GRAMMYs 2015: Who's up for Best New Artist?
It's GRAMMY nominations day!
The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards nominations were announced Friday, celebrating a who's who of music including Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert and an impressive five nominations for British singer Sam Smith.
Among Smith's nominations is one for Best New Artist, which shocked plenty of people already familiar with the 22-year-old's soulful tunes. But there are still a few artists who made the cut, you may not have heard of quite yet. So let's break down the nominees!
PHOTOS: Who's Up for a 2015 GRAMMY Award?!
1. Sam Smith: By now, you've heard Smith's breakout hit "Stay With Me," which became an international success when it was released in July. He quickly followed the hit with his melancholy tune "I'm Not the Only One," proving he's far from a one hit wonder. Smith has also proven to be popular amongst his fellow artists, attending the MTV Music Awards with Katy Perry, and getting chummy with Taylor Swift at the American Music Awards. His amazing year has already included an AMA win for Favorite Male Artist - Pop/Rock.
2. Iggy Azaela: The fact that you can't get "Fancy" out of your head means you're already very familiar with this feisty Aussie rapper who's never met a Twitter feud she doesn't like. The 24-year-old singer is known for her hit collaborations, including "Booty" with Jennifer Lopez, "Black Widow" with Rita Ora and her verse in Ariana Grande's huge hit "Problem." Her chart-dominating year also includes getting two American Music Awards in the Rap/Hip-Hop categories, and four GRAMMY nominations, including Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Fancy," and Best Rap Album for The New Classic.
3. Brandy Clark: Shout out to country music! The 37-year-old singer may have an edge over her competition seeing as how she's written songs for the likes of Miranda Lambert, Sheryl Crow and LeAnn Rimes. The openly gay country artist even performed at Lambert's 2011 wedding to Blake Shelton. Clark released her debut album 12 Stories last October, which was both a critical and commercial success. This also isn't the first time Clark has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award -- last year she was up for Best Country Song for her work on "Mama's Broken Heart," which she co-wrote for Miranda Lambert.
4. HAIM: The girl group -- which consists of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim -- made headlines when they were signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label in 2012, and charmed critics with their critically acclaimed album Days Are Gone -- Rolling Stone named it one of the 50 Best Albums of 2013. The talented sisters are also famous for their A-list friends, including Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift and Jonah Hill. Even rapper Kid Cudi revealed himself to be a fan, collaborating with HAIM in his 2013 track "Red Eye."
5. Bastille: The English rock band Bastille has dominated the radio with their hit "Pomepeii." The band -- which consists of frontman Dan Smith backed by Chris Wood, William Farquarson, and Kyle Simmons -- was also nominated for New Artist of the Year at this year's American Music Awards, though they came up short to Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer.
Bastille has already sold over five million copies of their first studio album Bad Blood in the U.S. alone.
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ETonline caught up with nominee Sam Smith in April, when he revealed that he'd actually never been in in a relationship before.
Check out the video to hear him explain the inspiration behind his hit album In The Lonely Hour.
