Grammy Award for Best New Artist

Grammy Award for Best New Artist
Megan Thee Stallion is currently the latest winner.
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded	1959
Currently held by	Megan Thee Stallion (2021)
Website	grammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959.^[1] Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as follows: "For a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist."

Note that this is not necessarily the first album released by an artist. It is sometimes asserted, with varying degrees of sincerity, that winning the award is a curse, as several award winners (particularly from the late 1970s and early 1980s) were never able to duplicate the success they experienced in their debut year.^[2][3] This viewpoint was expressed by former Starland Vocal Band member Taffy Danoff in a 2002 interview for VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders: "We got two of the five Grammys – one was Best New Artist. So that was basically the kiss of death and I feel sorry for everyone who's gotten it since."^[4]

The category is also notable for being the only category in which a Grammy Award was vacated. This event occurred in 1990 after it was revealed that winners Milli Vanilli did not contribute their own vocals on their album, Girl You Know It's True.^[5] The award was revoked, but wasn't handed out to another artist.^[6]

Further information[]

Of the 54 awards presented in the category since its inception, the honor has been presented to 26 solo female artists, 18 duos or groups, and 11 solo male artists. Between 1997 and 2003, all the winners were solo female artists. Also, from 1993 to 2005, no winner was a solo male artist. In 2006, John Legend broke this trend, which started after Marc Cohn in 1992. Only five artists have won both Best New Artist and Album of the Year in the same year: Bob Newhart in 1961, Christopher Cross in 1981, Lauryn Hill in 1999, Norah Jones in 2003, and Billie Eilish in 2020. Of these, Cross, Jones, and Eilish had songs winning Record of the Year and Song of the Year for the same year, with Cross as the sole songwriter, Eilish as co-writer, and Jones lacking songwriting credit, which therefore made her miss out on completing the single year big four Grammy achievement, a feat that only Cross and Eilish attained; while Adele was the only artist to win all General field Grammys from separate occasions. Only two artists have lost Best New Artist yet won Album of the Year in the same year: Vaughn Meader in 1963 and Alanis Morissette in 1996.

Of all the winners, only one (Esperanza Spalding) has been a jazz artist^[7] and only three have been country artists. In 1997, LeAnn Rimes became the first country artist and (at age 14) the youngest artist to win the award.^[8][9][10] She was followed by Carrie Underwood in 2007^[10][11] and Zac Brown Band in 2010.^[12] Additionally, 2017 marked the first time that two country artists were nominated in this category in the same year, in which Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini were both nominated.^[13] In 2018, Alessia Cara became the first Canadian artist to ever win the award, and the only woman to win a major category that year. In 2020, Rosalía became the first all Spanish-language artist to be nominated. 2021 marked the first time that multiple female rappers were nominated in the same year, when Chika, Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion were all nominated, with the latter winning the award.

David Crosby and Carl Palmer hold the unique distinction of being the only artists to be nominated twice for this award. Palmer was nominated both time as a member of a supergroup: Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Asia, while Crosby was nominated as a member of The Byrds and won as a member of the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash.

1984 marked the first time that all of the nominees were from outside the United States (Winner Culture Club, Eurythmics, Musical Youth, and Big Country were from the United Kingdom, and Men Without Hats were from Canada).^[14]

Only eight artists have been nominated to Best New Artist and have been later awarded with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award: The Beatles (1965, 2014), Chicago (1970, 2020), Cream (1969, 2006), Jefferson Airplane (1968, 2016), Antônio Carlos Jobim (1965, 2012), Led Zeppelin, (1970, 2005), Leontyne Price (1961, 1989), and John Prine (1972, 2020).

Process[]

Members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominate their choices for the best new artist. A list of the top twenty artists is given to the Nominations Review Committee, a specially selected group of anonymous members, who initially selected the top five artists to gain a nomination in the category in a special ballot; the number of nominated artists was increased to eight in 2018.^[15][16] The rest of the members then vote on a winner from the final nominees.^[17]

Rules changes[]

Over the years, the eligibility rules for this category have changed several times. In 2010, Lady Gaga's exclusion from the Best New Artist category caused the Recording Academy to change eligibility requirements for the next ceremony. She was ineligible for the nomination because her hit "Just Dance" had been nominated in 2008. The new rule stated that an artist may be nominated as long as that artist has not previously released an entire album and has subsequently not won a Grammy.^[18][19] In June 2016, the Grammy organization amended the Best New Artist rules once again, to remove the album barrier “given current trends in how new music and developing artists are released and promoted”.^[20] To be eligible in the category of Best New Artist, the artist, duo, or group:

• Must have released a minimum of five singles/tracks or one album (until 2020 there was a maximum of 30 singles/tracks or three albums, but this maximum limit was removed for the 2021 awards season)
• May not have entered into this category more than three times, including as a performing member of an established group.
• Must have achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and impacted the musical landscape during the eligibility period.

These new rules were put on effect with the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. The category was expanded to include eight nominees in 2019.^[21] From 2021, the screening committees will be charged with determining whether the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence prior to the eligibility year. Such a determination would result in disqualification.^[22]

Recipients[]

1960s[]

Inaugural winner, Bobby Darin went on to score 22 top 40 hits in America, including five top three hits and a number one song.

Bob Newhart won the Grammy for his work as a comedian. The same year he also won the Album of the Year award. He is the only non-musician to win this award.

Peter Nero (left) was the first Jazz musician to win the award.

