Samara Joy, a jazz singer from the Bronx who is 23 years old, was awarded the Grammy for best new artist on Sunday night at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. This was a rare victory for an artist from a relatively specialized field in a category that has been dominated for years by high-profile pop and hip-hop stars. Samara Joy is the first jazz singer to win this award.
Who was the most recent musician to win the award for best new artist? Another jazz singer, Esperanza Spalding, who is famous for winning the prized award in 2011 against competition from both Drake and Justin Bieber.
There were a number of well-known artists competing against Joy on Sunday, including the rapper Latto, the R&B singer Muni Long, the Brazilian singer Anitta, and the rock bands Wet Leg and Mneskin.
On Sunday, Joy was also awarded a Grammy for best jazz vocal album for her debut album for the legendary Verve label, “Linger Awhile.” The album features Joy’s stately yet sensual renditions of jazz standards such as “Misty,” “‘Round Midnight,” and “Someone to Watch Over Me,” and it was nominated for a Grammy.
Joy, who was receiving the best new artist award at the time, said, seemingly in surprise, to the audience full of A-listers assembled at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles that she had been following all of them on television for “like so song.” “Each and every one of you is incredibly motivating to me, and to think that I am here because of who I am… I am grateful just for the fact that I was born the way I am.
Joy grew up in Philadelphia. Her grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, were members of a gospel group called the Savettes. Joy sang in school musicals and liked Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan’s soul and R&B music.
She won the prestigious Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2019 while she was a student at the State University of New York at Purchase.
Olivia Rodrigo won best new artist last year, and she was the one who told Joy on Sunday’s show that she had won. Joy will be playing at the Soraya performing arts center at Cal State Northridge on Saturday.
