Blessing or Curse: Five ‘Best New Artist’ Grammy winners who disappeared without a trace
Despite what anyone says about the diminishing impact of awards ceremonies, the Grammy Awards somehow seem to maintain more credibility than most. Some winner choices are, of course, rather questionable year-on-year, but for the most part, the recognition remains a coveted milestone for most artists, especially when it comes to celebrating and honouring their art in front of others they admire.
As the name suggests, the ‘Best New Artist’ category has sought to celebrate all those who have worked hard in the initial stages of making a name for themselves. This covers everything from the art itself to what the musician represents and stands for, whether such concepts bleed into the music itself or remain a significant facet of their artistic identity.
This year, for instance, Chappell Roan embodied both. While this came with the growing hype surrounding her debut, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, it also served as a reminder of the importance of such platforms in calling attention to subjects that matter. In Roan’s case, it was the struggle among artists to gain sufficient access to healthcare.
Over the years, however, a more unspoken trend has risen from the accolade itself, typically when it comes to musicians who showed a world of promise only to crash and burn after receiving ‘Best New Artist’. While it’s easy to assume musicians like Roan are here for the long run, others haven’t been so lucky.
Here are five whose careers disappeared as soon as they arrived.
Five artists who disappeared after winning a Grammy:
The Swingle Singers
When we consider the ‘Best New Artist’ category today, it’s often with an understanding that the Grammys is on top of trends, popular music, and what audiences are all over. However, this wasn’t always the case, particularly in the early days when the category was created more as a means of tokenising what it deemed relevant, even when it was wildly out of touch.
In 1963, ‘Best New Artist’ went to The Swingle Sisters to honour their off-kilter presence in the burgeoning mainstream, but the songs and records they were supposedly recognised for didn’t actually do that well. On top of that, they never really achieved further success past their win, despite years of extensive performing and touring.
Rickie Lee Jones
Today, ‘Best New Artist’ usually celebrates musicians whose achievements up to that point seem promising. Often, it commends artists for generating hype in short periods of time, even if their hard work ventures further back than the actual releases themselves. However, in the case of Rickie Lee Jones, ‘Best New Artist’ seemed to fall on the cusp of a waning momentum.
In fact, when Jones won the award, she had unknowingly enjoyed most of her peak success, and despite a couple of hits afterwards, she never really saw much breakout success after her promising start. In many ways, it seemed like a kind of recognition that happened backwards, coming at the tail-end of her impact.
Marc Cohn
When looking at the current landscape, Marc Cohn seemed best poised to meet the contemporary criteria for ‘Best New Artist’. Releasing a successful debut with songs like ‘Walking In Memphis’, Cohn’s art was a welcomed presence in the early 1990s, appealing across all genres. After all, this is still a one-hit wonder played on stations today, from country to mainstream.
However, after Cohn won ‘Best New Artist’, he struggled to achieve the same success as ‘Walking In Memphis’, which became his career-defining song. There’s no doubt that Cohn’s other material is worth listening to, but his struggle to regain momentum in mainstream spaces felt entirely unprecedented considering his significance in those early years.
Christopher Cross
Like Cohn, Christopher Cross enjoyed significant immediate success. Following the release of his self-titled debut album, Cross dropped a string of charting hits before becoming the first artist in history to win all four general field awards in a single Grammys ceremony, including ‘Record of the Year’, ‘Album of the Year’, ‘Song of the Year’, and ‘Best New Artist’.
Soon after, however, Cross’ commercial success dissipated. Some claim this to be a sonic mismatch with what was popular at the time, but it also seemed somewhat prophetic with the ‘Best New Artist’ category, with artists either enjoying long and successful careers or fading from the spotlight quicker than they ever imagined.
Shelby Lynne
When Shelby Lynne won ‘Best New Artist’ at the 43rd Grammy Awards, it was a powerful reminder that not every artist in the category had to be new to the industry. In fact, Lynne had already released a handful of albums by the time she won the award, proving that hard work didn’t have to happen in those seminal years to make it in a tough industry.
However, despite the promising nature of Lynne’s trajectory, her momentum slowed, and she found herself slipping from the spotlight. Maybe it’s the curse of the ‘Best New Artist’ category or a struggle to adapt to the shifting cultural zeitgeist, but her presence in mainstream conversations became less frequent, and she seemed to fade from those major milestones altogether.
