Best New Artist Grammy nominee Teddy Swims exclusively told E! News what parenting advice his pal Thomas Rhett gave him ahead of the birth of his first baby.
Prepare to lose control when you see Teddy Swims at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
The singer, who is nominated for Best New Artist at the Feb. 2 ceremony in Los Angeles, revealed how he’s bringing his signature style to the red carpet with a look only he could pull off.
“My favorite thing about me,” Teddy exclusively told E! News Jan. 31, “is I always try to go for a little punk rock, but a little bit of babygirl, you know? So there’s little hearts, there’s a little bit of barbed wire action. It’s really all tough and really flashy, so I’m excited.”
Indeed, the 32-year-old intends to make a bold statement when he arrives at music’s biggest night, styled in pieces from KAY Jewelers.
“It’s all about love and style, and that lines up with me exactly,” he continued. “And so I’m really, really grateful to have this opportunity and this partnership.”
While Teddy will face some stiff competition in the Best New Artist category from Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Khruangbin, RAYE, Chappell Roan and Shaboozey, the first-time nominee is also gearing up for his debut Grammy performance, where he’ll hit the stage in front of music’s biggest stars.
“I don’t know how nervous I’m going to be yet, I guess until we get to that moment,” the singer admitted. “Hopefully there’s no mess-ups. I just try to stay out of my own way and stay out of my head about it.”
No matter what happens on Grammy night, Teddy has another exciting milestone on the horizon: the arrival of his first baby with pregnant girlfriend Raiche Wright, due in June. And the father-to-be has already gotten parenting tips from his “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Woman” collaborator Thomas Rhett, who shares four daughters with wife Lauren Akins.
“[Thomas] said, ‘Look, there are times where these kids, they know when you’re not fully, fully, 100% present and focused on them,’” Teddy recalled. “He said, ‘You just got to make sure, no matter what, put your phone down. Just be fully present with them, because you won’t get those moments again.’”
For more on Teddy and his fellow Best New Artist nominees, keep reading.
Sabrina Carpenter
A decade after playing Maya on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World, Sabrina is now working late, ’cause she’s a singer. With hits like “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” under her belt, the 25-year-old solidified herself as a bona fide pop princess with her 2024 album Short n’ Sweet.
Before embarking on her global tour of the same name, she spent a whole lot of time in the company of pop royalty as the opening act for Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour. Now, she’s a six-time Grammy nominee as she’s also up for Record of the Year and Album of the Year.
Chappell Roan
Good luck, babe! The breakout synth-pop artist—whose birth name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz—is up for six Grammys for her breakthrough 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which is a nod to her upbringing in Willard, Missouri.
Indeed, the last year has marked quite a whirlwind journey for the artist, whose latest album is full of hits like “HOT TO GO!” and “Casual.” But the song that has everyone fighting the urge to get up and dance is the 26-year-old’s 2024 single “Good Luck, Babe!”
Shaboozey
The “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer is another artist who has had quite the year—in the country space and beyond. For starters, his hit single—an interpolation of J-Kwon’s 2004 hit has gone certified platinum, and became a staple on the radio airwaves.
And then Shaboozey—born Collins Obinna Chibueze with his stage name borrowing from a mispronunciation of his last name—collaborated with Beyoncé on two songs for her Cowboy Carter album: “SPAGHETTII” and “SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN.”
Known for bridging the gap between country music and hip-hop, this Virginia native is also nominated for Song of the Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance.
Benson Boone
Teddy Swims
It’s been five years since the 32-year-old dropped a cover of Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” on Spotify. Now, Teddy (real name Jaten Collin Dimsdale) is taking off for his own hits, including “Lose Control,” “The Door” and “Hammer to the Heart,” all on his 2023 album, I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1).
The artist, who hails from Atlanta, blends genres of R&B, soul, country and pop into his music.
Raye
Go ahead and just hold those Oscar winning tears, because the British music sensation is Grammy-bound. The R&B and jazz singer took the music world by storm with the release of her 2022 single “Escapism,” which went mega-viral on TikTok and ended up on her 2023 album My 21st Century Blues alongside “Oscar Winning Tears” and “Worth it.”
In the few short years following, Hollywood has hopped on-board the Raye bandwagon. For Halloween 2024, vocalist Christina Aguilera dressed up as the performer, sporting a bouncy bob and bejeweled gown. In addition to Best New Artist, the proud South London-native is also nominated for Songwriter of the Year.
Doechii
Though her 2020 song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” made for an instant hit online, that was far from the only single that helped the 26-year-old gain a massive fanbase. With hits like “Crazy,” “Persuasive” and “What It Is,” the Tampa native has proven herself as a force to be reckoned with—as evidenced by her 2025 Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
In fact, with the release of her album Alligator Bites Never Heal, the timing was perfect for Grammy submissions, confirming her entry to Rolling Stone, with an ecstatic: “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”
Khruangbin
The musical trio from Houston, Texas, made waves after meeting and performing together in 2004. But it would be their 2015 debut album The Universe Smiles Upon You released by the group—comprised of guitarist Mark Speer, bassist Laura Lee and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson—that would take the music world by storm.
But it’s the band’s latest album A La Sala that has them getting back to “a simpler and more heartfelt place.”
“We felt like what we ended up making was an album that was really intimate and personal between the three of us,” Lee told Elle in April. We’re like a family and ‘a la sala’ was something that I used to say to my own family when I was three or four years old to get everybody to go to the living room and be together. I would just run around the house and scream it. So, this felt like that sentiment.”
Source: www.eonline.com