The Grammy Curse

by Sheldon Rocha Leal

The Grammy Curse is something that has been discussed in the media for many years and the legend of the curse is something that has been feared by many nominees in one of the most prestigious categories at the annual Grammy ceremony: Best New Artist. This category falls within the General Field of the awards. The Field consists of the Big 4 awards handed out annually at the prize giving, which also include: Album, Record and Song of the Year. What differentiates this field from other fields, is that any act nominated in the other fields (R&B, Rock, Pop, Jazz etc) is eligible for an award in this field.

Taffy Danoff of the band Starland Vocal Band, whose band formerly won the award, observed in an interview for a VH1 documentary in 2002 that winning the award was a kiss of death for the band, who won two Grammies at their first sitting in 1976, but never repeated this performance. The curse basically states that anyone who wins the prestigious accolade will never win another Grammy in their careers.

Taffy Danoff of The Starland Vocal Band stated that the band struggled to achieve any major success after winning the Best New Artist Grammy in 1976.

I therefore decided to interrogate this matter further to determine what the “miss” rate was for acts “winning” this seemingly poisoned chalice. The Best New Artist category is one of the oldest categories at the Grammies. The award was handed out at the first ceremony in 1959 and although the Grammies will be 61 years old this year, it has only been handed out 58 and is only held by 57 acts (the 58th act will be awarded this month). Just by these stats one can determine that something is amiss.

The German band Milli Vanilli who were burning up the charts in the late 1980s won the Best New Artist Grammy in 1990. After it was discovered that the band was a front for a bunch of session musicians, the award was revoked. It was the first and only time in Grammy history that an award was retracted. Additionally there was no Grammy ceremony in 1960 and the 9th annual Grammy ceremony in 1967 is the only ceremony at which the award was not presented, therefore resulting in the stat that only 57 acts hold this award.

When the German band, Milli Vanilli, got exposed for being frauds, their Best New Artist Grammy Award (received in 1990) was revoked. The first and last time in Grammy history that this happened.

But let’s delve a little deeper into the 57 acts that have received this award. For the purpose of this article I have categorized the winners into four umbrella sub-divisions:

• One time winners
• Multiple wins at a debut ceremony
• Long Wait Between Wins
• Tragic Post Grammy Careers

One Time Winners

The following acts have only ever won 1 award in their careers, at their debut Grammy ceremony and never replicated this success:

• Robert Goulet (1963): The actor and singer and is one of the only artists in history to own both a Grammy and Tony award.
• Sir Tom Jones (1966): The signer only ever won 1 Grammy, but led a highly successful career in the UK and is today known for his judging activities on TV show, The Voice UK.
• Crosby, Stills & Nash (1970): Although this Folk Rock band only ever won one Grammy Award they were inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
• America (1973): Although this Folk Rock band from the 1970s, only ever one Grammy award, they were inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.
• A Taste of Honey (1979): This Disco band only ever released 5 solo albums and were rewarded after the success of their only No1 single in the USA, “Boogie Oogie Oogie”.
• Men At Work (1983): This Australian act only ever released 3 solo albums. They only ever had No1 on the US singles chart, “Down Under” (1981).

Robert Goulet, Sir Tom Jones, Crosby Stills & Nash, America, A Taste of Honey and Men at Work only ever won 1 Grammy Award (Best New Artist)

• Culture Club (1984): Boy George and his band were highly successful internationally in the 1980s, but after much infighting and George’s drug problems, they eventually disbanded.
• Jody Watley (1988): By the time Jody won her Best New Artist Grammy in 1988 she had already led a successful career as a member of the famous 1970s Soul/Disco band Shalamar.
• Milli Vanilli (1990): After it was discovered that the German duo had been lip syncing, their award was revoked. It’s the only time in Grammy history that this happened.
• Marc Cohn (1992): He is most famous for his major hit single, “Walking In Memphis”. After the success of this single, however, he struggled to replicate the success he achieved at his first Grammy ceremony.

Jody Watley, Marc Cohn and Culture Club only ever won one Grammy Award.

