STELLA LEFTY

Despite an appropriately twangy stage name, Stella Lefty would seem like an unlikely presence on the country charts -- at least, before going viral in 2026 with her surprise hit "Boston." Lefty released a handful of tracks the year before (including the Tragic, Really EP) that flirted with more traditional, organic pop influences. But the singer has cited inspiration from Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and even Keith Whitley, which made the acoustic guitar-and-banjo-driven mini-breakthrough "Thinking 'Bout You" a fair evolution toward something different. After releasing another catchy country-pop tune, "Slow Dancin'" (and a moody outlier, "The Kill," from the soundtrack to Scream 7), it was the mere chorus of "Boston," inspired by a romance blossoming between trips to Nashville to work with fellow songwriters and interpolating Noah Kahan's Top Ten "Stick Season," that inspired a frenzy on social media.