Bon Iver's big Best New Artist win at Sunday's Grammy Awards gives Justin Vernon and company membership to an exclusive club, with past winners like The Beatles (1965), Bette Midler (1974), Cyndi Lauper (1985) and Mariah Carey (1991).
While some call the Best New Artist award a curse (where is 2011 Best New Artist Esperanza Spalding these days?), others look at the hardware as boost (2009 winner Adele took home 6 Grammys on Sunday).
In the last decade, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences have given the Best New Artist award to some of music's best (Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse, John Legend), while taking the title away from artists that have fared just as well, if not better than their fellow nominees (Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Florence + The Machine).
How much value is placed on the Best New Artist award at the Grammys? Is it really a curse? And really, what is Esperanza Spalding doing these days?
Click through for a quick update on Grammy's Best New Artist recipients from the past decade, starting with 2012 winners Bon Iver.
Bon Iver’s win on Sunday was a surprise to many, as he beat fellow nominees Nicki Minaj, Skrillex, J. Cole and The Band Perry. Those unfamiliar with the folk band behind songs like “Skinny Love,” “Calgary” and “Perth” unleashed a wave of questions surrounding Bon Iver’s existence.A hilarious collection of the reaction on Twitter and beyond has been carefully collected and posted on who-is-bon-iver.tumblr.com.“It’s really hard to accept this award . . . when I started to make songs I did it for the inherit reward of making songs, so I’m a little uncomfortable up here,” Bon Iver front man, Justin Vernon, said as he accepted the award on Sunday night.Bon Iver’s second studio album, “Bon Iver,” has sold more than 350,000 copies since its June 2011 release. The band is due for a world tour at the end of February, with stops in New Zealand, Australia and the Coachella music festival in California.REUTERSRemember when jazz singer Esperanza Spalding took home the 2011 Grammy for Best New Artist, and Justin Bieber fans got mad? (Recall the Twitter frenzy with posts like: “Justin: knock knock. Esperanza: who’s there? Justin: Esperanza Spalding. Esperanza: Esperanza Spalding who? Justin: exactly,” courtesy of @ellyLOVESbieber).Spalding, now 27, is gearing up to make a lot of noise again (attention Bieber fans) with the release of her fourth studio album, “Radio Music Society,” due Mar. 20.REUTERSSince their win two years ago, the Zac Brown Band has been releasing material from their 2010 album, “You Get What You Give,” including the latest, “No Hurry.” The album has sold more than 1 million copies in the US, reach platinum in the country.REUTERSAdele’s Grammy sweep on Sunday night is an indication that the Best New Artist award is not a curse. Though, even more eyes will be on the 23-year-old as she works on her third studio album this year, following the success of “19” (2008) and “21” (2011).REUTERSOn the other spectrum of the Best New Artist curse is 2008 winner Amy Winehouse, who tragically passed away in July 2011.Winehouse was honored with a Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy on Sunday, for her duet with Tony Bennett in “Body and Soul.”“We shouldn’t be here. Our darling daughter should be here. These are the cards that we’re dealt,” Winehouse’s father, Mitch, said on stage.REUTERSSince her 2007 Grammy win, the American Idol alum has become a Mrs. (to Nashville Predator Mike Fisher), released her third studio album (2009’s “Play On” and appeared on TV shows like “How I Met Your Mother,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Blue Bloods” and the film “Soul Surfer.”According to a Forbes report, Underwood earned over $20 million between May 2010 and May 2011, mostly thanks to her tours.REUTERSJohn Legend might as well be called collaboration king. Since being crowned Best New Artist at the 2006 Grammys, the singer-songwriter (and occasional actor) has teamed up with the likes of Rick Ross, Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Mariah Carey.The 33-year-old, who is engaged to model Chrissy Teigen, recently jumped on the Tim Tebow train, delivering a Tebow-inspired rendition of “Ordinary People,” renamed “Extra-Ordinary Tebow.” REUTERSMaroon 5 has released two studio albums since grabbing the Best New Artist award in 2005. The band’s latest, “Hands All Over,” has spawned four singles since its 2010 release, including “Moves Like Jagger,” featuring Christina Aguilera.“Moves Like Jagger” was the ninth bestselling digital single of 2011, with more than 7 million downloads.Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine has also been riding on the success of the NBC reality show “The Voice,” which began its second season last week. REUTERSThanks to a shake-up in the group (including the departures of guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray), Evanescence took a nearly two year hiatus, before returning to the rock scene in October 2011.The group’s self-titled third studio album has released three singles so far, including “Made of Stone,” which is also featured on the soundtrack to “Underworld: Awakening.”REUTERSNorah Jones has released three studio albums since taking home Best New Artist in 2002 for her debut “Come Away with Me.” She has also dipped into the acting world, guest-starring on shows like “Sesame Street,” “30 Rock,” and starring in films like “My Blueberry Nights.”Jones, now 32, is gearing up for the spring release of her fifth studio album, “Little Broken Hearts,” produced by Danger Mouse.REUTERSHow time flies! “Songs in A Minor,” Alicia Keys’ debut album,” was released almost 11 years ago.These days, Keys, now 31, is a wife (to producer Swizz Beatz), mother (to baby boy Egypt) and on the verge of releasing her fifth studio album.REUTERS
