5 Nominees for the Best New Artist Grammy Who Were Already Veterans

3. The Dixie Chicks

The Dixie Chicks were the crowned sorceresses of country radio in 1999 as their album Wide Open Spaces was diamond-certified (10 million copies) -- before that, you had to be Garth Brooks or Shania Twain to rack up those numbers in country sales. But while their Soundscan figures ruled, the Chicks' nomination for Best New Artist did not. The ladies released their first album Thank Heavens for Dale Evans in 1991, though at the time, lead vocalist Natalie Maines was not part of the group. Still: Would it have made sense to nominate the Gary Cherone-fronted Van Halen with a New Artist nod in 1997?

4. Alanis Morissette

The story is legend at this point, but Alanis Morissette moved from her native Ottawa, forged a songwriting partnership with industry great Glen Ballard, and turned out the alternative-pop album Jagged Little Pill, which unexpectedly became one of the highest-grossing albums of all time. She was justly awarded Album of the Year and three rock awards, but her Best New Artist nomination (an award that ended up going to fellow weird-juggernaut Hootie and the Blowfish) was a stretch. The debate hinges on whether you think Canadian discography should be discounted during Best New Artist consideration, but it's not even like Morissette was an obscure coffeehouse find in Ontario. Her first album, 1991's Alanis, was certified "Canadian" platinum, and her follow-up Now is the Time was a modest success. Somehow, this is like rain on your wedding day.

5. The Blues Brothers

The first problem is that the Blues Brothers suck, and so did their overrated-to-high-holy-heaven movie. Second, they were scarcely a real act, even if the group gave the world Briefcase Full of Blues in 1978. But most importantly, they had three years to win a Grammy vote for 1980's Best New Artist with countless Saturday Night Live sketches and performances in the interim. Luckily, they lost to actual-wunderkind Rickie Lee Jones, and we were spared a mugging, cliched monologue by Jake Blues about all his harmonica teachers in Joliet Penitentiary.

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