American pop has rarely looked less interested in staying inside one lane. A sleeper indie-R&B song can spend two years finding its audience before reaching the Billboard Hot 100. A former reality-show contestant can sell out a North American headline tour before releasing her debut album. Country-pop can move from a phone screen to Lollapalooza and the upper reaches of the Hot 100 in a matter of months.
- 1. Malcolm Todd: the sleeper hit that became a U.S. breakthrough
- 2. Stella Lefty: country-pop’s fast-moving new name
- 3. Audrey Hobert: America’s funniest new pop songwriter is breaking through
- 4. ADÉLA: the pop bet that is getting much harder to call early
- 5. Bella Kay: from TikTok discovery to the Billboard Hot 100
- Why these five artists matter to U.S. listeners now
- Five songs to add before everyone else does
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
That makes the final stretch of 2026 unusually interesting. Audrey Hobert, ADÉLA, Malcolm Todd, Bella Kay and Stella Lefty are all reaching American listeners from different corners of the current music landscape, but the signals around them are becoming difficult to miss: Billboard entries, sold-out U.S. shows, major festival appearances, streaming growth and increasingly visible media moments.
These are not five artists waiting for something to happen. It is already happening. The better question is how much bigger each name will look by December.
1. Malcolm Todd: the sleeper hit that became a U.S. breakthrough
Malcolm Todd is the clearest example here of how strangely a hit can move in 2026.
“Earrings” first appeared on Todd’s Sweet Boy project, but its real acceleration came later. By 2026, the intimate, slightly psychedelic R&B-pop track had crossed into the American mainstream, becoming an RIAA Platinum-certified single and reaching the Billboard Hot 100. Columbia Records reported in June that it had climbed to No. 26 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 on Spotify’s Weekly U.S. Songs chart.
That is no longer niche momentum. It is an American crossover.
Todd followed it on June 5 with Do That Again, released through Columbia Records. The album then opened at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 67,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., according to reported Billboard chart data — his strongest album debut to date.
The surrounding markers look just as important. Todd made his debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing “I Saw Your Face” and “Earrings.” All 13 songs from Do That Again subsequently appeared on Spotify’s U.S. chart, alongside three older tracks. His North American headline tour begins in Texas in September and runs through an October finale at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.
Yet the music itself remains oddly unhurried. Todd sings with a loose, close-mic intimacy while bass, guitar and hazy production move underneath him. Nothing sounds designed to announce its own importance. That softness is precisely what makes the scale of his 2026 breakthrough so interesting.
Start with: “Earrings,” “I Saw Your Face” and “Chest Pain (I Love).”
Follow: @malcolmtodd on Instagram
The U.S. signal: Billboard Hot 100 success, a Top 5 Billboard 200 album, major U.S. Spotify activity, late-night television and a full North American tour.
2. Stella Lefty: country-pop’s fast-moving new name
Stella Lefty’s rise has moved at a different speed.
Her breakout single “Boston” has become one of 2026’s clearest American success stories from a new artist. By early August, the track had climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, a remarkable position for a singer-songwriter still releasing her first full-length body of work.
The song carries country storytelling inside a contemporary pop frame, with the kind of melodic openness that feels equally natural coming through car speakers or a festival PA. Lefty’s Chicago roots give the story another layer. In August, she returned to her hometown to perform at Lollapalooza after attending the festival as a fan since she was 15.
It was the sort of circular career moment that usually arrives much later.
The timing matters because Lefty is still accelerating. Her debut album Long Way Home arrives August 21, only weeks after “Boston” reached its new Hot 100 peak. She has also moved into awards-season visibility as a first-time 2026 MTV VMA nominee.
Around “Boston,” songs including “Something To Lose” and “I Know I Know” show why the breakthrough could extend beyond one record. Lefty’s writing is direct without becoming anonymous. There is dust, distance and movement in these songs, but the production keeps them firmly inside the present rather than treating country as vintage scenery.
Start with: “Boston,” “Something To Lose” and “I Know I Know.”
Follow: @stellalefty on Instagram
The U.S. signal: a No. 3 Billboard Hot 100 hit, a hometown Lollapalooza performance, VMA recognition and a debut album arriving August 21.
3. Audrey Hobert: America’s funniest new pop songwriter is breaking through
Audrey Hobert’s songs have the timing of good dialogue. A detail lands. Something awkward happens. The joke appears, and a second later you realise the line underneath it is considerably sadder.
