MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist

The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist has been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984.^[1] Until 2006, the award was named Best New Artist in a Video. In 2007 its name was changed to Best New Artist, as the category underwent a format change to recognize the artist's body of work for the full year rather than a specific video. For the 2008 ceremony, the award retained its 2007 name but returned to the format of awarding a specific video rather than the artist's full body of work.

MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist
Country	United States
Presented by	MTV
First awarded	1984
Currently held by	Ice Spice (2023)
Website	VMA website

The category was later renamed Artist to Watch through 2013 to 2015 while still keeping the format of an award going to a particular video. In 2020, the Best New Artist award merged with the Push Artist of the Year award (2018-2019) to create the Push Best New Artist award.^[2][3] In 2021, MTV returned the category to its original name (Best New Artist), thus separating it from the MTV Push initiative, which again received its own category (Push Performance of the Year). ^[4]

Winners and nominees

†Marks winners of the Grammy Award for Best New Artist

*Marks nominees of the Grammy Award for Best New Artist

1980s

Inaugural winner Eurythmics

1997 award winner Fiona Apple

2002 award winner Avril Lavigne

2004 award winner Maroon 5

2005 awards winner The Killers

2008 award winner Tokio Hotel

2009 award winner Lady Gaga

2010 award winner Justin Bieber

2011 award winner Tyler, The Creator

2012 award winner One Direction

2014 award winner Fifth Harmony

2015 award winner Fetty Wap

2017 award winner Khalid

2018 award winner Cardi B

2019 award winner Billie Eilish

2020 award winner Doja Cat

2021 award winner Olivia Rodrigo

2022 award winner Dove Cameron

2023 award winner Ice Spice

Recipients

Year[lower-alpha 1]	Winner(s)	Nominees	Ref.
1984	Eurythmics – "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"*	Cyndi Lauper – "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"† Cyndi Lauper – "Time After Time"† Madonna – "Borderline" Wang Chung – "Dance Hall Days"	[5] [6]
1985	'Til Tuesday – "Voices Carry"	Frankie Goes to Hollywood – "Two Tribes"* Julian Lennon – "Too Late for Goodbyes"* Sade – "Smooth Operator"† Sheila E. – "The Glamorous Life"*	[7]
1986	A-ha – "Take On Me"*	The Hooters – "And We Danced" Whitney Houston – "How Will I Know" Pet Shop Boys – "West End Girls" Simply Red – "Holding Back the Years"*	[8]
1987	Crowded House – "Don't Dream It's Over"	Robert Cray – "Smoking Gun" The Georgia Satellites – "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" Bruce Hornsby and the Range – "The Way It Is"† Timbuk3 – "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"*	[9]
1988	Guns N' Roses – "Welcome to the Jungle"	The Godfathers – "Birth, School, Work, Death" Buster Poindexter – "Hot, Hot, Hot" Swing Out Sister – "Breakout"* Jody Watley – "Some Kind of Lover"†	[10]
1989	Living Colour – "Cult of Personality"	Paula Abdul – "Straight Up" Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – "What I Am" Neneh Cherry – "Buffalo Stance"*	[11]

1990s

Recipients

Year[lower-alpha 2]	Winner(s)	Nominees	Ref.
1990	Michael Penn – "No Myth"	Bell Biv DeVoe – "Poison" The Black Crowes – "Jealous Again"* Jane Child – "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" Lenny Kravitz – "Let Love Rule" Alannah Myles – "Black Velvet"* Lisa Stansfield – "All Around the World"	[12]
1991	Jesus Jones – "Right Here, Right Now"	C+C Music Factory – "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"* Deee-Lite – "Groove Is in the Heart" Gerardo – "Rico Suave" Seal – "Crazy"*	[13]
1992	Nirvana – "Smells Like Teen Spirit"	Tori Amos – "Silent All These Years" Arrested Development – "Tennessee"† Cracker – "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)"	[14]
1993	Stone Temple Pilots – "Plush"	Tasmin Archer – "Sleeping Satellite" Belly – "Feed the Tree"* Porno for Pyros – "Pets"	[15]
1994	Counting Crows – "Mr. Jones"*	Beck – "Loser" Björk – "Human Behaviour" Green Day – "Longview"* Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories – "Stay (I Missed You)" Me'Shell NdegéOcello – "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)"	[16]
1995	Hootie & the Blowfish – "Hold My Hand"†	Jeff Buckley – "Last Goodbye" Des'ree – "You Gotta Be" Filter – "Hey Man, Nice Shot" Portishead – "Sour Times (Nobody Loves Me)"	[17]
1996	Alanis Morissette – "Ironic"*	Tracy Bonham – "Mother Mother" Garbage – "Stupid Girl"* Jewel – "Who Will Save Your Soul"*	[18]
1997	Fiona Apple – "Sleep to Dream"*	Meredith Brooks – "Bitch" Hanson – "MMMBop"* Jamiroquai – "Virtual Insanity" The Wallflowers – "One Headlight"	[19]
1998	Natalie Imbruglia – "Torn"*	Cherry Poppin' Daddies – "Zoot Suit Riot" Chumbawamba – "Tubthumping" Fastball – "The Way" Mase – "Feel So Good"	[20]
1999	Eminem – "My Name Is"	Kid Rock – "Bawitdaba"* Jennifer Lopez – "If You Had My Love" Orgy – "Blue Monday"	[21]

