Cyndi Lauper, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, joins the short list of former Grammy winners for best new artist who made the Rock Hall. She’s the sixth artist to take both of these honors.
The Grammys and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame once seemed to be operating in different worlds, with the Grammys, in their early years, favoring traditional pop and jazz, and the Rock Hall long favoring guitar-based rock. But both organizations have moved to the middle in recent years.
For many years, just three artists had achieved both of these feats — a Grammy win for best new artist and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — but in the last four years, three more artists have joined the list.
With the Rock Hall becoming more open to a wider range of sounds, it’s not hard to picture several more past best new artist Grammy winners one day being inducted. Mariah Carey has been passed over for induction the last two years running, but it seems likely that she’ll make it one day. Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Lauryn Hill and Christina Aguilera would also seem to have at least a reasonable chance of making the Rock Hall.
Artists first become eligible for the Rock Hall 25 years after releasing their first record. So over time the artists who won best new artist after 2001 will also become eligible for the Rock Hall. Over the next 10 years that could bring in Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, John Legend, Carrie Underwood and Amy Winehouse, among others.
While we wait to see which of them make it, here are the six artists who both won a Grammy for best new artist and are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Grammy years shown are the years of the ceremonies at which the awards were presented.
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Bobby Darin
Best New Artist: 1959
Rock Hall: 1990
Notes: Darin was just 23 when he became the first Grammy winner for best new artist. His sleek “Mack the Knife” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks and won the Grammy for record of the year. Darin, whose other hits ranged from the suave “Beyond the Sea” to the folk-shaded ballad “If I Were a Carpenter,” died of heart failure in 1973 at age 37.
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The Beatles
Best New Artist: 1965
Rock Hall: 1988
Notes: The Grammys were still coming to terms with rock and roll in 1965, but The Beatles had made such an explosive impact there could have been no other choice for best new artist. The Fab Four had two other Big Four nominations that year — “I Want to Hold Your Hand” for record of the year and “A Hard Day’s Night” for song of the year. The Beatles, of course, grew with virtually every release. They are the only act in Grammy history to receive album of the year nominations in five consecutive years. They won in 1968 for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and probably should have won a couple more for Revolver and Abbey Road. All four Beatles are also represented in the Rock Hall with their solo careers.
The Beatles won an Oscar for best original song score in 1971 for Let It Be. The two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, won Primetime Emmys in 2022 for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series as producers of The Beatles: Get Back.
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Crosby, Stills & Nash
Best New Artist: 1970
Rock Hall: 1997
Notes: In addition to CSN winning best new artist, Crosby, Stills & Nash was up for album of the year. They were nominated again in that category the following year with Déjà vu, this time joined by Neil Young. All three members of CSN are double inductees in the Rock Hall. Crosby is also in with The Byrds, Stills with Buffalo Springfield and Nash with The Hollies.
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Carly Simon
Best New Artist: 1972
Rock Hall: 2022
Notes: Simon was the first woman to receive both of these honors. Simon won best new artist on the strength of her haunting ballad “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be,” a top 10 hit on the Hot 100 in 1971. She reached her zenith in 1973 when her single “You’re So Vain” topped the Hot 100 (and received record and song of the year nods) and her album No Secrets topped the Billboard 200.
Simon won an Oscar for best original song in 1989 for “Let the River Run” from Working Girl.
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Cyndi Lauper
Best New Artist: 1985
Rock Hall: 2025
Notes: In the year she won for best new artist, Lauper was also nominated for album of the year for She’s So Unusual, record of the year for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and song of the year for “Time After Time.”
Lauper won a Primetime Emmy as a guest actress on Mad About You in 1995 and a Tony for best original score for Kinky Boots in 2013. So, she’s three-quarters of the way to EGOT status.
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Sheryl Crow
Best New Artist: 1995
Rock Hall: 2023
Notes: Crow is the second woman to receive both of these honors. In the year she won for best new artist, she also won record of the year for her frisky smash “All I Wanna Do.” That song was also nominated for song of the year. While “All I Wanna Do” was poppy, Crow has also had hits that showed her rock and country leanings.
