Why Stella Lefty Isn’t Likely to Be Left Out of Grammy’s Best New Artist Category
Categoria: Musica
This could be a history-making year for country artists in the high-profile category.
Por Billboard | 04/08/2026
On Sunday (Aug. 2), during her Lollapalooza set, Stella Lefty announced that her debut album, Long Way Home , will be released Aug. 21 via Atlantic Outpost. That release date is exactly one week before the end of the eligibility period for the 69th annual Grammy Awards. The Chicago-born singer/songwriter, who turns 24 on Aug. 13, has a good chance of landing a best new artist nomination and could contribute to a historic showing for country artists. Ella Langley and Megan Moroney are both very likely to be nominated. If all three make it, this will be the first time that three country artists have been nominated in the same year. Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris were both nominated in 2017, back when there were just five nominees in the category. (There are currently eight nominees in each of the so-called Big Four categories – album, record and song of the year plus best new artist.) Related Stella Lefty on Her Hot 100 Hit ‘Boston’ and Blending Musical Genres on New EP: ‘I Don’t Want to Put Myself Into a Box’ How Stella Lefty Broke Into the Hot 100’s Top 20 With ‘Boston’ & Set a Country Albums Mark Boston Loves ‘Boston’: Stella Lefty’s Breakthrough Hit Is ‘Country for the Northeast’ Two country artists (broadly defined) have been nominated in the category twice since then: Luke Combs and Margo Price in 2019 and Jelly Roll and The War and Treaty in 2024. Other country artists who could be nominated this year include Tucker Wetmore and The Red Clay Strays . Lefty opened shows this year on Wetmore’s The Brunette World Tour. Lefty’s current hit “Boston” exploded at just the right time. It reached No. 3 on last week’s Billboard Hot 100 and this week dips to No. 5. Lefty co-wrote the song, which interpolates Noah Kahan ’s “Stick Season.” (Kahan was a best new artist nominee in 2024.) Lefty – it’s a simplified version of her last name, Lefkofsky – grew up listening to country and pop artists, including Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley. Billboard ’s Jessica Nicholson profiled Lefty in May, soon after she made a big impression at the Stagecoach country music festival – even though she wasn’t officially on the bill. She joined tourmate Cameron Whitcomb for a rendition of Tyler Childers’ “All Your’n,” and sang “Boston” during Wyatt Flores’ and Diplo’s respective sets. “It’s so crazy to be so embraced in a genre that I’ve always loved,” Lefty told Nicholson. “Country music has been such a huge part of my life. And I feel like it’s always scary when you start making music that kind of bleeds into a genre. Country is so specific about who they embrace and how they go about things, so to be accepted in that world is truly the greatest honor.” That love for both country and pop threads through her music. “I’ve been super particular about wanting to live in both spaces as best as I can,” Lefty added. “Every time we’ve been talking about doing something, it’s like, ‘Maybe it would be he