10 acts have achieved the feat since 1965 including the usual suspects (plus a curveball or two).
Olivia Dean at the 68th GRAMMY Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena on February 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
Gilbert Flores/Billboard
The 2026 Grammys are in the books and it had pretty much everything you could ask for: dazzling performances, worthy winners, memorable speeches (a touch more controversy wouldn’t have hurt, mind).
For the U.K. music industry, it was the stuff of dreams. While its artists were absent in the album of the year field for the first time since 2022, the overall scene was represented in a number of categories that suggested the industry had moved past its jitters and made a stonking comeback.
Lola Young made a triumphant return to win best pop vocal performance for “Messy,” and gave her first TV performance since a recent retreat from the spotlight owing to health concerns. FKA twigs kicked off the celebrations at the pre-show ceremony with a victory in the best dance/electronic category for her LP Eusexua. Doncaster-born rocker Yungblud scored best rock performance for his rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Changes,” and The Cure earned their first-ever Grammys win for best alternative album and alternative performance.
Olivia Dean collecting the best new artist prize will be the most encouraging news of all. The 26-year-old’s breakout in the past few months has been extraordinary to witness, particularly for those who’ve followed Dean’s career from fledgling outsider to Britain’s next great hope.
She now joins an elite club of British musicians to have picked up the prize since it was introduced in 1959, and is the first to do so since 2019. The roll call for Brits who have won the prize is full of the usual suspects (with a couple of curveballs) but all lay claim to a moment in history that no one can take away: at one point or another, they were considered the hottest new act on the planet by Grammy voters.
Here’s a complete list of British winners in the best new artist category at the Grammy Awards.
-
The Beatles (1965)
It was only right that The Beatles were the first British act to win the prize in 1965. In the previous year, the Fab Four stormed the U.S. with chart dominance (in one April week, they concurrently occupied the top five spots on the Hot 100) and a history-making performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. They took home two awards (best new artist, best performance by a vocal group for “A Hard Day’s Night”) and were presented the prizes at Twickenham Film Studios in London by Peter Sellers on the set of upcoming film Help!
-
Tom Jones (1966)
Jones was the first – and currently only – Welshman to pick up the coveted prize, seeing off competition from The Byrds, Sonny & Cher and Herman’s Hermits, among others. Jones’ credentials were bolstered by the success of “It’s Not Unusual” (No. 10 on the Hot 100), a song for James Bond flick Thunderball, and the titular theme tune for What’s New Pussycat?, which made it all the way to No. 3. In 2015, he returned to perform at the ceremony with Jessie J.
-
Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash) (1970)
In 1970, Blackpool-born musician Graham Nash was part of the winning trio Crosby, Stills & Nash, alongside Americans David Crosby and Stephen Stills. The recognition came following the success of their self-titled debut album, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.
-
Culture Club (1984)
The 1984 field for best new artist offered something of a rarity: none of the artists in contention were born in the United States. Competing acts Culture Club, Eurythmics, Musical Youth, and Big Country all hailed from the U.K., while Men Without Hats were Canadian. The odds were in the U.K.’s favour, and the Boy George-led group triumphed for their first and only Grammy win.
-
Sade (1986)
In 1986, Sade collected their first Grammy in the best new artist category, and followed the success of their LP Promise which topped the Billboard 200 the preceding year. It would prove to be the first of four wins for the group throughout their career, amid 10 nominations, the most recent of which came in 2026’s ceremony for best music video (“Young Lion”).
-
Amy Winehouse (2008)
Few have ever had better Grammy nights than Amy Winehouse in 2008. Despite appearing from London via satellite link due to visa issues, she scored five awards out of a possible six including best new artist, becoming the first British winner in the category in over 20 years.
She scored three of the ‘big four’ (best new artist; record of the year and song of the year for “Rehab”) and further wins in the genre categories (best pop vocal album, Back to Black; best female pop vocal performance, “Rehab”).
-
Adele (2009)
The following year in 2009, Adele scooped the prize to mark the second occasion that British acts have won the category in consecutive years. This would be the first of many prizes for Ms. Adkins at the Grammys. She’s one of only three acts to win each of the big four (best new artist, album of the year, record of the year, song of the year) across her storied career.
-
Sam Smith (2015)
2015 was a massive night for Sam Smith. In addition to the best new artist prize, they collected record of the year and song of the year for “Stay With Me,” and best pop vocal album for In the Lonely Hour. Smith was also just the third openly LGBTQ+ artist to win the best new artist category following Culture Club’s Boy George (1984) and Tracy Chapman (1989).
-
Dua Lipa (2019)
Dua was competing in a tough field in 2019, up against Chloe x Halle, Luke Combs, H.E.R., and Margo Price among others. As she would do throughout her career, the Brit icon used her platform to speak out, namely against remarks made by Recording Academy president Neil Portnow that women needed to “step up” to win in major categories. “I guess this year we’ve really stepped up,” she wryly noted as she collected the award.
-
Olivia Dean (2026)
Dean is now the 10th British-born artist to win the prize. Unlike many of her predecessors, this was Dean’s only win on the night, and a favourable eligibility window means that breakthrough LP The Art of Loving and hit single “Man I Need” could gain nominations in 2027. For now though, it’s a professional high, and the start of a brand new journey as a Grammy winner.
Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox
Sign Up