The Swingle Singers were the first group and Foreign act to win the Award and are still active today.

The Beatles (Members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, clockwise from top left), would go on to become the best selling band of all time.

Bobbie Gentry became the first woman to win the award in 1968.

José Feliciano is the first Hispanic and blind artist to win the award.

1970s[]

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's music unerringly reflected the tastes and viewpoints of the counterculture in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Carpenters members Karen Carpenter and Richard Carpenter became the first duo to win the award in 1971.

Natalie Cole became the first African-American to win the award in 1976.

1980s[]

Christopher Cross is the first "Best New Artist" winner to win this award as well as Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year all in one night.

Cyndi Lauper is one of the few winners close to achieving EGOT status.

1990s[]

Mariah Carey's 1991 win is one of her few wins at the Grammys, despite over 30 nominations.^[51]

Sheryl Crow won two other awards at the same ceremony, including Record of the Year.^[52]

At the age of 14, LeAnn Rimes is the youngest artist to win the award.^[53]

Lauryn Hill was the first woman to win for a hip hop record.

Year[I]	Image	Recipient	Nominees	Ref.
1990		Milli Vanilli none[5][III]	Neneh Cherry Indigo Girls Tone Lōc Soul II Soul	[54]
1991		Mariah Carey	The Black Crowes The Kentucky Headhunters Lisa Stansfield Wilson Phillips	[55]
1992		Marc Cohn	Boyz II Men C+C Music Factory Color Me Badd Seal	[56]
1993		Arrested Development	Billy Ray Cyrus Sophie B. Hawkins Kris Kross Jon Secada	[57]
1994		Toni Braxton	Belly Blind Melon Digable Planets SWV	[58]
1995		Sheryl Crow	Ace of Base Counting Crows Crash Test Dummies Green Day	[59]
1996		Hootie & the Blowfish	Brandy Alanis Morissette Joan Osborne Shania Twain	[60]
1997		LeAnn Rimes	Garbage Jewel No Doubt The Tony Rich Project	[61]
1998		Paula Cole	Fiona Apple Erykah Badu Hanson Puff Daddy	[62]
1999		Lauryn Hill	Backstreet Boys Andrea Bocelli Dixie Chicks Natalie Imbruglia	[63]

2000s[]

Year[I]	Image	Recipient	Nominees	Ref.
2000		Christina Aguilera	Macy Gray Kid Rock Britney Spears Susan Tedeschi	[64]
2001		Shelby Lynne	Brad Paisley Papa Roach Jill Scott Sisqó	[65]
2002		Alicia Keys	India Arie Nelly Furtado David Gray Linkin Park	[66]
2003		Norah Jones	Ashanti Michelle Branch Avril Lavigne John Mayer	[67]
2004		Evanescence	50 Cent Fountains of Wayne Heather Headley Sean Paul	[68]
2005		Maroon 5	Los Lonely Boys Joss Stone Kanye West Gretchen Wilson	[69]
2006		John Legend	Ciara Fall Out Boy Keane Sugarland	[70]
2007		Carrie Underwood	James Blunt Chris Brown Imogen Heap Corinne Bailey Rae	[71]
2008		Amy Winehouse	Feist Ledisi Paramore Taylor Swift	[72]
2009		Adele	Duffy Jonas Brothers Lady Antebellum Jazmine Sullivan	[73]

2010s[]

Year[I]	Image	Recipient	Nominees	Ref.
2010		Zac Brown Band	Keri Hilson MGMT Silversun Pickups The Ting Tings	[74]
2011		Esperanza Spalding	Justin Bieber Drake Florence and the Machine Mumford & Sons	[75]
2012		Bon Iver	The Band Perry J. Cole Nicki Minaj Skrillex	[76]
2013		Fun	Alabama Shakes Hunter Hayes The Lumineers Frank Ocean	[77]
2014		Macklemore & Ryan Lewis	James Blake Kendrick Lamar Kacey Musgraves Ed Sheeran	[77]
2015		Sam Smith	Iggy Azalea Bastille Brandy Clark Haim	[78]
2016		Meghan Trainor	Courtney Barnett James Bay Sam Hunt Tori Kelly	[77]
2017		Chance the Rapper	Kelsea Ballerini The Chainsmokers Maren Morris Anderson .Paak	[79]
2018		Alessia Cara	Khalid Lil Uzi Vert Julia Michaels SZA	[80]
2019		Dua Lipa	Chloe x Halle Luke Combs Greta Van Fleet H.E.R. Margo Price Bebe Rexha Jorja Smith	[81]

2020s[]

Year[I]	Image	Recipient	Nominees	Ref.
2020		Billie Eilish	Black Pumas Maggie Rogers Lil Nas X Lizzo Rosalía Tank and the Bangas Yola	[82]
2021		Megan Thee Stallion	Ingrid Andress Phoebe Bridgers Chika Noah Cyrus D Smoke Doja Cat Kaytranada	[83]
2022		TBD	Arooj Aftab Jimmie Allen Baby Keem Finneas Glass Animals Japanese Breakfast The Kid Laroi Arlo Parks Olivia Rodrigo Saweetie	[84]

Notes[]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
^{^[II]} The Grammy Award for Best New Artist wasn't presented during the 9th Grammy Awards.^{[85][86]
^[III]} Milli Vanilli were originally presented with the award on February 21, 1990, but were later stripped of it after admitting that they weren't the original singers on their album.^[5] The category was left vacant for the year.

See also[]

• List of Grammy Award categories

References[]

External links[]

• Official website