Best Grammy Winner for Best New Artist
Since 1960, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has presented the Best New Artist Grammy to celebrate up-and-coming performers with a bright future in the music industry. Over the intervening 64 years, many of those winners have indeed become superstars in their own right, and on occasion the award has gone to never-weres, has-beens, and in one notable instance, a pair of total frauds. Crank up the gramophone as the Great Pop Culture Debate seeks to determine the best Best New Artist Grammy Winner of all time. Artists discussed: The Beatles, Olivia Rodrigo, The Carpenters, Sheryl Crow, Cyndi Lauper, Christina Aguilera, Tracy Chapman, Amy Winehouse, Mariah Carey, Megan Thee Stallion, Carly Simon, John Legend, Adele, Alicia Keys, Bette Midler, Billie Eilish.
Join host Eric Rezsnyak and GPCD panelists Andrea Guerrero, Gary Jackson, and Kevin Dillon as they discuss 16 of the most iconic Best New Artists of all time.
Play along at home by finding the listener bracket here. Make a copy for yourself, fill it out, and see if your picks match up with ours!
For more exclusive content, including warm-up in which we discuss the Best New Artist winners we were bummed didn’t make the bracket, become a Patreon supporter of the podcast today.
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Round 1 Match-Ups:
Not a Patreon subscriber? Here’s a primer on how we came up with the bracket.
Match-Up 1: The Beatles (1965) (1) vs. Olivia Rodrigo (2022) (4)
Match-Up 2: The Carpenters (1971) (3) vs. Sheryl Crow (1995) (2)
Match-Up 3: Cyndi Lauper (1985) (1) vs. Christina Aguilera (2000) (4)
Match-Up 4: Tracy Chapman (1989) (3) vs. Amy Winehouse (2008) (2)
Match-Up 5: Mariah Carey (1991) (1) vs. Megan Thee Stallion (2021) (4)
Match-Up 6: Carly Simon (1972) (3) vs. John Legend (2006) (2)
Match-Up 7: Adele (2009) (1) vs. Alicia Keys (2002) (4)
Match-Up 8: Bette Midler (1974) (3) vs. Billie Eilish (2020) (2)
Want to play along at home?
Download the Listener Bracket and see if your picks match up with ours!
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Episode Credits
Host: Eric Rezsnyak
Panel: Andrea Guerrero, Gary Jackson, Kevin Dillon
Producer: Curtis Creekmore
Editor: Eric Rezsnyak
Theme Music: “Dance to My Tune” by Marc Torch