Meet Cosmo’s Grammys Sound of Now: Class of 2026 (Exclusive)

At Cosmopolitan, The Sound of Now is our way of celebrating the artists who are defining music in real time. Welcome to our Sound of Now: Class of 2026, a special digital issue that brings you inside Grammys weekend.

Like many of you, I grew up blasting Alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne, artists whose hits taught me that real emotional wisdom could live inside a hook. The writers of my favorite songs mirrored what growing up felt like in real time, long before I had the language to articulate it myself. And that’s still the magic of music today. It gives shape to our feelings and tells us we’re not alone.

This Grammys weekend, I was lucky enough to meet so many of the artists shaping the sound of now. As I moved through Universal Music Group’s 2026 Artist Showcase, I kept thinking about what so many of you readers share with me: that music buoys you through the highs and the lows. When you’re spiraling about a situationship, you reach for Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR and GUTS. When you’re looking for perspective after a sudden breakup, Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving stays on repeat. When you’re in your head, you turn to Conan Gray, who can stretch a feeling through a song until it snaps (“Heather,” anyone?). And, like me, when you want to dance, you truly can’t stop yourself from streaming KATSEYE.

Seeing this connection play out in real time at UMG’s showcase made Grammys weekend feel particularly special. I loved hearing Stephen Sanchez’s Nashville-rooted nostalgic tracks and can confirm Leon Thomas’s discography is a must-listen. I can also now personally attest that the stars of KPop Demon Hunters are even more fashionable in person, YUNGBLUD looks unreal in Chrome Hearts, Moneybagg Yo is the coolest, and Samara Joy is an absolute delight. Tucker Wetmore’s presence was felt in every corner of Los Angeles this weekend, and Noah Kahan’s forthcoming documentary (announced at this year’s Music Is Universal artist showcase), already feels like a story we’ll all want to sit with (and, as Cosmopolitan, cover!).

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Our Grammys Weekend’s Sound of Now: Class of 2026 doesn’t stop there. As you’ll see in our special digital issue, Jelly Roll and Charley Crockett are real-life friends, Ayra Starr is the moment, Sienna Spiro is a singular talent, and Jon Batiste is equal parts brilliant musician and menswear icon. Each of them, in wildly different ways, is expanding what pop, rap, country, jazz, and global music can hold: humor and heartbreak, softness and sincerity.

I’ve always believed the songs we love help us understand who we are becoming. And this Grammys weekend, surrounded by the voices shaping music right now, that belief feels truer than ever. We are so excited to bring you inside music’s biggest weekend, exactly as it sounds and feels. These moments of celebration extend beyond the Grammys ceremony and give us the chance to take stock of what music gives us. The feelings we return to. The stories we replay. The art that outlasts the trophies and meets us where we are long after the lights go down.