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Culture Club at 1984 GRAMMYs

Culture Club at the 1984 GRAMMYs

 
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Watch Culture Club Win Best New Artist In 1984 grammy-rewind-26-years-rupauls-drag-race-boy-george-culture-club-brought-drag-queen

GRAMMY Rewind: 26 Years Before "RuPaul's Drag Race," Boy George & Culture Club Brought Drag Queen Realness To America

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Watch Culture Club's acceptance speech to witness the legendary frontman deliver a charming moment that shocked a gender-binary, Ronald-Reagan-ruled America
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 11, 2020 - 12:26 pm

For today's episode of GRAMMY Rewind, GRAMMY.com takes a trip back to 1984, when London New Wave group Culture Club won Best New Artist. Following the momentous release of their lively 1982 debut album, Kissing To Be Clever, they were also nominated for one of its hit singles—and '80s classic—"Do You Really Want To Hurt Me."

Watch the group's full acceptance speech below to witness legendary frontman Boy George, rocking winged eyeliner and magenta lips, deliver a charming moment that shocked a gender-binary, Ronald-Reagan-ruled America.

Watch Culture Club Win Best New Artist In 1984

"Thank you, America, you've got taste, style and you know a good drag queen when you see one," George offered, with a coy kiss to the camera.

In 2018, the queer icon reflected on the moment during an interview with Variety: "I didn't really consider what it meant for anyone else, as I was in England…But people [in the U.S.] were freaking out when I said that. My press agent at the time, Susan Blond, literally cried. And now you have RuPaul and 'Drag Race,' which my nephew in Leeds watches. Look, sometimes the world just isn't ready—for a word, for a shift of the moral compass. I'm glad I said it now. I just wish I had said it with a bit more intention at the time."

Luckily, better representation for the LGBTQ+ rainbow—including drag queens, honey!—in American media has continued to improve throughout the decades via groundbreaking shows like "RuPaul's Drag Race" (2009-2021) and "Pose" (2018-2021), the latter of which features trans actors and writers.

For The Record: Mariah Carey's Eternal Merry-Maker, "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

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Christina Aguilera at 2000 GRAMMYs

Christina Aguilera at 2000 GRAMMYs

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Christina Aguilera Wins Best New Artist In 2000 grammy-rewind-christina-aguilera-shines-2000-grammys-best-new-artist

GRAMMY Rewind: Christina Aguilera Shines As The 2000 GRAMMYs Best New Artist

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As the 2000 Best New Artist, she beat fellow nominees Macy Gray, Britney Spears, Susan Tedeschi, and Kid Rock
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 18, 2020 - 2:05 pm

GRAMMY.com celebrates eternal pop diva Christina Aguilera's 40th birthday on today's episode of GRAMMY Rewind by revisiting her Best New Artist win at the 2000 GRAMMYs. In her full acceptance speech below, witness a surprised and grateful 19-year-old Xtina shine as she accepts her first GRAMMY win in a silver slip dress accented with rhinestone butterflies.

Christina Aguilera Wins Best New Artist In 2000

More: GRAMMY Rewind: Watch Mariah Carey Shine As She Wins Best New Artist At The 1991 GRAMMYs

As the 2000 Best New Artist, she beat fellow nominees Macy Gray, Britney Spears, Susan Tedeschi, and Kid Rock. "Genie in a Bottle," the hit lead single for her 1999 self-titled debut album, was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance that year as well. The "Beautiful" singer has since earned five total GRAMMY wins and 20 nominations.

GRAMMY Rewind: Witness Rihanna Accept Her First-Ever GRAMMY Win With JAY-Z For "Umbrella"

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Be the first to find out about winners, nominees, and more from Music's Biggest Night.
Mariah Carey at the 1991 GRAMMYs

Mariah Carey at the 1991 GRAMMYs

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Watch Mariah Carey Win Best New Artist In 1991 mariah-carey-best-new-artist-1991-grammys-grammy-rewind

GRAMMY Rewind: Watch Mariah Carey Shine As She Wins Best New Artist At The 1991 GRAMMYs

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In the latest episode of GRAMMY Rewind, watch the powerhouse songstress accept her Best New Artist gramophone
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Nov 27, 2020 - 10:43 am

In the latest edition of GRAMMY Rewind, witness a 20-year-old Mariah Carey shine brightly at the 1991 GRAMMYs as she accepts her Best New Artist GRAMMY win.