• Paula Cole (1998): This Berklee College of Music alumnus was nominated after the success of her single “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone”. After “flipping the bird” at the ceremony and exposing her armpit hair in her performance, her album sales plummeted and she decided to take a break from the music industry, to raise her daughter. She was also nominated for Producer of the Year in the same year, only the third time in history a woman was nominated in the category.
• Shelby Lynne (2001): When she won the Grammy for Best New Artist she had been in the music business for 13 years and had released 5 studio albums. It was only after the release of her 6th studio album, “I Am Shelby Lynne” that she attained the mainstream success that resulted in her only Grammy win.
• Meghan Trainor (2016): She had been nominated for 2 Grammy Awards in 2015 before being nominated and winning the Best New Artist Grammy in 2016. Since then she hasn’t accumulated any further nominations.
• Alessia Cara (2018): After the release of her first album, this Canadian R&B singer accumulated 4 nominations at the 60th annual Grammy ceremony. She eventually won one of the 4 categories in which she was nominated (Best New Artist). Since then she released a sophomore album, which only peaked at No71 in the USA and didn’t attain much success.

These ladies all only have one Grammy Award: Paula Cole, Shelby Lynne, Meghan Trainor and Alessia Cara.

Multiple Wins at a Debut Ceremony

Although the following people have won multiple Grammy Awards, they only ever won these statuettes at their first Grammy ceremony:

• Bobby Darin (1959): He was an iconic crooner who enjoyed a successful career. Although he was nominated for 5 Grammy awards, he only ever won 2, at his debut ceremony in 1959: Best New Artist and Record of the Year for “Mack The Knife”. In 2010 he received a 3rd Grammy, posthumously, for his contribution to the music industry: Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Bob Newhart (1961): He was more famous as an actor/comedian than a musician, but at his first ceremony in 1961, he won 3 Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Album of The Year for “The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart” and Best Comedy Performance Spoken-Word for “The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!”. He is the only comedian in history to win 2 of the Big 4 and Best New Artist and his album “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” is only one of two comedy albums to win Album of the Year.
• Bobbie Gentry (1968): She was nominated for 8 Grammy Awards at her debut ceremony and eventually walked away with three: Best New Artist, Best Vocal Performance, Female and Best Contemporary Female Solo Vocal Performance for “Ode To Billy Joe”. Those three were the only awards she ever won.
• Marvin Hamlisch (1975): He was a famous conductor and composer, who is one of 15 people in history to be referred to as an “EGOT”. These are individuals who have won all four major US entertainment awards: Emmy (for TV), Grammy (for music), Oscar (for motion picture) and Tony (for stage). At his first Grammy ceremony he was nominated for and won 4 awards: Best New Artist, Song of the Year for “The Way We Were”, Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “The Entertainer” and Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special for “The Way We Were”. Although he was nominated for 12 Grammies in his career, the latter are the only ones he won.
• Starland Vocal Band (1976): The band was only ever nominated for 4 awards, at their debut ceremony. They won 2 of the 4 Grammy awards for which they were nominated: Best New Artist and Best Arrangement for Voices (Duo, Group or Chorus) for “Afternoon Delight”. These two awards are the only ones they ever won.
• Christopher Cross (1981): The singer-songwriter is the only artist in history to win all 4 of the Big 4 Grammy Awards at one ceremony and only one of two artists to have won all 4. This is quite an achievement considering that an artist can only ever win all 4, in one evening, once and it needs to be at their debut ceremony. These 4 awards are, however, the only Grammies he ever won: Best New Artist, Album of the Year for “Christopher Cross” and Song and Record of the Year for “Sailing”.

These artists won various Grammy Awards, but only at their first ceremony: Bob Newhart, Marvin Hamlisch, Bobbie Gentry, Bobby Darin and Christopher Cross (who is the only artist to win the Big 4 in one evening).

• Arrested Development (1993): This Hip-Hop band hit the ground running with 3 Grammy nominations at their debut appearance at the awards ceremony. They won 2 of the 3 categories in which they were nominated in that year: Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Tennessee”. In the following two years they were nominated 2 additional times, but they were never able to recapture the success of their initial appearance.
• Hootie & The Blowfish (1996): They were one of the hottest bands in the late 1990s in the USA. They were nominated and won 2 awards off their debut album. Unfortunately these were the last two Grammies they ever won: Best New Artist and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “Let Her Cry”.
• LeAnn Rimes (1997): The country singer is the youngest person to win a Grammy award. At her debut ceremony, aged 14, she was nominated for 2 awards and won both: Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “Blue”. In the ensuing years she has been nominated 5 additional times, but has never replicated the success of her first ceremony. Rimes’ career has been marred by issues with her first recording label and management, which has hindered her career progress.
• Evanescence (2004): The rock band was nominated for 5 Grammy Awards at their debut ceremony and won two awards at the ceremony: Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance for “Bring Me To Life”. Although the band were nominated for Grammies at two additional ceremonies, they were never able to replicate the success of their debut appearance.
• Bon Iver (2012): The Folk band was nominated in three of the Big 4 categories at their debut ceremony as well as an additional category. They went on to win 2 Grammy awards at their first ceremony: Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album for “Bon Iver”. Although they won the new artist category in 2012, it was for work completed on their sophomore album. Their first album, “For Emma, Forever Ago”, was released in 2007.
• Fun. (2013): The rock band has accumulated 6 Grammy nominations in their short career, 4 of which they received at their debut ceremony. The band has also been nominated in all 4 of the Big 4 categories. The only 2 Grammy Awards they have won, were in 2 of the Big 4 categories at their first appearance: Best New Artist and Song of the Year for “We Are Young”. To date they have not been able to replicate the success of their first appearance.

