Grammy Award for Best New Artist facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grammy Award for Best New Artist
Chappell Roan is the most recent recipient
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Country	United States
First awarded	1960
Currently held by	Chappell Roan (2025)

The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist."

The Best New Artist award has a reputation for being given to artists whose music industry success ends up being short-lived; it is sometimes asserted, with varying degrees of sincerity, that the award itself brings a curse. This viewpoint was expressed by Taffy Danoff, a former member of Starland Vocal Band (known for "Afternoon Delight"), in an 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."

The category is also notable for being the only category as of 2024 in which a Grammy Award was revoked: this occurred in 1990, when Milli Vanilli originally won the award, but band members Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus later admitted that they did not contribute their own vocals on their album Girl You Know It's True. The award was subsequently vacated.

Process

From 1995 to 2021, members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated their choices for the best new artist. A list of the top twenty artists was 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. The rest of the members then vote on a winner from the final nominees. In 2021, it was announced that the Nomination Review Committees would be disbanded, and the final nominees for best new artist would be decided by votes from members. Starting in 2022, the number of nominees in the category increased to 10. However, the decision to expand the number of nominees in this category was made 24 hours before the nominees were announced after an early version of the nominations list had already been circulated. This allowed Baby Keem and Arooj Aftab to be nominated as they were the artists that received the most votes besides the other eight nominees. As of the 2024 ceremony, the number of nominees has been reduced to eight.

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. 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". 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 in effect with the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. The category was then expanded to include eight nominees in 2019. Starting in 2021, screening committees were charged with determining whether the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence prior to the eligibility year. Such a determination would result in disqualification.

Recipients

Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year.

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.

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

At the age of 14, LeAnn Rimes is the youngest artist to win the award.

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

Year	Image	Recipient	Nominees	Ref.
1990		Milli Vanilli None	Neneh Cherry Indigo Girls Tone Lōc Soul II Soul
1991		Carey, MariahMariah Carey	The Black Crowes The Kentucky Headhunters Lisa Stansfield Wilson Phillips
1992		Cohn, MarcMarc Cohn	Boyz II Men C+C Music Factory Color Me Badd Seal
1993		Arrested Development	Billy Ray Cyrus Sophie B. Hawkins Kris Kross Jon Secada
1994		Braxton, ToniToni Braxton	Belly Blind Melon Digable Planets SWV
1995		Crow, SherylSheryl Crow	Ace of Base Counting Crows Crash Test Dummies Green Day
1996		Hootie & the Blowfish	Brandy Alanis Morissette Joan Osborne Shania Twain
1997		Rimes, LeAnnLeAnn Rimes	Garbage Jewel No Doubt The Tony Rich Project
1998		Cole, PaulaPaula Cole	Fiona Apple Erykah Badu Hanson Puff Daddy
1999		Hill, LaurynLauryn Hill	Backstreet Boys Andrea Bocelli Dixie Chicks Natalie Imbruglia

2000s

Year	Image	Recipient	Nominees	Ref.
2000		Aguilera, ChristinaChristina Aguilera	Macy Gray Kid Rock Britney Spears Susan Tedeschi
2001		Lynne, ShelbyShelby Lynne	Brad Paisley Papa Roach Jill Scott Sisqó
2002		Keys, AliciaAlicia Keys	India Arie Nelly Furtado David Gray Linkin Park
2003		Jones, NorahNorah Jones	Ashanti Michelle Branch Avril Lavigne John Mayer
2004		Evanescence	50 Cent Fountains of Wayne Heather Headley Sean Paul
2005		Maroon 5	Los Lonely Boys Joss Stone Kanye West Gretchen Wilson
2006		Legend, JohnJohn Legend	Ciara Fall Out Boy Keane Sugarland
2007		Underwood, CarrieCarrie Underwood	James Blunt Chris Brown Imogen Heap Corinne Bailey Rae
2008		Winehouse, AmyAmy Winehouse	Feist Ledisi Paramore Taylor Swift
2009		Adele	Duffy Jonas Brothers Lady Antebellum Jazmine Sullivan

2010s

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

2020s

Year	Image	Recipient	Nominees	Ref.
2020		Billie Eilish	Black Pumas Maggie Rogers Lil Nas X Lizzo Rosalía Tank and the Bangas Yola
2021		Megan Thee Stallion	Ingrid Andress Phoebe Bridgers Chika Noah Cyrus D Smoke Doja Cat Kaytranada
2022		Olivia Rodrigo	Arooj Aftab Jimmie Allen Baby Keem Finneas Glass Animals Japanese Breakfast The Kid Laroi Arlo Parks Saweetie
2023		Samara Joy	Anitta Omar Apollo Domi & JD Beck Latto Måneskin Muni Long Tobe Nwigwe Molly Tuttle Wet Leg
2024		Victoria Monét	Gracie Abrams Fred Again Ice Spice Jelly Roll Coco Jones Noah Kahan The War and Treaty
2025		Chappell Roan	Benson Boone Sabrina Carpenter Doechii Khruangbin Raye Shaboozey Teddy Swims

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Premio Grammy por mejor artista novel para niños

• List of Grammy Award categories