MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act

The MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act is one of the four original general categories that have been given out since the first annual MTV Europe Music Awards in 1994. Originally called Breakthrough Artist (1994—1999), it was briefly retitled to Future Sounds in 2006 and the winner was chosen by their peers. In 2007 the category featured only European artists chosen by viewers in each region of Europe, every day the artist with the fewest votes was eliminated and the winner would play live at the EMAs. In 2008 the award was once again retitled, this time to its current name. The current holder by this award is Benson Boone.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

† indicates an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist–winning artist.

‡ indicates an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist–nominated artist that same year.

1990s

Inaugural award winner group Crash Test Dummies.

All Saints was the first girl group to win the category.

Britney Spears was the first solo act to win the category.

Year	Artist	Ref
1994
	Crash Test Dummies	[1]
	Beck
	Deus
	Therapy?
	Whale
1995
	Dog Eat Dog	[2]
	H-Blockx
	Alanis Morissette †
	Portishead
	Weezer
1996
	Garbage	[3]
	The Cardigans
	The Fugees
	Pulp
	Skunk Anansie
1997
	Hanson ‡	[4]
	Meredith Brooks ‡
	Puff Daddy
	No Doubt
	Spice Girls
1998
	All Saints	[5]
	Aqua
	Eagle Eye Cherry
	Five
	Natalie Imbruglia †
1999
	Britney Spears	[6]
	Eminem †
	Jennifer Lopez ‡
	Vengaboys
	Westlife

2000s

Sean Paul was the first solo male act to win the award.

Maroon 5 were the first act and the first group to also win the respective category at the MTV Video Music Awards in the same year.

Lady Gaga was the first solo act to also win the respective category at the MTV Video Music Awards in the same year.

Year	Artist	Ref
2000
	Blink 182	[7]
	Anastacia
	Bomfunk MCs
	Melanie C
	Sonique
2001
	Dido	[8]
	Craig David
	Nelly Furtado
	Gorillaz
	The Wheatus
2002
	The Calling	[9]
	Avril Lavigne †
	Röyksopp
	Shakira
	The Strokes
2003
	Sean Paul ‡	[10]
	50 Cent †
	Evanescence
	Good Charlotte
	Justin Timberlake
2004
	Maroon 5 †	[11]
	Franz Ferdinand
	Jamelia
	Keane
	The Rasmus
2005
	James Blunt ‡	[12]
	Akon
	Kaiser Chiefs
	Daniel Powter
	Rihanna ‡
2006
	Gnarls Barkley	[13]
2007
	Bedwetters	[14]
	Firma
	Yakup
2008
	Katy Perry ‡	[15]
	Miley Cyrus ‡
	Duffy
	Jonas Brothers
	OneRepublic
2009
	Lady Gaga †	[16]
	Daniel Merriweather
	La Roux
	Pixie Lott
	Taylor Swift

2010s

2010 award winner Kesha.

Cardi B was the first rapper to also win the respective category at the MTV Video Music Awards in the same year.

Zara Larsson was the first Swedish singer to win the category.

Year	Artist	Ref
2010
	Kesha ‡	[17]
	B.o.B
	Justin Bieber †
	Jason Derulo ‡
	Plan B
2011
	Bruno Mars	[18]
	Far East Movement
	Jessie J
	Wiz Khalifa ‡
	LMFAO
2012
	One Direction †	[19]
	Carly Rae Jepsen ‡
	Fun
	Lana Del Rey
	Rita Ora
2013
	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis	[20]
	Bastille
	Icona Pop
	Imagine Dragons
	Rudimental
2014
	5 Seconds of Summer	[21]
	Charli XCX ‡
	Ariana Grande
	Kiesza
	Sam Smith ‡
2015
	Shawn Mendes	[22]
	Tori Kelly
	Jess Glynne
	James Bay ‡
	Echosmith
2016
	Zara Larsson ‡	[23]
	Bebe Rexha
	DNCE †
	Lukas Graham ‡
	The Chainsmokers
2017
	Dua Lipa	[24]
	Julia Michaels ‡
	Khalid †
	Kyle ‡
	Rag'n'Bone Man
2018
	Cardi B †	[25]
	Bazzi ‡
	Anne-Marie
	Hayley Kiyoko ‡
	Jessie Reyez
2019
	Billie Eilish †	[26]
	Ava Max ‡
	Lewis Capaldi
	Lil Nas X ‡
	Lizzo ‡
Mabel

2020s

Year	Artist	Ref
2020
	Doja Cat †	[27]
	Benee ‡
	DaBaby
	Jack Harlow ‡
	Roddy Ricch ‡
	Yungblud ‡
2021
	Saweetie ‡	[28]
	Giveon ‡
	Griff
	Olivia Rodrigo †
	Rauw Alejandro
	the Kid Laroi ‡
2022
	Seventeen ‡	[29]
	Baby Keem ‡
	Dove Cameron †
	Gayle ‡
	Stephen Sanchez
	Tems
2023
	Peso Pluma ‡	[30]
	Coi Leray
	Flo
	Ice Spice †
	PinkPantheress ‡
	Reneé Rapp ‡
2024
	Benson Boone ‡	[31]
	Ayra Starr
	Chappell Roan †
	Le Sserafim
	Teddy Swims ‡
	The Last Dinner Party
	Tyla ‡

See also

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