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that winners Milli Vanilli did not contribute their own vocals on their album, Girl You Know It's True.[5] The award was revoked, but wasn't handed out to another artist.[6]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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
1960s[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220324042451im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Comedian_Bob_Newhart.jpg/150px-Comedian_Bob_Newhart.jpg)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220324042451im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/The_Swingle_Singers_%281964%29.jpg/150px-The_Swingle_Singers_%281964%29.jpg)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220324042451im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/25/BobbieGentry1969.jpeg/150px-BobbieGentry1969.jpeg)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220324042451im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Grand_Gala_du_Disque_in_RAI_Amsterdam._Repetities._Feliciano%2C_Bestanddeelnr_923-2992.jpg/150px-Grand_Gala_du_Disque_in_RAI_Amsterdam._Repetities._Feliciano%2C_Bestanddeelnr_923-2992.jpg)
Year[I] | Recipient | Nominees | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | Bobby Darin | [23] | |
1961 | Bob Newhart | [24] | |
1962 | Peter Nero | [25] | |
1963 | Robert Goulet | [26] | |
1964 | The Swingle Singers | [27] | |
1965 | The Beatles | [28] | |
1966 | Tom Jones | [29] | |
1967 | No award | [II] | |
1968 | Bobbie Gentry | [30] | |
1969 | José Feliciano | [31] |
1970s[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220324042451im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/CSNY_8-1974_%283%29.jpg/150px-CSNY_8-1974_%283%29.jpg)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220324042451im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Carpenters_-_Nixon_-_Office.png/150px-Carpenters_-_Nixon_-_Office.png)
Year[I] | Recipient | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1970 | Crosby, Stills & Nash | [32] | |
1971 | The Carpenters | [33] | |
1972 | Carly Simon | [34] | |
1973 | America | [35] | |
1974 | Bette Midler | [36] | |
1975 | Marvin Hamlisch | [37] | |
1976 | Natalie Cole | [38] | |
1977 | Starland Vocal Band | [39] | |
1978 | Debby Boone | [40] | |
1979 | A Taste of Honey | [41] |
1980s[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220324042451im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Christopher_Cross_in_beaumont_ca_%282637703689%29.jpg/150px-Christopher_Cross_in_beaumont_ca_%282637703689%29.jpg)
Year[I] | Recipient | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | Rickie Lee Jones | [42] | |
1981 | Christopher Cross | [43] | |
1982 | Sheena Easton | [44] | |
1983 | Men at Work | [45] | |
1984 | Culture Club | [14] | |
1985 | Cyndi Lauper | [46] | |
1986 | Sade | [47] | |
1987 | Bruce Hornsby & The Range | [48] | |
1988 | Jody Watley | [49] | |
1989 | Tracy Chapman | [50] |
1990s[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220324042451im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/LaurynHill.jpg/150px-LaurynHill.jpg)
Year[I] | Image | Recipient | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | ![]() |
[54] | ||
1991 | ![]() |
Mariah Carey | [55] | |
1992 | ![]() |
Marc Cohn | [56] | |
1993 | ![]() |
Arrested Development | [57] | |
1994 | ![]() |
Toni Braxton | [58] | |
1995 | ![]() |
Sheryl Crow | [59] | |
1996 | ![]() |
Hootie & the Blowfish | [60] | |
1997 | ![]() |
LeAnn Rimes | [61] | |
1998 | ![]() |
Paula Cole | [62] | |
1999 | ![]() |
Lauryn Hill | [63] |
2000s[edit]
Year[I] | Image | Recipient | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | ![]() |
Christina Aguilera | [64] | |
2001 | ![]() |
Shelby Lynne | [65] | |
2002 | ![]() |
Alicia Keys | [66] | |
2003 | ![]() |
Norah Jones | [67] | |
2004 | ![]() |
Evanescence | [68] | |
2005 | ![]() |
Maroon 5 | [69] | |
2006 | ![]() |
John Legend | [70] | |
2007 | ![]() |
Carrie Underwood | [71] | |
2008 | ![]() |
Amy Winehouse | [72] | |
2009 | ![]() |
Adele | [73] |
2010s[edit]
Year[I] | Image | Recipient | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | ![]() |
Zac Brown Band | [74] | |
2011 | ![]() |
Esperanza Spalding | [75] | |
2012 | ![]() |
Bon Iver | [76] | |
2013 | ![]() |
Fun | [77] | |
2014 | ![]() |
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis | [77] | |
2015 | ![]() |
Sam Smith | [78] | |
2016 | ![]() |
Meghan Trainor | [77] | |
2017 | ![]() |
Chance the Rapper | [79] | |
2018 | ![]() |
Alessia Cara | [80] | |
2019 | ![]() |
Dua Lipa | [81] |
2020s[edit]
Year[I] | Image | Recipient | Nominees | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | ![]() |
Billie Eilish | [82] | |
2021 | ![]() |
Megan Thee Stallion | [83] | |
2022 | TBD | [84] |
Notes[edit]
^[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[edit]
References[edit]
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- ^ "The Grammys: The curse of the Best New Artist award?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 25, 2014.
- ^ "And the winner is ... what's your name again?". TODAY.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
- ^ Taffy Danoff (Interviewee) (2002). VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders (TV-Series). North America: VH1.
- ^ a b c "Milli Vanilli's Grammy Rescinded by Academy : Music: Organization revokes an award for the first time after the revelation that the duo never sang on the album". Los Angeles Times. November 20, 1990. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (December 5, 1990). "Winner of Grammy Lost By Milli Vanilli: No One". The New York Times. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
- ^ Spalding has made history for winning best new artist award - Entertainment & Stars
- ^ Grein, Paul (January 22, 2020). "Grammy Best New Artist Winners: 26 Record-Holders, From Youngest to Oldest to First Award Taken Back". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ "Billboard Magazine. March 8, 1997". Billboard. March 8, 1997.
- ^ a b Christina Vinson. "Top 10 Country Grammy Awards Moments". The Boot.
- ^ Shawn S. Lealos (November 3, 2015). "Carrie Underwood sets new record after first six albums debut at number one". AXS.
- ^ Claire Suddath (February 1, 2010). "Grammy Awards 2010: The Zac Brown Band".
- ^ Paul Grein (December 7, 2016). "Grammy Whisperer: Eight records that were set in this year's noms". Hits magazine.
- ^ a b Gates, Chuck (February 24, 1984). "Jackson dominates Grammy list". Deseret News. Deseret News Publishing Company. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Behind Grammy's Closed Door
- ^ Aswad, Jem (June 28, 2018). "Grammys Expand Major Category Nominations From Five to Eight". Variety. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ Wyman, Bill (February 11, 2011). "The Grammys: the secret committee that alters the membership's nominations". Slate.com. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
- ^ "Grammys change rules for best new artist". MSN Music. July 7, 2010. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
Eligibility change was caused by Lady Gaga's exclusion
- ^ Michaels, Sean (July 8, 2010). "Lady Gaga snub prompts change in Grammy rules". The Guardian. London. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
Eligibility rules for best new artist category revised following exclusion of the dance-pop diva last year
- ^ Press Release, 16 June 2016
- ^ Recording Academy Announces 61st GRAMMY Awards Update
- ^ [https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/recording-academy-announces-changes-63rd-annual-grammys-releases-rules-and-guidelines Grammy.com, 10 June 2020[
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