One of them has gone on to become a nine-time Grammy winner.
Fyütch & Aura V
Sam Popp
Hundreds of artists got good news when the 68th annual Grammy Award nominations were announced on Nov. 7, but only two of those artists got it before reaching their 11th birthdays. Both are competing in the category of best children’s music album; both for pairings with a parent. Aura V, 8, is nominated for Harmony, on which she teams with her dad, FYÜTCH. Joya is nominated for Ageless: 100 Years Young, on which she teams with her mom, Joanie Leeds (who won in this category five years ago for All the Ladies).
Just seven other artists in Grammy history have received Grammy nominations before their 11th birthdays. Three of them likewise scored for a collab with a parent. Hazel Monét was nominated for a track from her mom Victoria Monet’s Grammy-winning album, Jaguar II. Bobby Bare Jr. was nominated for a duet with his father, country great Bobby Bare. Blue Ivy Carter was nominated for her role in mom Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl” video.
This year’s other nominees for best children’s music album are Mega Ran’s Buddy’s Magic Tree House, Flor Bromley’s Herstory and Tori Amos’ The Music of Tori and the Muses. This is Amos’ ninth career nomination; her first in this category. All of her other nods have been in rock and alternative categories. She has yet to win a Grammy.
Here’s a list of the nine artists who received Grammy nominations before turning 11. The ages shown are their ages when the nominations were announced. The year shown is the year of the Grammy ceremony.
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Stephen Marley, 10 years, 309 days (1983)
Category: Best ethnic or traditional folk recording
Nominated entry: Reggae Sunsplash ’81, A Tribute to Bob Marley (Various Artists)
Notes: Marley’s first nomination was a member of The Melody Makers. Reggae Sunsplash ’81, A Tribute to Bob Marley also featured Steel Pulse, I-Threes, The Wailers, Eek-A-Mouse, Dennis Brown, Black Uhuru, Sheila Hylton, Gregory Isaacs, Carlene Davis, Mighty Diamonds and Third World.
Stephen Marley is the second son of reggae legend Bob Marley and Rita Marley. Stephen is a nine-time Grammy winner. He won his first Grammy in 1989 as a member of Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers for their album Conscious Party, which won best reggae recording. He won his most recent earlier this year as a producer of Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired by the Film (Deluxe), which won best reggae album.
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Hayden Panttiere, 10 years, 136 days (2000)
Category: Best spoken word album for children
Nominated entry: A Bugs Life Read-Along
Notes: A Bug’s Life was Pixar’s second feature-length film, following Toy Story (1995). The film featured the voices of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Panettiere. The film’s plot was initially inspired by Aesop’s fable The Ant and the Grasshopper.
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Joya Leeds, 10 years, 110 days (2026)
Category: Best children’s music album
Nominated entry: Ageless: 100 Years Young (Joanie Leeds & Joya)
Notes: Joanie Leeds won in this category five years ago for All the Ladies, an all-female concept album which featured Leeds’s original songs about female empowerment and gender equality. Songs included RBG, a song about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the title track, which was sung by Leeds and Lisa Loeb.
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Blue Ivy Carter, 8 years, 322 days (2021)
Category: Best music video
Nominated entry: “Brown Skin Girl,” Beyoncé, Blue Ivy & WizKid
Notes: Blue Ivy is the daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who are the winningest couple in Grammy history, with a combined 60 Grammys. The “Brown Skin Girl” video won on March 14, 2021, when Blue Ivy was 9 years and 66 days old, making her the second-youngest Grammy winner ever. She’s the youngest individually credited winner – i.e., someone who had solo (albeit shared) billing. (LeAnn Rimes is the youngest winner who had solo and unshared billing – i.e., who won for a recording of her/his own. She was 14 years and 182 days old when she won two Grammys in 1997.)
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Bobby Bare Jr., 8 years, 246 days (1975)
Category: Best country vocal performance by a duo or group
Nominated entry: “Daddy What If,” Bobby Bare, Bobby Bare Jr.
Notes: Bobby Bare is probably best known for his 1963 recording of “Detroit City,” which won a Grammy in 1964 for best country & western recording. His version of the Shel Silverstein song “Daddy What If” reached No. 2 on Hot Country Singles in 1973 and No. 41 on the Hot 100. (His son wasn’t credited on the single but was in the official Grammy records. Note that the single was slotted in best country vocal performance by a duo or group, not best country performance, male.)
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DeLeon Richards, 8 years, 160 days (1986)
Category: Best soul gospel performance – female
Nominated entry: DeLeon
Notes: Richards is the youngest person to receive an individual nomination (as opposed to one in which they shared the credit). She followed DeLeon (Myrrh, 1984) with a long string of gospel albums – Don’t Follow the Crowd (Rejoice, 1987), We Need to Hear from You (Word, 1989), New Direction (Word, 1992), My Life (Intersound, 1996), Straight from the Heart (Tommy Boy Gospel, 2001) and Here in Me (DeMari/Arrow, 2008).
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Aura V, 8 years, 125 days (2026)
Category: Best children’s music album
Nominated entry: Harmony by FYÜTCH & Aura V
Notes: FYÜTCH (real name: Harold Simmons II) is an artist and educator whose social justice curriculum is taught in schools nationwide. He hosts the kids’ podcast Once Upon a Beat, “where hip-hop and fairytales meet.” Father and daughter have performed at such venues as Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and even Lollapalooza this summer. The pair also host their own podcast called The Family Frequency, interviewing musicians, authors, scientists and more.
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Leah Peasall, 8 years (2002)
Category: Album of the year
Nominated entry: O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack as a member of The Peasall Sisters
Notes: The Peasall Sisters also included Hannah Peasall, 11, and Sarah Peasall, 14. They provided the singing voices for “the Wharvey Girls,” the daughters of the character played by George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou?. They sang “In the Highways” and “Angel Band” on the soundtrack, which was a surprise sleeper hit, topping the Billboard 200 for two weeks in early 2002. The soundtrack won album of the year, making Leah the youngest Grammy-winner ever, a title she still holds.
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Hazel Monét, 2 years, 348 days (2024)
Category: Best traditional R&B performance
Nominated entry: “Hollywood,” Victoria Monét featuring Earth, Wind & Fire & Hazel Monét
Notes: “Hollywood” was the next-to-last track on JAGUAR II,Victoria Monét’s first full-length studio album. Victoria won three Grammys on the night: best new artist and two awards for JAGUAR II – best R&B album and best engineered album, non-classical.