That instinct makes sense. Hobert studied screenwriting and worked in television before her solo career, then became known musically through writing with childhood friend Gracie Abrams. She co-wrote songs including Abrams’ enormous “That’s So True” before placing her own voice at the centre of the frame.
Her 2025 debut album Who’s the Clown? supplied the material. In 2026, America has increasingly supplied the audience.
The clearest marker arrived in August when “Sue Me” entered the Billboard Hot 100. Hobert acknowledged the song’s slow-burn success during an August NPR Tiny Desk performance, a particularly fitting setting for songs that depend as much on personality and phrasing as polished studio scale.
Her American live footprint is expanding at the same time. The 2026 Staircase to Stardom Tour has included U.S. dates alongside Lollapalooza and Outside Lands appearances, with three nights at Brooklyn Paramount scheduled for late September, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in October and both weekends of Austin City Limits.
Then there is the unlikely family subplot. Hobert’s younger brother is Malcolm Todd. Both siblings have broken through in the same year, even appearing together at Outside Lands. It would be an irresistible story if the music were not strong enough to stand without it. Fortunately, it is.
“Sue Me,” “Wet Hair” and “Bowling Alley” make Hobert’s appeal clear. She writes about desire, humiliation and romantic self-sabotage with enough humour to stop vulnerability from becoming solemn.
Start with: “Sue Me,” “Wet Hair” and “Bowling Alley.”
Follow: @audreyhobert on Instagram
The U.S. signal: a new Billboard Hot 100 entry, NPR Tiny Desk, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Austin City Limits and an expanding American headline tour.
4. ADÉLA: the pop bet that is getting much harder to call early
ADÉLA may be the most useful name on this list for readers who still want the feeling of getting there before the room becomes crowded.
The Slovak singer and dancer first became widely visible through The Debut: Dream Academy and Netflix’s Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE. Not making KATSEYE could have reduced her to a footnote in somebody else’s origin story. Instead, she has spent the following period constructing a solo career with increasingly clear edges.
The American infrastructure around that career is now substantial. ADÉLA is signed to Capitol Records. She opened for Demi Lovato on the North American It’s Not That Deep Tour. Her own first North American headline run sold out, following earlier sold-out solo performances in New York and Los Angeles.
Streaming is beginning to follow. By August, ADÉLA had more than 3.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, while “Ain’t In LA” had reached the U.S. Spotify chart after its July release.
Now comes the larger statement. Her debut album PRIMA arrives September 4 through Capitol, executive-produced by Dylan Brady and Blake Slatkin. Previous singles “KGB” and “Red Bottoms” have established an abrasive, physical form of pop where her professional ballet background feels embedded in the music rather than attached as biography.
“Ain’t In LA” opens another window. Its glossy production surrounds a song concerned with distance, immigration, ambition and the strange geography of becoming visible. The accompanying video was shot in Bratislava rather than Los Angeles, keeping her point of origin inside an increasingly American pop career.
This is the artist on the list with the most obvious near-term catalyst. If PRIMA connects in September, ADÉLA could look significantly less “emerging” by the end of the year.
Start with: “Ain’t In LA,” “KGB” and “SexOnTheBeat.”
Follow: @adelajergova on Instagram
The U.S. signal: Capitol Records, 3.2 million-plus Spotify monthly listeners, U.S. Spotify traction, Demi Lovato support dates and a sold-out North American headline tour ahead of PRIMA.
5. Bella Kay: from TikTok discovery to the Billboard Hot 100
Bella Kay is the discovery pick here, but the numbers already extend well beyond a small internet following.
The 20-year-old Texas singer-songwriter first found a large audience with “The Sick,” a bedroom-born ballad whose online reach became enormous. According to Atlantic Records, the song has passed 210 million streams and generated more than 2.6 billion TikTok views.
Then “iloveitiloveitiloveit” pushed the story into American chart territory.
The track reached the Billboard Hot 100 and earned an American Music Awards nomination for Song of the Summer. By August, Atlantic reported more than 445 million streams for the song alongside billions of views generated through TikTok creations. It has also been climbing at U.S. pop radio.
Those are the metrics of a viral song becoming something sturdier.
Kay released her debut album My Reckless Abandon in July. Built around one central breakup, the record keeps the confessional closeness of her earlier songwriting while widening the production around it. “i deserve better.,” “Sleep for Dinner” and “The Sick” all work because Kay is willing to leave unattractive emotions in the frame.
