Zara Larsson has rejected potential consideration for Best New Artist at the 2027 Grammy Awards, stating she is not a new artist.
The 28-year-old Swedish pop singer explained in an interview published August 27 with Perfect Magazine that being put forward for the category would undermine her 13-year career as a performer.
"I was speaking to my former label about this," Larsson told Perfect Magazine. "And they were like, 'Yeah, we're going to see if we can put you in Best New Artist for the Grammys.' And I'm like, 'I don't even want that. That would downplay the 13 years of me being an artist. I'm not a new artist.'"
Larsson first gained prominence at age 10 when she won Talang, the Swedish edition of America's Got Talent. She later achieved international hits with songs such as "Lush Life" in 2015 and "Symphony" in 2017 before releasing her fifth studio album, Midnight Sun, in September.
While acknowledging a shift in her career since the release of Midnight Sun, Larsson emphasized that she prefers to view her progress as a breakthrough rather than a fresh start. "That's why I like 'breakthrough,'" she said. "It feels like the whole world is looking at me at the same time. Before, this song was successful over here, and another song a year later was successful over there. Now it feels like it's all coming together quite nicely."
Recording Academy Eligibility Rules
Regardless of her personal preference, Larsson is already ineligible for the Best New Artist award at the 2027 ceremony. Her song "Midnight Sun," released as a single in June 2025, received a nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
Under official rules established by the Recording Academy, performers cannot be nominated for Best New Artist if they have previously received a Grammy nomination as a performer or as an established member of a nominated group. However, her Midnight Sun album remains eligible for consideration at the 2027 Grammys, where nominations will be announced in November.
Larsson stressed that formal awards are not her primary measure of professional accomplishment. "The older I get, it's becoming clearer and clearer to me that my passion and what I really care about is people coming to my shows," she told Perfect Magazine. "People have taken time out of their real lives. They paid money to experience this with their friends, and I get to be on stage and sing live. The live culture of it all is what I really, really care about."
She added that the response to her latest record has surpassed traditional metrics. "What's been so amazing about Midnight Sun is I feel like it's gone beyond just a good album or a good song," Larsson said. "People are being invited into my world by putting on their outfits and their flowers and the glitter and the colours. The culture around it is how I feel successful."
Major Pop Stars Without Grammy Wins
Larsson joins a long line of prominent music figures who have navigated high-profile careers without winning a competitive Grammy Award. Despite major commercial success and critical acclaim, several of pop music's biggest names have never taken home a trophy from the Recording Academy.
Katy Perry has accumulated 13 Grammy nominations throughout her career without a single victory, including a nomination for Album of the Year for her 2010 release Teenage Dream. Similarly, country star Blake Shelton has received nine Grammy nominations without winning, despite earning numerous country-specific awards.
Swedish pop group ABBA enjoyed massive global success in the 1970s but received their first Grammy nomination in 2022 for Record of the Year with "I Still Have Faith in You," losing to Silk Sonic's "Leave the Door Open." ABBA earned four additional nominations the following year, including Album of the Year for Voyage. Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez was nominated twice, in 2000 and 2001, but did not win either award.
Iconic Groups and Rock Pioneers
The Beach Boys received four competitive Grammy nominations, including three for 1966's "Good Vibrations" and one for 1988's "Kokomo" from the Cocktail soundtrack, but never won a competitive award. Group co-founder Brian Wilson holds two Grammys of his own, and the band received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. Legendary British rock group The Who also received a Lifetime Achievement Award despite earning only two competitive nominations and zero wins during their career.
Popular boy bands from the late 1990s and early 2000s faced similar outcomes. The Backstreet Boys went 0-for-9 between 1999 and 2019, famously losing Best New Artist to Lauryn Hill in 1999. *NSYNC also accumulated nine nominations without a victory. By contrast, One Direction received no Grammy nominations as a group, though former member Harry Styles subsequently won three Grammys, including Album of the Year in 2023 for Harry's House.
Reggae icon Bob Marley never received a Grammy nomination during his lifetime before his death in 1981 at age 36, though he was posthumously honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. Canadian singer Avril Lavigne has received eight nominations since the early 2000s without a win. Rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry, singer of "Johnny B. Goode," received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984 after never winning a competitive Grammy.
Recent Contenders and Motown Legends
British rock band Queen received four Grammy nominations during frontman Freddie Mercury's lifetime without winning, later receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. Lana Del Rey has received 11 nominations over a 10-year span without a victory, famously joining Taylor Swift onstage when Swift accepted Album of the Year in 2024 for Midnights. Country musician Toby Keith, who died in 2024, received seven nominations during his career without winning.
Rapper Nicki Minaj has accumulated 12 nominations without a win. Following the 2022 decision to move her track "Super Freaky Girl" into the pop category rather than rap, Minaj voiced her frustration on Instagram. "They don't want the people who they have in the industry to have to go up against me," Minaj wrote. "But why? If you're great, if a song is great, you should be able to be put together in the same category."
Vocalist Josh Groban has received five nominations without winning, including a 2005 nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "You Raise Me Up." Motown group The Supremes, featuring Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson, received only two nominations for hits "Baby Love" and "Stop! in the Name of Love" without a win. Ross has earned 11 competitive nominations as a solo artist without a victory, while receiving two Lifetime Achievement Awards as a solo artist and with The Supremes.
