Robert Goulet
Year Won: 1963
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: “My Love, Forgive Me (Amore, Scusami)” (No. 16 in 1965)
Notes: Goulet was featured on the Broadway cast album to Camelot, which topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks in 1961. He died in 2007.
These Grammy Winners for Best New Artist Haven’t Been Nominated Since
Written by djfrosty on September 6, 2024
Many Grammy winners for best new artist have gone on to long and distinguished careers. The Beatles, the GOAT of all groups, won the award in 1965. Mariah Carey, the queen of Christmas and one of the top artists in pop and R&B history, won in 1991. Adele, who has the longest-running No. 1 album by a solo woman in Billboard 200 history, won in 2012. Billie Eilish, who won nine Grammys and two Oscars before her 23rd birthday, won in 2020.
Two eventual EGOT recipients, Marvin Hamlisch and John Legend, are past best new artist winners.
Other past winners of note include Bobby Darin (the first winner, in 1959), Jose Feliciano, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Carpenters, Carly Simon, Natalie Cole, Culture Club, Cyndi Lauper, Sade, Bruce Hornsby & the Range, Tracy Chapman, Toni Braxton, Sheryl Crow, LeAnn Rimes, Lauryn Hill, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood and Sam Smith.
All of the aforementioned acts have received at least one additional Grammy nomination since their best new artist wins. But 13 past winners for best new artist haven’t been nominated for a Grammy since their night of glory. We’re not including this year’s winner, Victoria Monét, because she obviously hasn’t had an opportunity yet to add to her nomination tally.
We’re also not including four groups that haven’t been nominated since winning best new artist because one or more members were nominated on their own. America wasn’t nominated after winning in 1973, but Dan Peek, a member of that trio, was, for best gospel performance, contemporary or inspirational, for his album All Things Are Possible. Culture Club wasn’t nominated after winning in 1984, but Boy George was, twice – best pop vocal performance, male for “The Crying Game” and best dance recording for “When Will You Learn.”
Hootie & the Blowfish weren’t nominated after winning in 1996, but Darius Rucker won best country solo performance for “Wagon Wheel.” And fun. wasn’t nominated after winning in 2013 (no surprise since they haven’t released another album since their win), but Jack Antonoff and Nate Ruess have both been nominated since that night. Ruess received two nods for “Just Give Me a Reason,” his hit collab with P!nk. Antonoff has won nine Grammys since that night.
Here’s a list of past winners for best new artist who haven’t been nominated for a Grammy since.
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Tom Jones
Year Won: 1966
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: “She’s a Lady” (No. 2 in 1971)
Notes: Jones received two other nominations that year – best contemporary (R&R) single for “It’s Not Unusual” and best contemporary (R&R) vocal performance, male for “What’s New Pussycat.” R&R is shorthand for rock’n’roll, and while you can debate whether these hits were, in fact, rock’n’roll, there is little argument that they sizzled. Both hits made the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Starland Vocal Band
Year Won: 1977
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: “Afternoon Delight” (No. 1 in 1976)
Notes: The group was signed to John Denver’s Windsong Records. Denver’s producer Milt Okun produced “Afternoon Delight,” which also won best arrangement for voices (duo, group or chorus). The polarizing smash was also nominated for record and song of the year and best pop vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus.
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A Taste of Honey
Image Credit: UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Year Won: 1979
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: “Boogie Oogie Oogie” (No. 1 in 1978)
Notes: “Boogie Oogie Oogie” was also nominated for best R&B song and best R&B vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus. Is it a fresh-sounding update on a classic girl-group sound or a prime example of how inane lyrics were in disco’s heyday? Or, here’s a thought: maybe both?
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Men at Work
Year Won: 1983
Biggest Hot 100 Hits: “Who Can It Be Now?” (No. 1 in 1982) and “Down Under” (No. 1 in 1983)
Notes: “We are the men! We’ll see you again!,” Colin Hay said in accepting the Grammy for best new artist. Why didn’t Men at Work have a longer career as a mainstream pop/rock group (sort of like Maroon 5, which won 12 years later?) Who knows?
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Jody Watley
Year Won: 1988
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: “Looking for a New Love” (No. 2 in 1987)
Notes: Watley was also nominated for best R&B vocal performance, female for this smash. She had scored a previous nomination as a member of the R&B trio Shalamar for their hit “Dead Giveaway.” That nod would have made her ineligible for best new artist under today’s rules.
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Milli Vanilli
Year Won: 1990
Biggest Hot 100 Hits: “Baby Don’t Forget My Number,” “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You,” “Blame It on the Rain” (all No. 1 in 1989)
Notes: Milli Vanilli’s best new artist award was rescinded in November 1990, following a lip-synching scandal. Official Grammy records show no winner that year, but Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus did indeed win it and held on to it for nine months. Songwriting legend Diane Warren wrote “Blame It on the Rain.” (Yep, she actually wrote it. She didn’t have a ghostwriter.)
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Marc Cohn
Year Won: 1992
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: “Walking in Memphis (No. 13 in 1991)
Notes: Cohn was also nominated for song of the year and best pop vocal performance, male, for “Walking in Memphis,” which was later covered by Cher (who was a best new artist nominee in 1966 as half of Sonny & Cher; the twosome lost to Tom Jones).
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Paula Cole
Image Credit: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images Year Won: 1998
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” (No. 8 in 1997)
Notes: Cole received seven nominations in her freshman year, including record and song of the year for “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?,” album of the year for This Fire, and producer of the year, non-classical, a rarity for a woman artist.
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Shelby Lynne
Year Won: 2001
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: Never charted
Notes: While Lynne has yet to crack the Hot 100, she landed two top 30 hits on Hot Country Songs in her earlier country period – “I’ll Lie Myself to Sleep” (No. 26 in 1990) and “Things Are Tough All Over” (No. 23 in 1991).
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Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Year Won: 2014
Biggest Hot 100 Hits: “Thrift Shop” (Featuring Wanz) and “Can’t Hold Us” (featuring Ray Dalton) (both No. 1 in 2013)
Notes: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis beat Kendrick Lamar in four categories, which triggered a backlash. If the two acts had competed in different years, so that competition wasn’t a factor in how they are perceived, would Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ career arc have played out differently? And is it fair to blame an act for beating another act at an awards show – as if it were somehow their “fault”? Discuss among yourselves.
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Meghan Trainor
Image Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage Year Won: 2016
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: “All About That Bass” (No. 1 in 2014)
Notes: Trainor was nominated for record and song of the year for “All About That Bass” a year before her best new artist triumph. The Grammys waited for the release of her first major-label album to consider her for best new artist.
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Alessia Cara
Year Won: 2018
Biggest Hot 100 Hit: Logic’s “1-800-273-8255” featuring Cara & Khalid (No. 3 in 2017)
Notes: Cara was nominated for four awards that year. She had two nods for “1-800-273-8255” and one for “Stay,” her collab with Zedd. Cara’s biggest hit as a lead artist to date is “Here” (No. 5 in 2016 – two years before she won best new artist).