Her American live audience is developing too. A sold-out North American headline run has already moved the project beyond bedroom-pop mythology, while 2026 festival appearances have included All Things Go and Lollapalooza.
There is also a useful indicator that cannot be reduced to chart mathematics: SZA has publicly emerged as a fan. For a young songwriter operating near the border of intimate pop and alternative textures, that co-sign makes intuitive sense.
Start with: “iloveitiloveitiloveit,” “The Sick” and “i deserve better.”
Follow: @itsbellakayyy on Instagram
The U.S. signal: Billboard Hot 100 placement, an American Music Awards nomination, hundreds of millions of streams, U.S. pop-radio growth, Lollapalooza and a sold-out North American tour.
Why these five artists matter to U.S. listeners now
The useful distinction is that none of these artists needs to be introduced as an entirely hypothetical “next big thing.” American listeners are already responding.
Malcolm Todd has a Top 5 Billboard 200 album. Stella Lefty has reached the Top 3 of the Hot 100. Audrey Hobert has crossed onto the Hot 100 while moving through major American festivals. Bella Kay has turned TikTok-scale attention into a U.S. chart record, pop-radio movement and sold-out shows. ADÉLA has sold out a North American tour before PRIMA has even arrived.
What makes the group interesting is everything those numbers fail to explain.
Todd’s music is soft and slightly crooked. Hobert makes embarrassment funny. ADÉLA approaches pop like choreography under hard white stage light. Kay leaves the messy parts of heartbreak visible. Lefty brings open-road country warmth into the streaming era.
Different sounds. Different routes. The common thread is recognisability.
Five songs to add before everyone else does
- Malcolm Todd — “Earrings” for hazy indie-R&B that became a genuine American sleeper hit.
- Stella Lefty — “Boston” for the country-pop crossover already sitting near the top of America’s biggest singles chart.
- Audrey Hobert — “Sue Me” for conversational pop with a grin hiding somewhere inside the bruise.
- ADÉLA — “Ain’t In LA” for a glimpse of what PRIMA could bring in September.
- Bella Kay — “iloveitiloveitiloveit” for the point where bedroom confession meets a Billboard-sized audience.
Conclusion
There is still enough of 2026 left for this list to age quickly.
That is part of its appeal. ADÉLA has a debut album weeks away. Stella Lefty is releasing hers almost immediately. Malcolm Todd is taking a Top 5 album across North America. Audrey Hobert’s “Sue Me” has just reached the Hot 100 as her U.S. touring footprint expands. Bella Kay is moving from viral discovery toward pop radio and a durable live audience.
By December, the statistics will have changed. The more important question is whether the voices remain identifiable when everything around them gets louder.
Right now, all five are unusually easy to recognise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the rising artists to watch in the U.S. in 2026?
Audrey Hobert, ADÉLA, Malcolm Todd, Bella Kay and Stella Lefty are five rising artists with meaningful U.S. momentum in 2026. Between them, they have Billboard chart entries, major American festival appearances, sold-out tours, streaming growth and new album campaigns.
What are the biggest Malcolm Todd songs?
“Earrings” is Malcolm Todd’s defining 2026 U.S. breakthrough, while “I Saw Your Face” and “Chest Pain (I Love)” are strong starting points for new listeners. His album Do That Again debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
Who sings “Boston” in 2026?
Stella Lefty sings the 2026 breakout hit “Boston.” The song reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 by August, ahead of her debut album Long Way Home.
Who is Audrey Hobert?
Audrey Hobert is an American singer-songwriter, writer and director. She previously co-wrote music with Gracie Abrams before releasing her debut album Who’s the Clown?. Her single “Sue Me” entered the Billboard Hot 100 in August 2026.
When is ADÉLA’s debut album coming out?
ADÉLA’s debut album PRIMA is scheduled for September 4, 2026, through Capitol Records. It is executive-produced by Dylan Brady and Blake Slatkin and follows singles including “KGB,” “Red Bottoms” and “Ain’t In LA.”
Who is Bella Kay?
Bella Kay is a 20-year-old Texas singer-songwriter whose viral breakthrough expanded into Billboard Hot 100 success with “iloveitiloveitiloveit.” She released her debut album My Reckless Abandon in July 2026.
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