Quick facts for kids Grammy Award for Best New Artist |
|
| 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The category is also notable for being the only category as of 2024 in which a Grammy Award was revoked: this occurred in 1990, when Milli Vanilli originally won the award, but band members Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus later admitted that they did not contribute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.
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
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.
1990s
Mariah Carey's 1991 win is one of her few wins at the Grammys, despite over 30 nominations.
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.
2000s
2010s
2020s
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Premio Grammy por mejor artista novel para niños
- List of Grammy Award categories
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