The 68th Annual Grammy Awards are just days away on Sunday, February 1, 2026. There are 95 categories this year, and one of the most coveted is Best New Artist. There are 8 nominees, and The Marías are representing "la cultura" with Puerto Rican-born María Zardoya leading the bilingual group. They join: Olivia Dean, KATSEYE, Addison Rae, sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, and Lola Young as nominees.
It's officially GRAMMY Week, and the Recording Academy has four days of events at the Grammy House, with the help of Patron, the Official Tequila Partner. It kicked off with the Best New Artist Spotlight on Wednesday morning. The event was moderated by five-time Grammy Award-winning artist, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and former Recording Academy Board of Trustees Chair Jimmy Jam, and songwriter, activist, and GRAMMY nominee, Justin Tranter.
While Zardoya was not able to make the event, the rest of her band: drummer and producer Josh Conway, guitarist Jesse Perlman, and keyboardist, Edward Jamee, were there, and they took the stage and opened up about their journey. Zardoya and Conway founded The Marías in 2016 when they were still a couple. While they broke up in 2022, they've been making it work.
When asked what's a cool risk they took that paid off creatively he declared, "Starting a band with your girlfriend." "They said it would be tough, but we persevered, we made it work, and it’s been the biggest payoff of our lives," he continued.
Conway and Zardoya aren't the only members that go way back, the band members are chilldhood friends. "For us, being friends first really helped with the rigorous life of touring. Touring is not easy with anyone, but knowing each other helps," they explained. "You have to laugh to get through a lot of things in this industry."
After being around for 10 years, they'll be the first to admit, they don't exactly feel "new." With two EPs and two studio albums, they are still fully independent in how they make music - which is exactly what makes the Best New Artist nomination land differently.
It’s a reminder that success doesn’t always show up early or loudly, and that sometimes the real win is simply staying together long enough for the spotlight to finally catch up. And having a fan base adds another exciting layer. "It’s amazing. If this had happened six or seven years ago, it might’ve felt different, but now we’ve built a foundation and have loyal fans. It feels like a bonus," they said.
If they win an award, there's some things they hope never change, "Staying true to our gut feeling. We’ve always picked songs based on what feels right - specifically Maria’s gut," they explained. "We do a gut check with every song. If it passes, it goes on the album. If not, it lives on a hard drive somewhere."
Something else that won't change - the way they make music. One fun fact is that Conway produces all their songs. "We’ve always made music the same way. We’ve never worked with a producer - Josh produces everything at his home studio. That’s probably never going to change," Perlman said.
While they've been making music for around a decade, their breakout came in 2022 when they were featured on Bad Bunny’s song “Otro Atardecer.” Then, “No One Noticed” from their second album, “Submarine,” went viral, and in 2025, they collaborated with Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco on the song “Ojos Tristes” from their joint album. When opening up about their viral hits, Conway explained it's never the songs they expect.
"The songs that go viral for us are kind of anti-hits. They’re not uptempo, not traditional radio hits," he said. '“No One Noticed' was a sleeper on the album—we didn’t even make a video for it. Same with “Heavy” from Cinema. We never expected those to be the biggest songs."
The Marias will also perform on Sunday, but when it comes to what they're look forward to most, it's "seeing our friends and family watch us on actual network TV." "This is for the people," they explained.
The ceremony airs Sunday, February 1, 2026, live from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, broadcast on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.