11 Shocking Musicians Who Misplaced Greatest New Artist At The Grammys

And whereas receiving such a notable Grammy so early on in your profession is a large honor, it positively doesn’t measure an artist’s success sooner or later. Many musicians who’ve misplaced out on the coveted award have gone on to have large careers — and looking out again, it’s truly stunning that they didn’t obtain that early accolade from the Recording Academy. Stars like Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar didn’t take dwelling Greatest New Artist however have gone on to attain unbelievable success.

Discover out which main musicians misplaced on the Grammys…

1. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift could also be a large celebrity, however again in 2008 when she was nominated for Greatest New Artist, she truly misplaced the award to Amy Winehouse. That clearly didn’t cease the upward trajectory of her profession, and since then, she’s taken dwelling 13 Grammys of her personal, together with Album of the 12 months on a record-breaking 4 events.

“I’d like to let you know that that is the very best second of my life, however I really feel this completely happy once I end a track or once I crack the code to a bridge…or once I’m rehearsing with my dancers or my band, or on the brink of go to Tokyo to play a present,” Taylor shelp throughout her acceptance speech in 2024. “For me, the award is the work. All I wanna do is preserve having the ability to do that. I like it a lot. It makes me so completely happy.”

2. Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran might have been up for Greatest New Artist in 2014 however the award finally went to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Regardless of the loss, simply two years later he was redeemed when he gained his first two Grammys for Tune of the 12 months and Greatest Pop Solo Efficiency. Since then, he’s been nominated on quite a few events and has taken dwelling 4 wins in complete.

3. John Mayer

Again in 2003, John Mayer misplaced out on Greatest New Artist to Norah Jones. Whereas he didn’t take dwelling the win that yr, he has since been nominated on 18 different events and has gained seven instances, together with Greatest Pop Vocal Album for Continuum and Tune of the 12 months for “Daughters.”

4. Justin Bieber

In 2011, Justin Bieber was up for his first Grammy within the Greatest New Artist class. Sadly for Justin, who was simply 16 on the time, he misplaced out to jazz musician Esperanza Spalding. The Recording Academy confronted main backlash from his followers after the snub however Justin was gracious concerning the loss.

“Yeah. I’m not going to lie. Folks have been anticipating me to say one thing else, however I’m dissatisfied,” he mentioned on Chelsea Recently on the time. “I’m actually excited for [Esperanza]. She labored arduous.”

Though he misplaced out, Justin has since been nominated over 20 instances, taking dwelling the award for Greatest Dance Recording for “The place Are Ü Now” in 2015 and Greatest Nation Duo/Group Efficiency for “10,000 Hours,” a collaboration with Dan + Shay, in 2021.

5. Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar might now have 17 Grammy wins beneath his belt however again in 2014, he wasn’t awarded Greatest New Artist by the Recording Academy. As an alternative, the win went to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. In actual fact, Kendrick didn’t win any of the seven awards he was nominated for that yr. Regardless of the loss, he nonetheless mentioned it was an honor.

“Being acknowledged on your work is at all times an excellent accomplishment, whether or not it’s individuals in my metropolis, children on the street, all the way in which as much as the Grammys,” Kendrick informed The New York Instances.

Kendrick has since been nominated a whopping 50 instances.

6. Britney Spears

Again in 2000, Britney Spears was only a pop star on the rise when she was nominated for Greatest New Artist on the Grammys. On the time, she didn’t win and the award as an alternative went to her former Mickey Mouse Membership co-star Christina Aguilera. Britney has since been nominated on fairly a number of events and even took dwelling the Grammy for Greatest Dance Recording for her track “Poisonous” in 2005.

7. Drake

Drake was nominated for Greatest New Artist in 2011, the identical yr as Justin Bieber, however they each misplaced to Esperanza Spalding. Since then, Drake has been nominated over 50 instances and has taken dwelling awards on 5 events. Though he now has some Grammys on his shelf, Drake doesn’t have many variety issues to say concerning the award ceremony. Whereas defending The Weeknd’s lack of nominations in 2011, Drake wrote that he felt that the Grammys not mattered.

“I feel we must always cease permitting ourselves to be shocked yearly by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and simply settle for that what as soon as was the best type of recognition might not matter to the artists that exist now and those that come after,” Drake wrote. “It’s like a relative you retain anticipating to repair up however they only can’t change their methods.”

8. Jonas Brothers

When the Jonas Brothers have been nominated for Greatest New Artist in 2009, they have been the favourite band of hundreds of thousands of youngsters around the globe. Sadly for them, that they had some robust competitors and misplaced out on the award to Adele. They’ve since been nominated on one different event however have but to take any Grammy awards dwelling.

9. Kanye West

In 2005, Kanye West was a rapper on the rise and acquired fairly a number of nods from the Recording Academy. Though he didn’t win the Grammy for Greatest New Artist, which was as an alternative given to Maroon 5, Kanye did take dwelling a number of different awards. He gained Greatest Rap Album for The School Dropout in addition to Greatest Rap Tune for “Jesus Walks.”

Kanye has now been nominated an unbelievable 76 instances and has gained on 24 events. Whereas he’s acquired a lot acclaim from the Recording Academy, he was banned from performing on the present in 2022 as a result of “regarding on-line habits.”

10. Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj could also be one of the crucial profitable feminine rappers of all time however in 2012, she misplaced out on the award for Greatest New Artist to Bon Iver. Whereas she’s racked up 11 extra nominations since then, together with Greatest Rap Album and Greatest Rap Tune, she’s sadly by no means taken a Grammy dwelling. In 2021, Nicki referred to as out the Recording Academy for regularly snubbing her.

“Always remember the Grammys didn’t give me my greatest new artist award once I had 7 songs concurrently charting on Billboard & larger first week than any feminine rapper within the final decade—went on to encourage a technology,” she wrote on X. “They gave it to the white man Bon Iver. #PinkFriday.”

Then in 2023, she referred to as out the group as soon as once more once they nominated her track “Tremendous Freaky Lady” in a pop class regardless of being submitted beneath the rap class. In an prolonged submit on social media, she defined that she felt the track was moved to offer her much less of an opportunity of successful.

“In the event you can’t inform by now that there’s a concerted effort to offer newer artists issues that they actually don’t deserve, over individuals who have been deserving for a few years, then you definately’re not paying consideration,” she mentioned. “And shortly feminine rap will actually not have any black girls. In the event you listen, you’ll see, you’ll perceive.”

11. Shania Twain

In 1996, Shania Twain was a star on the rise when she was nominated for Greatest New Artist. Sadly, she misplaced out to Hootie & the Blowfish — however she nonetheless went dwelling with an award. Shania was nominated for a number of awards that night time, together with Greatest Nation Tune and Greatest Feminine Nation Vocal Efficiency for “Any Man Of Mine.” However it was the award for Greatest Nation Album that gained Shania her first Grammy.

She has since been nominated over a dozen instances and has taken dwelling a complete of 5 Grammys.