Top 10 YouTube Artists Who Could Win a Grammy

Born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, this incredibly talented Canadian YouTuber quickly got famous by performing music in his own unique ways. At times, this has meant producing music by using unorthodox objects, such as dental equipment. At other times, this has involved creating songs after receiving unusual requests and dares from viewers of his channel, such as one to make a rap song without using the letter E. He has released more than 50 albums of his music and even worked with some big names, including Emily Haines from Metric. He currently has over 1.5 million subscribers and over 200 million views on YouTube.

Born in San Francisco, George Watsky was just an ordinary kid until he discovered slam poetry at the age of 15. His poems got him noticed as the champion of slam after slam in California, but nothing catapulted him to stardom as much as a video of him rapping ridiculously fast, which went viral in no time. The rap got him millions of views, an appearance on “Ellen”, and launched him into the national spotlight. Since then, he has released several studio albums and has gone on tour, although we still love him most for his appearances on the YouTube series “Epic Rap Battles of History.”

The musical group began as a ploy by Paul Anderson, the owner of a piano store in Utah, to promote his store on Facebook and YouTube. Although the store closed in 2012 due to lack of business, the videos Anderson recorded along with the help of pianist Jon Schmidt, cellist Steven Sharp Nelson, and producer Al van der Beek became hugely successful. They have since signed with Sony Masterworks, released seven albums, toured domestically and internationally, and shot music videos in some of the most beautiful and exotic locales around the world. They now have almost 2 billions views on YouTube and over 6 million subscribers, which isn't bad at all for an attempted ad campaign.

You don’t get over 3 million YouTube subscribers without some serious talent. Although he is most known for covering hit songs from musicians like Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga, Tsui and his producer Kurt Hugo Schneider have also gotten tons of hits for some original work and mashups. Their musical genius even landed them some pretty big gigs, including spots on “Ellen” and “The Bonnie Hunt Show.” Since 2013, Tsui has released 3 studio albums, and has even toured with Schneider in North America and Asia. We still love him best for his regular collaborations with other YouTube singers and songwriters, like Daiyan Trisha.

We first noticed this fantastic singer and dancer on Season 9 of “American Idol,” and we haven’t been able to get enough of him since. After he was voted off the show, his work on YouTube really took off, where he built up a fanbase with original songs as well parodies and comedy sketches. His work on YouTube was noticed, and he’s since released three studio albums and has been featured in TV shows and even on Broadway. He’s also had the chance to collaborate with some big names, like Nicole Scherzinger, and we can’t wait to see what’s next from the talented performer.

Who knew you could do so much with a violin? Although this talented singer and violinist started her channel back in 2007, she got her big break on the show “America’s Got Talent” back in the 5th season. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it to the finals, although the stint got her noticed by choreographer Devin Graham, who helped her begin making music videos for her channel. The videos helped her become famous, especially with her unique way of combining violin-playing with hip-hop and dubstep. She has accumulated almost 3 billion views, over 12 million subscribers, and several awards; we’re sure a Grammy can’t be far away.

For Claire Cottrill, it all started with a song called “Pretty Girl.” Inspired by '80s music, Cottrill – known professionally as Clairo – recorded the low-budget song in her bedroom and posted it to YouTube in 2017. The video unexpectedly went viral, and major labels like RCA and Columbia became interested in the young artist, although she ended up going with FADER Label. Clairo later won a Boston Music Award for Pop Artist of the year in 2018, and her debut album “Immunity” was released in 2019. Her song “Bags,” which she performed on “Ellen,” has been called one of the 200 best songs of the 2010’s by “Pitchfork” magazine.

A web series created by created by Peter Shukoff and Lloyd Ahlquist, the premise behind these hilarious videos are probably familiar to most YouTubers. Two figures from either history or pop culture are pitted against each other, during which they must battle for dominance through rap. Shukoff and Ahlquist humbly began the series by appearing as the characters themselves, but as the series grew in popularity, other YouTubers and even mainstream celebrities began to star. The two creators still write the raps for each video, and several songs have even been certified as Gold by the RIAA. Having been nominated several times for an Emmy, we are convinced a Grammy is not far away.

Anthony Vincent, the man behind the hit YouTube channel, does something simple: He takes popular songs and then redoes them in 10-second increments in usually around 20 different styles. Simple as it may be, it’s a winning formula. It all started with the success of his version – or should we say, versions – of Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse,” which accumulated some 10 million views in only 5 months. When he’s not dazzling us with his impressions of different musicians, he moonlights as the lead singer of “Set the Charge.” Today, his channel has grown to over 3 million subscribers.

Coming to us all the way from Sweden is this deadpan musician and YouTube star. It all started in 2015 when Everman uploaded a non-musical but still hilarious video entitled “How to make a Zelda necklace.” His first viral video, which showcased a classical pianist quickly transitioning from a classical to a hip hop beat, showed off Everman’s musical talent and gained him over 20 million views. Everman has since shown off his extensive skills in both comedy and instrument-handling by entertaining us with covers of the likes of Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X. We think big things are ahead for this musical comedian.