There are few moments more immediately significant than an artist learning they’ve earned a Grammy nomination. For KATSEYE‘s Megan, that revelation arrived not during the live reveal or from celebratory screams, but in the glow of KATSEYE’s group chat.
“I woke up a little bit later so I woke up to the group chat going crazy — that’s literally how I found out,” she tells Billboard exclusively during a phone interview just two hours after the Recording Academy announced the 2026 nominees in full. “It’s just me here right now, but the group chat is blowing up.”
With nods in best new artist and best pop duo/group performance, Megan says KATSEYE’s two nominations feel like a confirmation of the whirlwind experience the sextet has been on from their 2023 Dream Academy competition series to climbing up the Billboard Hot 100 as “Gabriela” reaches a new peak of No. 37 this week.
“It’s all settling in and I feel like I haven’t fully come to my — I don’t know — I feel like it hasn’t settled in fully that we are nominated for two Grammy Awards,” she adds. “It’s crazy, I literally woke up to the news. I think throughout the day it’s gonna settle a little bit more, but feeling super grateful.”
Megan
Austin Hargrave
With best pop duo/group performance, “Gabriela” is recognized in a stacked category in this year of superstar team-ups. KATSEYE is up against Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande‘s Wicked duet “Defying Gravity,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA‘s latest collab “30 for 30,” ROSÉ and Bruno Mars‘ multicultural smash “APT.” as well as “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters’ HUNTR/X group of Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami. Megan says the recognition is particularly significant for their position as a global girl group.
“With any award or nomination, it means so much to us because we work so, so hard,” she says. “So, it’s like all of the hard work, those long hours and all the dedication are really paying off. But especially for the best pop duo/group [performance], we really do rely so much on each other; we are literally sisters at the end of the day. So, being able to get nominated with my five best friends is literally a dream come true. It’s the best feeling ever. And especially with what we represent globally, it means so much to each and every one of us. We’re just like so excited and so happy about everything.”
That happiness doesn’t just extend to KATSEYE’s nods, but also to her fellow best new artist nominees, which include friends of the band like Addison Rae, sombr and Alex Warren.
“It’s insane that we’re even in the same category — it’s literally crazy,” the Honolulu native adds. “But yeah, Addison, sombr, even Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, Lola [Young], every single one of them, they’re literally all amazing and we all look up to them in our own ways. We’re so new, so to even be in the same category as these amazing artists is so, so cool. But to be able to share the nomination with some of our friends like Addison, sombr and Alex, it’s really, really cool and I’m proud of each and every one of them as well.”
As for the whole group, KATSEYE shared the following statement on their social media following the Grammy nominations reveal: “We can’t even believe this is real life!! two nominations?! thank you to the Recording Academy we are truly humbled, and congrats to all the nominees today, you inspire us! we wouldn’t be here without our EYEKONS — words can’t describe how grateful we are to you.”
The 68th Annual Grammy Awards will take place Sunday, Feb. 1, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Before that, KATSEYE dropped a new teaser clip today as well, seemingly hinting at something special coming on Nov. 11, tagging the Valorant video game and its accompanying esports league in the caption. Watch below:
