Past Best New Artist recipients: Cyndi Lauper, Shelby Lynne, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sheryl Crow, Lauryn Hill, Sade, and Culture Club's Boy George

Alicia Keys, Linkin Park, Nelly Furtado, India.Arie and David Gray are up for the Best New Artist Grammy. Perhaps they should be afraid.

If peer admiration is the best kind of compliment, winning a Grammy is indeed music's highest honor. Determined by the ballots of those who have worked on six or more commercially produced songs — as musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers or in other capacities — the award overlooks critical non-factors such as record sales or radio popularity to identify "true" artistic achievement.

While this form of flattery doesn't exactly get you nowhere, sometimes the ride is over quick. Ask some past winners of the Best New Artist award what their Grammy and a buck will get them and they're liable to point to the McDonald's dollar menu. For others, walking away with a Grammy leads to a road paved with gold and platinum.

Of the genre-spanning "big four" awards — Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year (given to the songwriters) and Best New Artist — expectations hang heaviest on the latter. Like the Rookie of the Year or Heisman Trophy, the Best New Artist award, while recognizing a stellar year, is viewed as a predictor of bigger and better things. And while some have used the honor as a stepping stone, the careers of others have sunk under its weight.

Mariah Carey and Sheryl Crow were each dubbed Best New Artists in the voting years their respective debut albums, Mariah Carey and Tuesday Night Music Club, were released, and while 1990 was the only time she caught Grammy gold, albeit twice (also for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Vision of Love"), Carey is 37 times platinum in the eight albums since. Crow added to her glory with six more Grammys and 11 platinum plaques from the three albums that followed her 1994 maiden win.

Early '80s artists Sade, Men at Work, Culture Club and Cyndi Lauper also benefited from Best New Artist buzz. Sade continues to strike precious metal, with last year's Lovers Rock certified double platinum, and though the careers of the others faded one or two albums later, it wasn't before they sold millions of copies and produced a flurry of hit singles.

Conversely, winning the Best New Artist award is sometimes a Pyrrhic victory. For every Carey and Crow, there are those for whom the award marked the apex of their careers.

Big things seemed in store for 1991 Best New Artist Marc Cohn. His "Walking in Memphis" was a hit and his self-titled debut was certified gold at the time of the awards ceremony. Unfortunately for the singer/songwriter, "Walking in Memphis" strode alone. Nothing Cohn released off his two successive albums, 1993's The Rainy Season and 1998's Burning the Daze, came close to matching its magnitude, and combined they've yet to sell 500,000 copies, according to SoundScan. Marc Cohn reached platinum status five years later, while its creator works as a session player.

Christopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind" and "Sailing" blew the 1980 winner into stardom and off the musical map just as quickly. Although his self-titled debut album fostered two other singles, and his "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," from the movie "Arthur," was a hit, his eight albums since paled in comparison to his first LP, which has been certified five-times platinum. Hootie & the Blowfish (1995) and Arrested Development (1992) are among the others whose careers suffered after taking home the Best New Artist trophy.

Recent recipients Lauryn Hill and Christina Aguilera must surely be feeling the pressure as they prepare their post-Grammy follow-ups, especially considering Shelby Lynne's disappointing après-Grammy showing. I Am Shelby Lynne, the 2000 album that afforded her the award, sold more than 225,000 copies to date, while its successor, last year's Love, Shelby, has yet to break 70,000 in sales.

While the Best New Artist award can hint toward an artist's future success, it may also mark the emergence of a predominant musical style. Like Aguilera's win that punctuated the female teen pop boon of 1999, and LeAnn Rimes' score in the midst of a country crossover trend in 1996, might a victory for India.Arie point toward a neo-soul happening? Would one for Nelly Furtado reclaim the prize for the light, funky ones? If it goes to David Gray or Alicia Keys, who herself might not be a contender if it weren't for Lauryn Hill in 1998, would soul-baring be the new rap-rock? Or would rap-rock persevere as a post-modern outlet for aggression if Linkin Park take home the trophy? We'll have to wait and see.

For more Grammy news, check out the MTV News Grammy Archive.

Stick with MTV News for complete coverage when the Grammys are handed out on Wednesday. You can catch the action live from the red carpet on "Backstage at the Grammys" beginning at 7 p.m. (ET) on MTV, and get up-to-the-minute news and reaction from the stars on MTVNews.com throughout the night.

• Alicia Keys
• Linkin Park
• Nelly Furtado
• India.Arie
• David Gray

Shelby Lynne
Photo: Jay Morel

LOS ANGELES — This year's Best New Artist Grammy winner isn't feeling any pressure with the release of her new album.

