who released his major-label debut Headlights this year, has been submitted for BNA consideration even though Headlights is his 10th album. His fellow indie rock star MJ Lenderman is also vying for Best New Artist status, as are Dijon, Djo, Blondshell, the Marías, Ella Langley, PinkPantheress, BigXthaPlug, Gigi Perez, Lola Young, Ravyn Lenae, JADE, KATSEYE, Babymetal (speaking of artists who've been around forever), Reneé Rapp, Sleep Token, Megan Moroney, Mustafa, Keke Palmer, Zach Top, Mariah The Scientist, Bailey Zimmerman, and so many more.
First-round voting opened today and will continue through Oct. 15. Nominations will be announced on Nov. 7. The final round of voting will then run from Dec. 12 through Jan. 5. The winners will be announced on Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, most of them during the Premiere Ceremony in the afternoon ahead of the big show later that night.
