Zara Larsson is having the kind of career surge that can put a performer into the Best New Artist conversation. She has one problem with that description, she has already been doing this for 13 years.
The Swedish pop star recalled her former label discussing whether she could be submitted for the Grammy category, an idea she immediately pushed back on. “That would downplay the 13 years of me being an artist. I’m not a new artist,” Larsson said in a new Perfect Magazine interview published Aug. 27.
There is another obstacle that makes a 2027 Best New Artist nomination unavailable to her anyway. Larsson received her first Grammy nomination at the 2026 ceremony for “Midnight Sun,” and the Recording Academy’s current rules generally make performers with a previous Grammy nomination ineligible for Best New Artist.
Her objection still captures something unusual about her current run. Larsson agrees that her career has shifted. She simply prefers to call what is happening a breakthrough rather than a debut. Songs including “Lush Life” and Clean Bandit’s “Symphony” made her internationally recognizable years before Midnight Sun, while the past year has brought a more concentrated wave of attention around her own music.
Larsson Says ‘New Artist’ Erases Too Much of Her Career
Larsson told Perfect that her earlier hits often felt disconnected from one another. “Uncover” became a major song in Scandinavia before “Lush Life” and “Never Forget You” found wider success, but she did not feel those individual moments were building toward one clear version of her as an artist.
That is why she is more comfortable with people describing the Midnight Sun era as a breakthrough. “It feels like the whole world is looking at me at the same time,” she said. Earlier in her career, one song might become successful in one territory before a different track broke through somewhere else a year later. Now, she said, “it feels like it’s all coming together quite nicely.”
“Lush Life” arrived in 2015, and she appeared on Clean Bandit’s global hit “Symphony” in 2017. She had already released multiple albums and spent years touring internationally before the current resurgence surrounding Midnight Sun.
Larsson told Perfect that the new album also represents a different level of creative control. She said she wrote all of its songs, selected the people she wanted to build its musical and visual world with and became more confident about expressing what she wanted from every part of the project.
Her 2026 Grammy Nomination Already Rules Her Out
Even if Larsson wanted to pursue Best New Artist for 2027, the Recording Academy’s current rules create a separate barrier. The 69th Grammy Awards rulebook lists as ineligible “any artist with a previous Grammy nomination as a performer,” including an established member of a nominated group.
The Academy does provide limited exceptions for performers who receive an earlier nomination before releasing five singles or an entire album, as well as certain featured artists on Album of the Year nominees. Those exceptions do not fit Larsson’s career history.
Larsson became a first-time Grammy nominee at the 68th Grammy Awards, where “Midnight Sun” competed for Best Dance Pop Recording. Her official Recording Academy profile lists one career nomination and no wins. Lady Gaga ultimately won the category with “Abracadabra.” The other nominees were Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s “Bluest Flame,” Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching” and PinkPantheress’ “Illegal.”
The Grammys Have Expanded Best New Artist Eligibility for 2027
For the 2027 Grammys, the Academy increased the maximum number of times an otherwise eligible artist can be submitted for Best New Artist from three to four. The category no longer imposes a maximum number of previous releases.
Instead, screening committees determine whether an artist had already achieved the level of cultural and industry impact that amounts to a breakthrough before the current eligibility period. If they determine that the breakthrough already happened, the artist is disqualified. Those changes were designed to account for artists who can spend years releasing music before reaching wider recognition.
‘Midnight Sun’ Was Eligible for 2027 Grammy Consideration
Best New Artist is only one Grammy category. Larsson released the Midnight Sun album on Sept. 26, 2025, placing it inside the eligibility period for the 69th Grammy Awards, which covers releases from Aug. 31, 2025 through Aug. 28, 2026.
The timing also explains an apparent oddity in Larsson’s Grammy history. The “Midnight Sun” title track qualified for the previous awards cycle and earned her 2026 nomination, while the full album arrived after that cycle’s eligibility cutoff and therefore fell into the 2027 window.
The Recording Academy’s only submission window for the 2027 ceremony ran from July 7 through Aug. 21, and recordings that were not formally submitted by that deadline cannot appear on the Grammy ballot.
First-round voting is scheduled for Oct. 12 through Oct. 22, with nominees announced Nov. 16. The 69th Grammy Awards will take place Feb. 7, 2027, airing on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.