Frankie Valli performs on “American Bandstand” on Sept. 9, 1978.
ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images
Here’s some advice for Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and this year’s four other Grammy nominees for best new artist. If your name isn’t called as the winner in that category when the 67nd annual Grammy Awards are presented on Feb. 2, don’t lose heart. You can still go on to a significant recording career. Look no further than Frankie Valli, who, as part of the Four Seasons, lost the Grammy for best new artist in 1963 to Robert Goulet, but today (Dec. 20) was announced as a lifetime achievement award recipient by the Recording Academy.
If you’re under 60 or so, you probably don’t know much about Goulet, who died in 2007. He was a major Broadway, TV and recording star in the 1960s, who rose to fame by playing Lancelot in Camelot on Broadway from 1960 to 1963. The Four Seasons had a very different kind of fame, as a pop vocal group with three consecutive (discounting a holiday single) No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962-63 – “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a Man.”
That was Goulet’s only Grammy nomination that year (or ever), whereas the Four Seasons had two that year – best new artist and best rock & roll recording for “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” So how did Goulet win? The biggest reason is Camelot, which had spawned a Billboard 200-topping original cast album in 1961. In that show, he had the good fortune to sing one of the greatest ballads of the era, “If Ever I Would Leave You.” That instant standard was more in line with Grammy tastes at the time than the Four Seasons’ more youth-oriented smashes.
Here’s a complete list of artists who lost the best new artist Grammy but later received lifetime achievement awards from the Recording Academy.
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Leontyne Price
Image Credit: Harry Croner/ullstein bild via Getty Images The soprano lost to future TV legend Bob Newhart in 1961, but received a lifetime achievement award in 1989. Newhart simply made a bigger splash that first year. He won three Grammys, also including album of the year for The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart and best comedy performance spoken word for its follow-up, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! Price won just one award that year—best classical performance — vocal soloist for A Program of Song — Leontyne Price Recital.
The long view: Newhart never won another Grammy after that first year, but Price went on to win 12 more Grammys through 1984.
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Frankie Valli
The Four Seasons, fronted by Valli, lost to Robert Goulet as best new artist in 1963, but Valli will receive a lifetime achievement award next year. That was Goulet’s only Grammy nomination that year, whereas the Four Seasons had two that year – best new artist and best rock & roll recording for “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” So how did Goulet win? The biggest reason, as noted above, is Camelot, which had spawned a Billboard 200-topping original cast album in 1961.
(Seven months after Goulet’s best new artist win, Camelot became legendary, when, in her first interview after President Kennedy’s assassination, his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, said that JFK loved to listen to the Broadway cast album at night. That’s why his administration is often referred to as Camelot.)
The long view: Goulet never landed another Grammy nomination. Valli landed four more, including two in 1968 for his swoon-classic “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” and one in 1979 for singing the title track on the Grease soundtrack, which topped the Billboard 200 for 12 weeks.
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Antonio Carlos Jobim
The musician who was at the forefront of the worldwide bossa nova wave lost to The Beatles as best new artist in 1965 (no shame in that), but received a lifetime achievement award in 2012. Again, The Beatles had a bigger year that first year. The Fab Four had four nods, winning two awards — best new artist and best performance by a vocal group for “A Hard Day’s Night.” Best new artist was Jobim’s only nod that year. (His composition “The Girl From Ipanema” won record of the year, but wasn’t eligible for song of the year because it was written and first recorded in 1962. Grammy rules have fluctuated on how new songs have to be to be nominated in this category.)
The long view: The Beatles won seven Grammys (credited as The Beatles) and are nominated for two more this year – record of the year and best rock performance for “Now and Then.” Jobim finally won his first and only Grammy in 1996, best Latin jazz performance for his album Antonio Brasileiro.
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Jefferson Airplane
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images The rock band lost to Bobbie Gentry as best new artist in 1968, but received a lifetime achievement award in 2016. Gentry received eight Grammy nominations that first year. She was the first artist in Grammy history to receive nods in each of the “Big Four” categories — album, record and song of the year plus best new artist. She won three. Best new artist was Jefferson Airplane’s only nod that year.
The long view: Both acts had exactly one nomination after their breakthrough years. Gentry was nominated in 1970 for best contemporary vocal performance, female for her album, Fancy. Jefferson Airplane had a long run, morphing into Jefferson Starship and later Starship. As Starship, the band was nominated in 1986 for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal for “We Built This City,” a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100.
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Cream
The rock trio lost to José Feliciano as best new artist in 1969, but received a lifetime achievement award in 2006. Feliciano received four nods that first year, including album of the year for Feliciano! He won two – best new artist and best contemporary pop vocal performance, male for a soulful reinvention of The Doors’ “Light My Fire.” Best new artist was Cream’s only nod.
The long view: Cream, which broke up after releasing just one more album (1969’s Goodbye), never landed another nomination, but the trio’s Eric Clapton has gone on to amass 17 Grammys. Feliciano has won a total of seven Grammys and one Latin Grammy.
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Led Zeppelin
Image Credit: Chris Walter/WireImage The hard rock band lost to Crosby, Stills & Nash as best new artist in 1970, but received a lifetime achievement award in 2005. Best new artist was Led Zep’s only nod that year. CSN was up for a total of three awards, including two for its debut album Crosby, Stills and Nash, which was nominated for album of the year and best contemporary vocal performance by a group.
The long view: Led Zeppelin won its first and only Grammy in 2014 for the live album Celebration Day, which was voted best rock album. The band’s Robert Plant has gone on to land eight Grammys. CSN never won another Grammy.
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Chicago
The band lost to Crosby, Stills & Nash as best new artist in 1970, but received a lifetime achievement award in 2019. CSN was up for three awards, including album of the year, that first year, whereas best new artist was Chicago’s only nomination that year.
The long view: Chicago finally won its first and only Grammy in 1977, for the No. 1 Hot 100 hit “If You Leave Me Now,” which was voted best pop vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus. As noted above, CSN never won another Grammy.
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John Prine
The singer/songwriter lost to America as best new artist in 1973, but received a lifetime achievement award in 2019. America was up for two awards that first year — the other was best pop vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus for “A Horse With No Name,” a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, whereas best new artist was Prine’s only nomination that year.
The long view: Prine won four Grammys between 1992 and 2021. America never won another Grammy.
