Getting a Grammy nomination would seem to say to the music world that you have arrived. You are no longer one of those underrated gems that only the most dedicated fans recognize as being brilliant. But every year, there are still artists who fly under the radar despite getting some Grammy love.
Part of that is because there are about 15-trillion Grammy categories and with five artists typically nominated in each … well, you do the math. 15-trillion times five makes for a lot of musicians to keep track of.
This year, there are plenty of talented nominees who are well-known to their loyal fans but still float under the national radar. I’m not sure the following five artists can match bluegrass fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, who still doesn’t seem to have her own Wikipedia page despite being nominated for Best Bluegrass Album last year.
Five 2026 under-the-radar Grammy Awards nominees
Nonetheless, these are sensational performers who the general public ought to know … and who, as of now, they don’t.
I tried to diversify the list, choosing reps from across the musical landscape. If the Grammys can recognize a billion genres, so can I.
Fred Again..
Nominations: Best Dance/Electric Album: Best Dance/Electric Recording
In one of those weird Grammy twists, Fred Again.. (Frederick John Philip Gibson), was nominated for Best New Artist two years ago despite already having been nominated for a couple of awards in the previous two years. Sometimes you just have to question whether the Recording Academy knows the meaning of the word “new.”
Fred didn’t win the New Artist statue in 2024, but he did secure his first Grammys that year in the same two categories he is nominated in this year. He was a child prodigy, taken under the wing of neighbor Brian Eno, and like his mentor, Fred has pushed the boundaries of electronic music, opening up a vast palette of sounds for producers to explore.
His nominated single “Victory Lap,” with vocalist/rappers Skepta and Plaqueboymax, was a ubiquitous dance track last summer. His nominated album ten days, runs the gamut from the sinewy “places to be” with Anderson .Pak and CHIKA to the slow groove of “ten” with Jazzy and Jim Legxacy to the frenetic banger “glow,” with old pal Skrillex.
Laufey
Nomination: Best Traditional Pop Album
Laufey has already won this award once, for her 2023 album Bewitched. That album was noted for the Icelandic singer’s ability to blend traditional jazz singing with a modern sense of production and lyric.
She continues that on A Matter of Time with a collection of sprightly, gorgeous pop tunes that will make fans out of the most anti-jazz curmudgeons.
Though she may not explore quite as far as Nellie McKay did when breaking down the barriers in traditional pop 20 years ago, Laufey nonetheless scores big with the impossibly catchy “Lover Girl” and quietly dramatic “Too Little, Too Late,” which could pass for Taylor Swift – in the best sense of that analogy.
Clipse
Nominations: Album of the Year; Best Rap Album; Best Rap Performance; Best Music Video
In 2025, Clipse became an overnight success – thirty years in the making. Brothers Gene and Terrence Thornton have plenty of fans in the hip hop world, both as the duo Clipse and as solo artists Malice and Pusha T. But they never seemed to break through to a wider audience the way many of their contemporaries did over the past few decades.
That began to change when the Virginia Beach natives started performing together again in 2019 on tracks by the likes of Kanye West and Nigo. Let God Sort Them Out was their first album together in 16 years, and it exploded.
The album hits big with Pusha’s opening track, the self-flagellating “The Birds Don’t Sing,” with help from John Legend. Later, old friend Ab-Liva joins in on the anthemic “Inglorious Bastards.” Other luminaries like Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator drop by to suggest that even if the public at large has yet to catch up with Clipse, the rap community has always known them.
Sierra Hull
Nominations: Best Bluegrass Album, Best American Roots Song, Best Americana Performance, Best Instrumental Composition
Hull has been awarded Mandolin Player of the Year six times by the International Bluegrass Music Association and has been nominated for a couple of Grammys before her major haul this year. Still, fans today confuse her with Sierra Ferrell, who cleaned up at last year’s Grammys, claiming four trophies – two of which are in the same categories Hull is nominated for this year.
Well, there’s enough room in the world of Americana and Bluegrass for two Sierras. Some traditional bluegrass fans did not like Hull’s move on her 2025 release, A Tip Toe High Wire, toward more folk and pop-adjacent songs.
But there is still plenty of mandolin and fiddle dressing up first-rate tunes like “Come Out of My Blues” and the instrumental workout “Lord, That’s a Long Way.” There’s even a Bela Fleck banjo tune.
As for the two nominated songs, I’m not sure what makes “Boom” Americana while “Spitfire” is American Roots. I just know they are both sensational songs, regardless of genre.
Leon Thomas
Nominations: Album of the Year; Best New Artist; Best R&B Album; Best R&B Song; Best R&B Performance, Best Traditional R&B Performance
Leon Thomas is pretty famous by this point. As a child actor, he appeared on Broadway, TV, and in film. Before he hit adulthood, kids knew him as Andre on the tv show Victorius. But I’m not sure many people recognized what a truly gifted artist he was before his 2024 album Mutt.
Thomas scored a songwriting nomination on Rick Ross and Drake’s song “Gold Roses” back in 2019 and won the award for co-writing SZA’s “Snooze” in 2022. Still, who was prepared for Mutt, which has garnered four nominations in the R&B field, along with two more nominations in the Big Four categories – Album of the Year and Best New Artist?
Perhaps it is his preternatural versatility that has led Thomas to fly a bit under the radar as a performer, but that is now changing. Thomas can do smooth pop with the best of them, but his sonic explorations on jazzier compositions like “Safe Place” and “Feelings of the Silent” with Wale reveal a genuine artist who promises to create brilliant music for many years to come.
Maybe “underrated” is a debatable designation for an artist as well-known as Thomas, but it merely reveals how much more acclaim he deserves.