"I don't allow that," Shelby Lynne said backstage at KRCW's A Sounds Eclectic Evening on Friday (see "Ozomatli Turn Singer/Songwriter Showcase Into Hip-Hop Salsa Party"). "You just do the best you can every day."

Winning a Best New Artist Grammy has never guaranteed a prosperous future — see Hootie & the Blowfish, Arrested Development or Jody Watley — but that doesn't pertain to Lynne. Love, Shelby, released Tuesday, is her seventh album.

And like her Memphis soul-flavored Grammy-winner I Am Shelby Lynne (see "Eminem, Dre And, Uh, Steely Dan Dominate Grammys"), the former country singer's new album marks a shift in sounds.

"I wanted to do an album that rocks, and I think I achieved that," Lynne said. "I love to rock. I have always liked to rock at the shows, and I wanted to get it on record. And still keep my ballads."

For Love, Shelby, Lynne recruited producer Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Dave Matthews Band) and detached herself further from her country roots.

The album's first single, "Wall in Your Heart," is an uplifting ballad about getting through to your lover. "There's a wall in your heart/ That no one can get through/ And it's cold and it's dark/ And you don't have a clue/ But this wall it will fall/ If it's the last thing I do," Lynne sings on the tune.

"I wrote it when we first started writing for the record, which was April," Lynne said. "It's a pretty song. Simple. Sweet. Something we all go through."

Lynne will promote her new album with a handful of club dates before the end of the year. She will also perform on "The Late Show With David Letterman" on November 20.

Shelby Lynne tour dates, according to Island:

• 11/15 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
• 11/16 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 11/17 - Amagansett, NY @ Stephen Talkhouse
• 11/19 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
• 11/29 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
• 11/30 - Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater
• 12/1 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
• 12/4 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues

For a look back at previous big Grammy winners, red carpet photos and much more, visit our Grammy News Archive.

• Shelby Lynne

Shelby Lynne performs at A Sounds Eclectic Evening  
Photo: Jay Morel

LOS ANGELES — One of Southern California's most esteemed radio shows took to the stage Friday for an inaugural concert celebrating diverse artists ranging from singer/songwriter Elliott Smith to country-fried rocker Shelby Lynne.

A Sounds Eclectic Evening, named after flagship National Public Radio station KCRW-FM's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show, began as an emotional showcase of the world's top songsmiths and ended as a hip-hop salsa party that had the packed Wiltern Theatre audience dancing down the aisles. (Click for photos from the show.)

Los Angeles' own Ozomatli headlined the benefit for KCRW with a rousing set of tunes mostly culled from their new album, Embrace the Chaos. The 10-member outfit looked like a hip-hop ska version of Slipknot, though not nearly as chaotic.

Bassist Wil-Dog Abers and guitarist Raúl Pacheco provided the majority of their Cypress Hill-like vocal tag teams, though trumpeter Asdrubal Sierra piped in for a few of the Latin-flavored numbers.

Ozomatli's latest single, "1234," proved to be the audience favorite, as the mostly white crowd waved its hands to the tune's Afro-Cuban beat.

The rest of the performances Friday were of a different breed, with the possible exception of a few Lynne numbers. Promoting her new record, Love, Shelby, she mixed the intimacy of a singer/songwriter with the attitude of an arena star by belting out the heartfelt lyrics she is known for with the vigor of a Las Vegas veteran like Bette Midler or Cher.

Pete Yorn, Smith, Badly Drawn Boy and Sparklehorse, on the other hand, let their lyrics be the sole stars.

Smith and Badly Drawn Boy both played short, acoustic sets from a small stage in front of the main curtain. Smith played all new material from his upcoming album, while Badly Drawn Boy opened by singing some new songs over prerecorded tracks — "karaoke-style" as he put it — and closed with some familiar numbers.

Badly Drawn Boy, stuffed between the subdued Smith and the even quieter Sparklehorse, provided a needed pick-me-up with his between-song banter. After introducing a few tracks from the new "About a Boy" soundtrack, he improvised a gag about his band being too ugly to bring onstage.

Covered in a stocking cap pulled down to his brow and illegally taking drags off a cigarette, Badly Drawn Boy garnered heavy applause (from fans such as Meg Ryan and Tracey Ullman) for The Hour of Bewilderbeast tracks "Once Around the Block" and "The Shining." He dedicated the latter to Osama bin Laden, asking the terrorist to make his next target "the twin cheeks of my ass."

Smith, who wore a skin-tight thrift store T-shirt and sported Willie Nelson-like pigtails, debuted new material that varied little from his past catalog of fairy tale folk with twists of pop.