"I'd just like to thank God for the blessings that have brought me here," she says, rocking curly locks and a classy, rhinestone-encrusted little black dress.

Watch Mariah Carey Win Best New Artist In 1991

More Mariah: Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" Hits No. 1 25 Years After Its Initial Release

That year, she took home her first two golden gramophones, also winning Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her debut hit single, "Vision of Love." The powerful song was also nominated for Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year, while her self-titled debut album, which opens with the track, got a nod for Album Of The Year.

Meet This Year's Best New Artist Nominees | 2021 GRAMMYs

 

Carrie Underwood at the 2007 GRAMMYs

Carrie Underwood at the 2007 GRAMMYs

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Carrie Underwood Wins Best New Artist In 2007 grammy-rewind-carrie-underwood-wins-best-new-artist-2007-grammys

GRAMMY Rewind: Carrie Underwood Wins Best New Artist At The 2007 GRAMMYs

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For the latest edition of GRAMMY Rewind, we look back at the country star's Best New Artist win at the 49th GRAMMY Awards in 2007
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Sep 18, 2020 - 11:08 am

For the latest edition of GRAMMY Rewind, we look back at country queen Carrie Underwood's Best New Artist win at the 49th GRAMMY Awards in 2007. Watch her full acceptance speech for the big win below.

"This is absolutely unbelievable. I love country music, first of all!" she said with a big smile.

Carrie Underwood Wins Best New Artist In 2007

In 2005, Underwood won the fourth season of "American Idol," making her a household name. Later that year, she would go on to release her first two (hit) singles and her debut album, Some Hearts, on Arista Nashville. The LP was also a hit, earning the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart.

Following that whirlwind breakthrough year, Underwood was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance, for her second-ever single, "Jesus, Take The Wheel." She won both categories and has been an unstoppable musical force in country ever since.

The "Cry Pretty" singer has gone on to earn seven total GRAMMYs to date. She won her third GRAMMY just the following year, earning Best Female Country Vocal Performance again, for her massive single "Before He Cheats."

GRAMMY Rewind: Watch Carrie Underwood Perform "Before He Cheats" At The 2008 GRAMMYs

Madonna at the 1999 GRAMMYs

Madonna at the 1999 GRAMMYs

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Madonna Wins Best Pop Album In 1999 grammy-rewind-watch-madonna-win-best-pop-album-ray-light-1999

GRAMMY Rewind: Watch Madonna Win Best Pop Album For 'Ray Of Light' In 1999

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Watch the art-pop queen accept her award rocking a dramatic red kimono-sleeved dress and fierce red lips
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Aug 14, 2020 - 2:04 pm

In 1998, art-pop queen Madonna released her seventh studio album Ray of Light, four years after her prior LP, Bedtime Stories, marking the longest gap between projects since her epic self-titled debut in 1983. With her artistic chameleon style on full display, it offered a new side to the "Like a Prayer" singer, serving up an expansive, pulsing U.K. electro sound, as encapsulated by the driving title cut.

For the latest  GRAMMY Rewind, watch a brunette Madonna take home Best Pop Album for the 1998 album.

Madonna Wins Best Pop Album For 'Ray Of Light'

Another GRAMMY Rewind: U2 Win Their First-Ever GRAMMY For 'The Joshua Tree' In 1988

She accepts the award—presented by Jennifer Lopez and Jerry Seinfeld—rocking a dramatic red kimono-sleeved dress and fierce red lips (it was her Kabbalah era, after all). Ray of Light co-producer William Orbit and mixer/engineer David Reitzas join her on stage, sharing the Best Pop Album win for their work on the project, along with co-producer Jon Ingoldsby and engineer Pat McCarthy.

As the album marked the "Music" artist's successful entrance into the global dance music space, the title track also earned her GRAMMY wins for Best Dance Recording and Best Music Video. The project, which draws heavily from Euro dance a la drum and bass, trance and house, as well as Middle Eastern music, was nominated for a total of five GRAMMYs that year.

Read: Tricky Reflects On His Musical Legacy: "No One Sounds Like Me. And I Sound Like No One"

Prior to 1999, her first and only GRAMMY win came at the 34th GRAMMY Awards in 1992, for Best Long Form Music Video for the Blonde Ambition World Tour Live.

The Queen of Pop has since earned many more nominations and three more golden gramophones, including Best Electronic/Dance Album for 2005's ABBA-sampling Confessions on a Dance Floor at the 49th GRAMMY Awards.

Soul Clap Wants You To Rave The Vote This 2020 Election

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.