We’re still more than five months out from the Grammys on Feb. 7, 2027, but already, the music industry is having to take the awards into consideration. That’s because as of today, Aug. 28, the eligibility window for the 69th edition of music’s highest honor has come to a close.
Now, five months might seem like a long time to wait for the actual show, but that leaves plenty of time to begin theorizing which artists will make a splash with nominations on Nov. 16 and eventually compete for Grammys come February.
To kick us off, let’s take a look at which artists snuck in an album release just under the deadline, who has music coming out in the next few weeks that will have to wait to compete, and where things stand in the major categories as eligibility ends.
Who Just Made It
After a Best New Artist nomination last year, Alex Warren followed up a 2025 dominated by his song “Ordinary” by releasing his second full-length album. While singles “Passenger” and “Rescuer” were already out and eligible, the rest of the record, Wildchild, dropped just in time for consideration.
Warren will join other late-cycle entries like Alabama Shakes and Sara Bareilles, who each released records on the final day of eligibility. Killers frontman Brandon Flowers also made a late entry, dropping his Thrasher last week. And while that could seem too late to make a serious impact on the races, it’s worth considering Phoebe Bridgers, whose third album, Lost Weekend, dropped two weeks ago and quickly climbed in the predictions.
Who’s Waiting Until 2028
A quick look at upcoming music releases reveals a number of higher-profile artists who will be waiting until 2028 for consideration on their next records. Carly Rae Jepsen has released four tracks off of her upcoming double album, Day and Night, but the collection won’t be out until mid-September and will have to compete in the year after next.
Next month will also see releases from Beabadoobee, Orville Peck, and Leon Bridges — all of whom have debuted singles during eligibility but will drop albums after the window closes.
The States of the Races
If you’re a previous winner of Best New Artist whose first name is Olivia, you probably feel pretty good about your odds of some major Grammy nominations come November.
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Olivias Rodrigo and Dean are both polling within nomination range in all three top categories — Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. Other big players in the general field are Raye, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift, whose The Life of a Showgirl dropped way back on Oct. 3, 2025.
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INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 12: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Lil Uzi Vert performs at the Coachella Stage during the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Coachella)
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The other big question heading into nominations is “How big will ‘Choosin’ Texas’ be? Ella Langley recently tied the record for second-longest reign on the top of the Hot 100, but its genre could be a hindrance in general field categories that have been historically hostile to country artists. The singer currently occupies a different No. 1 spot — Gold Derby’s most likely Best New Artist nominee — but it remains to be seen whether the Record Academy is willing to choose “Choosin’ Texas.”
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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – FEBRUARY 8: Singer-songwriter Tucker Wetmore arrives at the Sports Illustrated’s SI The Party at Mardi Gras World on February 8, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Skip Bolen/Getty Images)
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