2000s

Recipients

Year[lower-alpha 3]	Winner(s)	Nominees	Ref.
2000	Macy Gray – "I Try"*	Christina Aguilera – "What a Girl Wants"† Papa Roach – "Last Resort"* Pink – "There You Go" Sisqó – "Thong Song"*	[22]
2001	Alicia Keys – "Fallin'" †	Coldplay – "Yellow" Nikka Costa – "Like a Feather" David Gray – "Babylon"* Sum 41 – "Fat Lip"	[23]
2002	Avril Lavigne – "Complicated"*	Ashanti – "Foolish"* B2K – "Uh Huh" John Mayer – "No Such Thing"* Puddle of Mudd – "Blurry"	[24]
2003	50 Cent – "In da Club"*	The All-American Rejects – "Swing, Swing" Kelly Clarkson – "Miss Independent" Evanescence (featuring Paul McCoy) – "Bring Me to Life"† Sean Paul – "Get Busy"* Simple Plan – "Addicted"	[25]
2004	Maroon 5 – "This Love"†	The Darkness – "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" Jet – "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" JoJo – "Leave (Get Out)" Kanye West (featuring Syleena Johnson) – "All Falls Down"* Yellowcard – "Ocean Avenue"	[26]
2005	The Killers – "Mr. Brightside"	Ciara (featuring Missy Elliott) – "1, 2 Step"* The Game – "Dreams" John Legend – "Ordinary People"† My Chemical Romance – "Helena"	[27]
2006	Avenged Sevenfold – "Bat Country"	Angels & Airwaves – "The Adventure" James Blunt – "You're Beautiful"* Chris Brown (featuring Juelz Santana) – "Run It!"* Panic! at the Disco – "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" Rihanna – "SOS"	[28]
2007	Gym Class Heroes	Lily Allen Peter Bjorn and John Carrie Underwood† Amy Winehouse†	[29]
2008	Tokio Hotel – "Ready, Set, Go!"	Miley Cyrus – "7 Things" Katy Perry – "I Kissed a Girl" Jordin Sparks (featuring Chris Brown) – "No Air" Taylor Swift – "Teardrops on My Guitar"*	[30]
2009	Lady Gaga – "Poker Face"	3OH!3 – "Don't Trust Me" Drake – "Best I Ever Had"* Kid Cudi – "Day 'n' Nite" Asher Roth – "I Love College"	[31]

2010s

Recipients

Year[lower-alpha 4]	Winner(s)	Nominees	Ref.
2010	Justin Bieber (featuring Ludacris) – "Baby"*	Broken Bells – "The Ghost Inside" Jason Derülo – "In My Head" Ke$ha – "Tik Tok" Nicki Minaj (featuring Sean Garrett) – "Massive Attack"*	[32]
2011	Tyler, the Creator – "Yonkers"	Big Sean (featuring Chris Brown) – "My Last" Foster the People – "Pumped Up Kicks" Kreayshawn – "Gucci Gucci" Wiz Khalifa – "Black and Yellow"	[33]
2012	One Direction – "What Makes You Beautiful"	fun. (featuring Janelle Monáe) – "We Are Young"* Carly Rae Jepsen – "Call Me Maybe" Frank Ocean – "Swim Good"* The Wanted – "Glad You Came"	[34]
2013	Austin Mahone – "What About Love"	Iggy Azalea – "Work"* Twenty One Pilots – "Holding On to You" The Weeknd – "Wicked Games" Zedd (featuring Foxes) – "Clarity"	[35]
2014	Fifth Harmony – "Miss Movin' On"	5 Seconds of Summer – "She Looks So Perfect" Charli XCX – "Boom Clap" Schoolboy Q – "Man of the Year" Sam Smith – "Stay with Me"†	[36]
2015	Fetty Wap — "Trap Queen"	James Bay — "Hold Back the River"* George Ezra — "Budapest" FKA Twigs — "Pendulum" Vance Joy — "Riptide" (Runner-Up)	[37]
2016	DNCE	Desiigner Zara Larsson Lukas Graham Bryson Tiller (Runner-Up)	[38]
2017	Khalid*	Noah Cyrus* Kodak Black Julia Michaels (Runner-Up)* SZA* Young M.A	[39]
2018	Cardi B	Bazzi Chloe x Halle* Hayley Kiyoko (Runner-up) Lil Pump Lil Uzi Vert*	[40]
2019	Billie Eilish†	Ava Max H.E.R.* Lil Nas X* Lizzo (Runner-up)* Rosalía*	[41]

2020s

Recipients

Year[lower-alpha 5]	Winner(s)	Shortlist	Nominees[upper-alpha 1]	PUSH Longlist[upper-alpha 2]	Ref.
2020	Doja Cat*	Lewis Capaldi Yungblud	Jack Harlow Roddy Ricch Tate McRae	AJ Mitchell Arizona Zervas Ava Max BENEE Brockhampton Conan Gray Finneas Kiana Ledé Lil Tecca Pop Smoke Summer Walker	[42] [43] [44]
2021	Olivia Rodrigo†	The Kid Laroi*	24kGoldn Giveon Polo G Saweetie*	—	[45]
2022	Dove Cameron	Måneskin* Seventeen	Baby Keem* Gayle Latto*	—	[46]
2023	Ice Spice*	Peso Pluma Reneé Rapp	GloRilla Kaliii PinkPantheress	—	[47]
2024	TBD	TBD	Gracie Abrams* Benson Boone Chappell Roan Shaboozey Teddy Swims Tyla	—	[48]

See also

• Grammy Award for Best New Artist
• MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act
• MTV Europe Music Award for Best Push Act

Notes

1. Artists that were eliminated during the primary voting rounds.
2. Artists that were selected candidates for the award but did not make the final nominations.

1. Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.
2. Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.
3. Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.
4. Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.
5. Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.

References

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