Don Toliver among 331 on Best New Artist entry list for 2027 Grammys
Don Toliver has five straight top 10 albums. He is now listed as a Best New Artist hopeful for the 2027 Grammy Awards.
Toliver appears on a 331-artist entry list vying for a nomination in the category, Billboard reported on 12 October 2026. An entry is not a nomination. It means the artist was put forward for consideration.
First-round voting for the 2027 Grammys opened on Monday, 12 October 2026 and runs through Thursday, 22 October 2026, according to Grammy.com. Before that vote, entries are screened for eligibility and category placement, the Recording Academy says.
Toliver’s presence stands out because of his chart history. He has placed five consecutive albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the United States album chart, dating back to March 2020. Earlier this year he earned his first No. 1 on that chart with Octane.
Sam Fender is another established name on the list. He became eligible after “Rein Me In,” his collaboration with Olivia Dean, gave him his first hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the US singles chart. Fender was nominated for best new artist at the Brit Awards in February 2020.
A rule change helps explain some familiar names. The Academy increased the number of times an artist can be entered for Best New Artist from three to four this year. Ella Langley and Ken Carson had each been entered three times before. Both are on the entry list again. Geese, previously entered twice, also made the list.
Langley was nominated for new artist of the year at the 2025 CMA Awards and lost to Zach Top.
Country singer Megan Moroney is not on the entry list. Moroney won new artist of the year at the CMA Awards in November 2024.
Award-season overlap runs through the list. Four nominees for best new artist at the MTV VMAs on 27 September are entered for the Grammy category: Sienna Spiro, Bella Kay, Malcolm Todd and Stella Lefty. Spiro won the VMA. Two other VMA nominees in the same category, Cortis and Myles Smith, are not on the Grammy entry list.
Country awards tell a similar split story. Avery Anna, Carter Faith and Stephen Wilson Jr., who are nominated for new artist of the year at the CMA Awards on 18 November, are on the Grammy entry list. Fellow CMA nominees Tucker Wetmore and Emily Ann Roberts are not.
Kwn and Monaleo, both nominated for best new artist at the BET Awards on 28 June, are on the Grammy entry list. Audrey Hobert and Malcolm Todd are separately entered.
The list also includes Violet Grohl, daughter of Dave Grohl, and North West, daughter of Ye and Kim Kardashian. The Last Dinner Party, which won best new artist at the Brit Awards in March 2025, is entered.
Other entries include CMAT, Yeat, Yung Miami, Role Model, Muna, Miles Caton, October London, Key Glock, The Beaches, Holly Humberstone and Suki Waterhouse.
What makes this stand out is the mix. Long-charting acts sit alongside recent award winners and first-year contenders. Voters now narrow that 331-name field to the final nominees.
