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 is a special prize given out each year at the Grammy Awards. It celebrates a new music artist who has become well-known to the public during the past year. This award has been given out since 1960, except for one year in 1967.

Some people joke that winning this award can bring bad luck. They say it might make an artist's success not last very long. For example, Taffy Danoff from the band Starland Vocal Band (famous for "Afternoon Delight") once said that winning was "the kiss of death."

This award is also famous because it's the only Grammy that has ever been taken back. This happened in 1990 when Milli Vanilli won. Later, the band members admitted they didn't actually sing on their album. So, their award was officially removed.

How the Best New Artist is Chosen

Choosing the Best New Artist has changed over the years. Here's how it generally works:

Nominations and Voting Process

From 1995 to 2021, members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences suggested artists for the award. A special group then picked the top artists to be nominated.

• At first, five artists were nominated.
• In 2018, this number grew to eight artists.
• The rest of the Academy members then voted to choose the winner from these nominees.

In 2021, the way nominees were chosen changed again. The special groups that picked the top artists were stopped. Now, all Academy members vote directly for the final nominees.

• Starting in 2022, the number of nominees increased to 10.
• This change happened very quickly, just before the nominees were announced.
• This allowed artists like Baby Keem and Arooj Aftab to be nominated.
• For the 2024 ceremony, the number of nominees went back down to eight.

Rules for New Artists

The rules for who can be nominated as Best New Artist have changed many times.

Why the Rules Changed

In 2010, Lady Gaga could not be nominated for Best New Artist. This was because her hit song "Just Dance" had already been nominated for a Grammy in 2008. This led the Grammy organization to update their rules.

Current Eligibility Rules

The new rules say that an artist can be nominated as long as they haven't released a full album before. Also, they must not have won a Grammy already.

In 2016, the rules were changed again. The "album barrier" was removed. This means artists don't need to have released a certain number of albums to be eligible. This change was made because new music is released differently now.

To be eligible for Best New Artist, an artist, duo, or group must:

• Have released at least five songs or one album. (Before 2021, there was a limit of 30 songs or three albums, but this limit was removed.)
• Not have been nominated in this category more than three times, even if they were part of another group.
• Have become well-known and made an impact on music during the past year.

These new rules started with the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2019, the category expanded to include eight nominees. Since 2021, special committees check if an artist was already famous before the past year. If they were, they might not be allowed to be nominated.

Award Winners by Year

The years listed below are when the Grammy Awards ceremony took place. The awards are for music released in the year before the ceremony.

1960s Winners

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. 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. They are still active today.

The Beatles (Members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, clockwise from top left), became 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 Winners

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's music showed the feelings 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 artist to win the award in 1976.

1980s Winners

Christopher Cross was the first "Best New Artist" winner to also win 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 (winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award).

1990s Winners

Mariah Carey's 1991 win is one of her few Grammy wins, even though she has been nominated over 30 times.

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

At 14 years old, LeAnn Rimes is the youngest artist to win this 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 Winners

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 Winners

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 Winners

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