It’s been quite the past few years for Maryland musician Maggie Rogers.
At this point, the singer-songwriter’s success story has been told and retold countless times, from The New York Times to Rolling Stone to the Today show—a living testament to dreaming big.
For those who missed it, the Eastern Shore native skyrocketed onto the national stage after a video from one of her New York University music classes went viral on YouTube in 2016. In it, master producer Pharrell Williams of “Happy” fame literally drops his jaw as Rogers plays her song “Alaska,” which would eventually become her first single. His reaction, and their interaction, is infectious, and the rest is history.
Over the next few years, Rogers would nab a Capitol Records deal, put on a stunning performance as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, open for Mumford & Sons on their world tour, take the stage at Coachella, and sell out every venue on her own national run of shows. Perhaps biggest of all, this past January, her debut album, Heard It In A Past Life, was released to critical acclaim and chart-climbing accolades for its come-as-you-are attitude and girl-power folk-pop sound.
Now, those accumulated accomplishments have landed Rogers her first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Announced this morning, her fellow nominees include such big names as rap star Lizzo, electropop artist Billie Eilish, and country-hop wavemaker Lil Nas X, as well as Black Pumas, Rosalía, Tank and the Bangas, and Yola.
Other Maryland nominees include Prince George’s County rapper YBN Cordae, whose The Lost Boy and “Bad Idea” featuring Chance the Rapper were nominated for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song, respectively. Meanwhile, Anne Arundel County’s Brothers Osborne were nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their single “I Don’t Remember Me (Before You).” Baltimore’s very own John Waters was also nominated for Best Spoken Word Album for his audio book of Mr. Know-It-All.
See the 62nd annual awards on January 26, 2020, at 8 p.m. EST. on CBS.