Olivia Rodrigo, KATSEYE and SIENNA SPIRO are among the first artists announced as honorees for Variety’s 10th Annual Hitmakers Celebration. The event will take place in Los Angeles on December 5, 2026, recognizing the artists and industry figures shaping the year in music.
Olivia Rodrigo will receive the Songwriter of the Year Award, while KATSEYE has been named Group of the Year. SIENNA SPIRO will take home the Visionary Voice Award.
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The annual Hitmakers event celebrates the creative and business forces behind the year’s most-consumed songs, based on Billboard and Luminate data. Alongside the ceremony, Variety publishes a companion issue highlighting the songwriters, producers, publishers, managers and executives responsible for the 25 most-consumed tracks of the year. The celebration will culminate in an invitation-only brunch, with TikTok returning as the event’s Premier Partner.
For Olivia Rodrigo, the recognition follows another landmark year. After the massive success of SOUR and GUTS , she returned with you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love in 2026. The album topped the Billboard 200, meaning that every album in her discography has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Notably, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love delivered the largest single-week sales total for a solo artist in 2026. Rodrigo is also currently on The Unraveled Tour, which began in September and is scheduled to continue through May 2027. In August, she launched Daisy Chain Fields, her inaugural women-led music festival, raising $20 million for 10 nonprofit organizations supporting women and girls.
KATSEYE’s Group of the Year honor arrives after an equally significant run. Formed through HYBE and Geffen Records, the two-time Grammy-nominated group released its third EP, WILD, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The project featured Hot 100 hits “PINKY UP,” “Animal” and “Hootie Frutti.”
Meanwhile, SIENNA SPIRO’s Visionary Voice Award recognizes a rapid rise that began with the global success of “Die On This Hill” in 2025. Her debut album, Visitor, reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200, while three of her singles simultaneously appeared on the Hot 100 earlier this year. She also won Best New Artist at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, adding to a year that included a three-week run at No. 1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart for “Great Expectation.”
“The 2026 Hitmakers honorees have shaped the sound and business of music in countless ways,” Variety Executive Editor, Music Jem Aswad said. Additional honorees and event details are expected to be announced in the weeks ahead.
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