Arrested Development, Hootie and The Blowfish, LeAnn Rimes, Amy Lee (of Evanescence), Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver) and Fun. also won various Grammies, but only at their first ceremony.

Long wait between Grammy Wins:

The following Best New Artist winners experienced long waits between their original win and their subsequent achievement. The two winners only ever won 2 Grammy awards competitively.

These two artists had to wait nearly 2 decades to win a second Grammy: Cyndi Lauper and Carli Simon

• Carly Simon (1972–1990): The singer-songwriter has been nominated 15 times in her 55 year career. At her first Grammy ceremony she was nominated in 2 categories and won the Best New Artist award. It took her 18 years to win a second Grammy in the category Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television for the song “Let The River Run”. In 2004 her song “You’re So Vain” was inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame.
• Cyndi Lauper (1985–2013): The Pop singer, who everyone thought, at the time of her first win (Best New Artist), was going to be bigger than Madonna has been nominated 16 times. After her first win in 1985 she waited 28 years before winning her second and only other Grammy, Best Musical Theatre Album for “Kinky Boots” (2013). Cyndi possesses 3 of the 4 EGOT awards (Emmy, Grammy and Toni) she is missing an Oscar to join the prestigious EGOT recipients.

Tragic Post Grammy Career

As with some of the earlier mentioned winners, who have experienced career hardships (LeAnn Rimes, Culture Club, Milli Vanilli and Paula Cole) the following Best New Artist recipients have also experienced challenges and stunted careers, what differentiates them from the other artists in this article is that they are multiple Grammy Award winners.

These ladies are all multiple Grammy winners, but certain career challenges hindered their prospects.

• Toni Braxton (1994): The R&B singer is a 7 time Grammy winner and is nominated in an additional 3 categories in 2019. Although she has sold millions of albums and singles (approximately 68million records worldwide), she has faced various challenges including contractual issues with her recording label, management irregularities and two bankruptcies: one soon after she won the Best New Artist Grammy award (1994) in 1996 and a second time in 2010.
• Lauryn Hill (1999): The 8 time Grammy Award winning Neo-Soul star and mother of 6, had prior to winning the Best New Artist Grammy in 1999 accumulated 2 trophies, as part of the iconic Hip-Hop band The Fugees. Although very talented, her temperamental behavior, legal battles over copyright and tax fraud, drug usage and recording label issues, resulted in prison time, an inconsistent career, the disbanding of The Fugees and the lack of a follow up studio album, to her critically acclaimed, 5 time Grammy winning and 10 time nominated album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”.
• Amy Winehouse (2008): The 6 time Grammy Award winning Soul star, who is also a member of the dubious “27 Club”, had a very short but successful career. She only ever released two solo albums and won the Best New Artist Grammy after the release of her second album “Back To Black” in 2008. The album won 5 Grammy Awards, shipped over 12million units internationally and peaked at No2 USA/No1 UK. Her public struggle with drugs and sycophantic management resulted in the demise of the singer and the end of what could have been a long and prosperous career.

Looking at the above 31 acts it is clear to surmise that if one wins the coveted Best New Artist Grammy it is highly unlikely that the said artist will ever win another Grammy in their career. Actually, from the above it is likely that one of three things may happen: either they will never win another Grammy or their careers may screech to a grinding halt or both. According to my calculations an act has a 49% chance of never winning another Grammy, at a future ceremony, after winning Grammies at their debut appearance. So is the Grammy Curse a myth or reality? From the above numbers one could easily assume that it is a reality. Good luck to the 2019 recipient!!!!