"These [versions of the new songs] are very different than how they will sound on the record, but this is how they started out," Smith said in his dressing room after the show.

Yorn's set perhaps best summed up the title of the concert, as he powered through an eclectic set list that had equal moments of raucous rock 'n' roll splendor ("For Nancy (Cos' It Already Is)") and pour-your-heart-out grandeur ("Just Another").

"KCRW is a hell of a station, and I would go out of my way to help them," Yorn said shortly before taking the stage. "It's a really cool bill, and I am honored to be a part of it."

Opening duties for the evening fell to Sparklehorse, whose dreamy noise pop was a good introduction to both the concert and KCRW in general. Singer Mark Linkous kicked the vocal effects into high gear for most of the set, which focused on the tender love songs from their recent album, It's a Wonderful Life.

KCRW's music director and founder of "Morning Becomes Eclectic," Nic Harcourt, said the A Sounds Eclectic Evening will certainly be an annual tradition, if not more.

"It would be nice to expand it to some kind of tour, if we could find the time to do it," said Harcourt, who is credited with helping break R.E.M., PJ Harvey, Beck and many others. "I first thought about this a couple of years ago. We waited for the timing to be right, and my boss told me at the beginning of the year to go for it."

Harcourt has already spearheaded the release of a pair of CDs based on the show, including last spring's Sounds Eclectic compilation (see "Beck, David Gray, Travis On Live Radio Album").

• Ozomatli
• Pete Yorn
• Elliott Smith
• Shelby Lynne
• Badly Drawn Boy

John Lennnon
Photo: Capitol

"Come Together: A Night for John Lennon," a tribute concert for the former Beatle featuring Stone Temple Pilots, Beck and Alanis Morissette, will be broadcast live from New York after being postponed in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks.

The event will take place and air on October 2, according to a TNT spokesperson. The sixth installment of the cable network's TNT Master's Series was to be taped last Thursday and broadcast on what would have been Lennon's 61st birthday, October 9 (see "Beck, STP, Alanis Come Together For John Lennon").

The fundraising concert has been renamed "Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words & Music, Dedicated to New York City & Its People." In addition to its original beneficiaries — the Violence Policy Center and the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence, united with the Million Mom March — the event will assist the American Red Cross, the September 11th Fund, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the New York Fraternal Order of Police WTC Fund, the National Organization for Victim Assistance and the Twin Towers Fund.

The show's lineup, which also features Nelly Furtado, Lou Reed, Marc Anthony, Moby, Seal, Cyndi Lauper and Shelby Lynne, has been updated to include Dave Matthews, the Isley Brothers and Yolanda Adams. Additional artists are expected to be announced shortly.

Tickets for the postponed event, which is scheduled to take place at Radio City Music Hall, will be honored on October 2.

• John Lennon
• Dave Matthews Band
• Dave Matthews
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Beck

Sheryl Crow
Photo: A&M

The list of Grammy performers keeps growing, with Macy Gray, Sheryl Crow, Jill Scott, Shelby Lynne, Moby and Blue Man Group joining 'NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child and the hotly anticipated Eminem-Elton John duet on the lineup.

Gray is up for three awards — Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Try," from her On How Life Is release.

Seven-time Grammy winner Crow will perform with Lynne, whose leap last year from straight country into Memphis soul earned her a Best New Artist nomination. I Am Shelby Lynne finished #5 in the recently announced Village Voice "Pazz & Jop" critics' poll.

Moby, Scott and the popular performance artists Blue Man Group will perform together. Scott is up for three awards, while Moby's "Natural Blues" is up for Best Dance Recording and Blue Man Group are nominated in the new Best Pop Instrumental Album category for Audio. The Grammys also announced Wednesday that "TRL" host Carson Daly, Sisqó, Gloria Estefan and Tony Bennett have joined the show's list of presenters. The awards will be held on February 21 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and will be broadcast live on CBS from 8-11 p.m. ET. (MTV.com's parent company, Viacom, also owns CBS.)

(MTVNews.com will offer complete coverage the night of the awards show, including up-to-the-minute news, Grammy-related feature interviews and a place for users to share their thoughts on the show with the rest of the world.)

For more Grammy news, check out the MTV News Grammy Archive.

• Macy Gray
• Sheryl Crow
• Jill Scott
• Moby
• Shelby Lynne

• Ozomatli
• Elliott Smith
• Shelby Lynne
• Badly Drawn Boy
• Pete Yorn

Grammy Awards 2001

• Madonna
• Bow Wow
• *NSYNC
• Jill Scott
• Moby