The 2026 Best New Artist Grammy Nominees Performed At Spotify’s Annual Pre-Party

The Grammys are happening this Sunday, Feb. 1. Last night, Spotify kicked off the weekend's festivities with their annual pre-party, which celebrated the Best New Artist nominees. The event returned this year following its cancellation last year due to wildfire recovery and took place at the Lot at Formosa in West Hollywood. All Best New Artist nominees — Olivia Dean, Addison Rae, Katseye, the Marías, sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, Lola Young — were given slots to perform a few songs.

Only two nominees — the Chainsmokers and Maren Morris — performed at Spotify's first iteration of their Best New Artist party in 2017. This year, all nominees performed three or four songs. They kept the integrity of their tracks intact, performing them in full as opposed to adhering to the awards ceremony's time constraints. According to the Independent, "The stage rotated to reveal another backline, leaving the audience to guess who would emerge next." The artists performed in the following order: Leon Thomas, Lola Young, The Marías, Alex Warren, Katseye, sombr, Addison Rae, and Olivia Dean.

Sounds like they were all in good form. Notably, Lola Young seemed to be in good spirits. Young's first public appearance since canceling a few plans and taking well-needed break, was at Lily Allen's Christmas party last month. The following day she shared a that she would "gradually get back to performing and continuing pursuing my dreams." I really hope that vocal queen is doing well.

Other heartening news around the noms is that sombr covered fellow nom Olivia Dean's "Man I Need." Also, Chappell Roan was interviewed by Trisha Paytas. Lots to think about. Lots to take in.

Watch clips below.