In theory, winning the Grammy for Best New Artist should be a golden ticket to a long and fruitful career. But this year’s nominees — SZA, Julia Michaels, Lil Uzi Vert, Khalid and Alessia Cara — should beware because, for some winners, it’s turned out to be pop’s poisoned chalice. A bizarre number of acts have gone from heroes to zeros after taking home the coveted award. Check out some of the most fascinating forgotten winners.
Fun. (2013)
Thanks to massive chart success with the No. 1 smash “We Are Young” featuring Janelle Monáe, the indie-pop trio picked up the Best New Artist nod. Almost exactly a year after their win, they announced a hiatus that continues to this day.
Since then, guitarist Jack Antonoff has found fame and success as a songwriter for the likes of Lorde and Taylor Swift, as well as the singer of his own group, Bleachers. But aside from his guest vocals on Pink’s 2013 No. 1 hit “Just Give Me a Reason,” former frontman Nate Ruess has struggled with his solo career.
Lauryn Hill (1999)
“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” (1998) remains a modern R&B classic, and the former Fugee deservedly won a total of five Grammys for it in 1999.
Twenty years later, Hill has developed a reputation as a famously unreliable touring act (canceled shows and tardy appearances are the norm), and she still has yet to release another solo album.
Paula Cole (1998)
The Massachusetts-born singer will always have a place in the hearts of ’90s teens thanks to her earnest, soft-pop hit “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and “I Don’t Want to Wait,” which was famously the “Dawson’s Creek” theme.
Despite continuing to release music for hardcore fans — her latest album, “Ballads,” dropped last August — Cole’s chart successes have been nonexistent since winning Best New Artist.
Marc Cohn (1992)
The singer-songwriter became famous for the modestly successful “Walking in Memphis,” a vivid recollection of a visit to the home of the blues. But his Best New Artist win in 1992 was controversial: He beat the already way more popular Boyz II Men! Since then, the only real chart success he has had was thanks to Cher’s 1995 cover of the same song.
Milli Vanilli (1990)
Even as the German soul duo racked up hits during 1989, questions were being asked about their artistry: backing tracks would skip at their performances, and many were perplexed by their poor English skills in interviews.
They still won the Best New Artist award, but at the end of 1990, the group’s mastermind, Frank Farian, confessed that neither Rob Pilatus nor Fab Morvan actually sang their hits, and the Grammy was promptly rescinded. Shame and obscurity followed, but if we’re being honest here, we all secretly love “Girl You Know It’s True.”