Last night at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, Meghan Trainor received the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. That’s right, Meghan Trainor is, under Grammy regulations, considered to be a new artist. While Trainor was moved by the recognition, many people, including myself, were disappointed that she came out on top. Twitter was especially tough on Trainor, citing Trainor’s fellow nominees, specifically Tori Kelly and James Bay, as individuals more deserving of the title.
It’s not to say that Trainor isn’t a talented performer, but to most, she’s been around for too long to be considered new. Between 2009 and 2012, Trainor released three albums on her own and began writing for other recording artists. It wasn’t until 2014 that she was signed to her first major label, Epic Records.
A year and a half ago, on June 30, 2014, “All About That Bass” was released and became an instant hit. It even led to two Grammy nominations for Trainor, Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. In the midst of her summer of success, Trainor released another single “Lips are Movin” and her first EP, Title in September 2014, which included “Dear Future Husband.” As Trainor was gearing up to release her major label debut, Sony Music Entertainment had her previously released albums pulled from the market, making Title, which was released in January 2015, as her studio album debut.
This is all to say that while Trainor certainly doesn’t feel new, she released her debut album in 2015, making her a new artist. While it’s tough for me to concede, as someone who was personally rooting for James Bay (and Tori Kelly after that duet), I guess I can’t deny that she won the award, fair and square. So to the people out there saying James or Tori (or Sam Hunt and Courtney Barnett) were robbed, they technically weren’t and it’s time to move on and maybe belt out an ironic rendition of “Let it Go” or “Should’ve Been Us.”
Image via EW.com
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