Grammy Award for Best New Artist

The Grammy for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1960 (Bobby Darin being the first artist to win it.) 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.

Supposedly, winning the "Best New Artist" award is considered by many to be a curse, as several award winners never have been able to duplicate the success they received in their debut year. This viewpoint was expressed by former Starland Vocal Band member Taffy Danoff in a 2002 interview for VH1's "100 Greatest One Hit Wonders" [cite visual | crew=Taffy Danoff (Interviewee) | date=2002 | url=http://www.tv.com/one-hit-wonders/vh1s-100-greatest-one-hit-wonders-hour-4/episode/291771/summary.html?tag=ep_list;ep_title;6 | title=VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders | medium=TV-Series | location=North America | distributor= VH1] :

Though many have not, a few artists who have won the award have gone on to further success, including The Beatles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bobby Darin, Sheryl Crow, Tracy Chapman, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Norah Jones, LeAnn Rimes, Tom Jones, The Carpenters, Carly Simon, Cyndi Lauper, Sade, Evanescence, Maroon 5, Sheena Easton, Bette Midler, Carrie Underwood, Natalie Cole, John Legend and Toni Braxton.

The category is also notable for being the only category in which a Grammy Award was revoked. This occurred in 1990 after it was revealed winners Milli Vanilli did not do their own vocals on their debut album. The award was revoked, but was not handed out to another artist. Another notable first for the category is Bobbie Gentry, who was the first country artist to win this award.

Of the 48 awards presented in the category since its inception, the honor has been presented to 22 solo female artists, 15 duos or groups, and 11 solo male artists.

2000s

1970s

1960s

Notes