A Look Back on the Last 20 Years of Grammy Best New Artist Winners

From Christina Aguilera to Fun., check out who nabbed the Grammy Award for Best New Artist went for the past two decades

By Meg Swertlow Jan 27, 2018 1:00 PMTags

Some call winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist a "curse"—but those who do may want a refresher on some of the winners of the last two decades.

Carrie Underwood, Christina Aguilera, Maroon 5, Adele, Macklemore and Meghan Trainor are just a few of the superstar singers who have taken home the prestigious honor in the past 20 years.

Prior to that Crosby, Stills Nash and Young, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Culture Club and Mariah Carey are just some of the famous names who have all nabbed the award and then gone on to have illustrious music careers. 

This year Alessia CaraKhalidLil Uzi Vert, Julia Michaels and SZA have all been nominated for the Best New Artist Award. Who will take home the golden gramophone? 

Tune in to this Sunday's 2018 Grammys to find out. But before that, check out the last 20 winners of the Best New Artist Award!

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2000: Christina Aguilera

Aguilera's career has only gotten bigger since the "Genie In A Bottle" singer took home the Best New Artist trophy more than two decades ago. She's been nominated a total of 20 times and has won five Grammys.

2001: Shelby Lynne

This marked the artist's first and only Grammy win and nomination.

2002: Alicia Keys

The "If I Ain't Got You" singer has been nominated 29 times in her career and has taken home 15 trophies. She won five awards her first year as a nominee—including Best New Artist; Best R&B Album for Songs in A Minor; and Song of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Performance for "Fallin'."

2003: Norah Jones

In 2003, Jones won five Grammys in one night. In addition to taking home the trophy for Best New Artist, she won Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for Come Away With Me, as well as Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Don't Know Why." Overall, she's been nominated for 17 Grammys and has won nine of them so far in her career. 

2004: Evanescence

In addition to winning Best New Artist that year, the band also won Best Hard Rock Performance for "Bring Me to Life." The group has received a total of six nominations and two wins over the years.

2005: Maroon 5

The band has secured 13 Grammy nominations and three wins over the years.

2006: John Legend

The EGOT winner took home the Best New Artist prize (along with two other trophies) in 2006. In fact, he's earned 33 Grammy nominations and 11 wins so far in his career.

2007: Carrie Underwood

In addition to being named Best New Artist in 2007, Underwood won in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance category for "Jesus, Take the Wheel." She's secured a total of 14 nominations and seven wins so far in her career.

2008: Amy Winehouse

2008 was a big year for Winehouse. In addition to winning Best New Artist, she won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Rehab." She also won Best Pop Vocal Album for Back to Black. She received a total of eight nominations and six wins before her death in 2011.

2009: Adele

The "Hello" singer has won 15 Grammys in her career so far. In addition to winning Best New Artist in 2009, she took home the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance trophy for "Chasing Pavements."

2010: Zac Brown Band

Over the years, the group has been nominated for eight Grammys and has taken home three trophies. 

2011: Esperanza Spalding

The jazz singer beat out Justin Bieber and Drake for the Best New Artist Grammy in 2011. She's secured a total of seven nominations and four wins. Last year, she won Best Jazz Vocal Album for 12 Little Spells.

2012: Bon Iver

Justin Vernon, the band's frontman, accepted the highly coveted honor at the 54th annual award show. Bon Iver has a career total of two wins and eight nods, with the latest nomination being in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for "Exile" with Taylor Swift.

2013: Fun.

According to The Recording Academy, the group's sophomore album, Some Nights, sold more than three million copies in the U.S. and was nominated for two Grammys. In fact, the band received a total of five nods and one win in 2013.

2014: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

The musical duo received five nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. They won in three categories—Best New Artist, Best Rap Album (The Heist) and Best Rap Performance ("Thrift Shop").

2015: Sam Smith

The singer took home the trophy for Best New Artist at the 57th Grammy Awards. They also won three more Grammys that year. Their debut album, In the Lonely Hour, won Best Pop Vocal Album and "Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)" won Song and Record of the Year. They've received a total of six nominations and four awards so far in their career.

2016: Meghan Trainor

In 2015, the "Lips Are Movin" singer was named Best New Artist. She has two more Grammy nominations under her belt—Record of the Year and Song of the Year—for her hit "All About That Bass."

2017: Chance the Rapper

In addition to winning Best New Artist that year, the star took home the trophy for Best Rap Album for Coloring Book and Best Rap Performance for "No Problem." The artist, a.k.a. Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, has a total of three wins and eight nominations.

2018: Alessia Cara

The "Here" singer was also up in the Best Music Video and Song of the Year categories for "1-800-273-8255," as well as in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for "Stay" with Zedd.

2019: Dua Lipa

In 2019, the "New Rules" star took home two trophies—one for Best New Artist and one for Best Dance Recording for her song "Electricity" with Silk City, Mark Ronson and Diplo. However, her fans weren't too happy when the microphone was cut off during her acceptance speech. She's had a total of eight nods and two wins so far in her career.

2020: Billie Eilish

Last year, the "bad guy" artist won not one, not two but five Grammys. She made history by becoming the second person ever and the first female artist to take home the top four trophies—Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist—all in one night. But that's not all. At age 18, Eilish, now 19, is the youngest star to ever win Album of the Year. She also won Best Pop Vocal Album for When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.

Tune in to the 60th Annual Grammy Awards will air live on both coasts this Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.