Zara Larsson catapulted to Main Pop Girl status this year on the strength of her fifth studio album Midnight Sun, released in September 2025. The album release dates places it within the eligibility range for the 2027 Grammy Awards, where she could be a leading nominee across pop categories — and potentially the majors, too. Nominations will be out in November, but don’t expect to see Larsson listed in the Best New Artist category.
A quote from an interview she did with Perfect Magazine has been circulating the internet and in it, Larsson said her previous label, Epic Records, wanted to see if they could submit the star into the Best New Artist category at the Grammys.” She pushed back against the idea: “I don’t even want that,” she said. “That would downplay the 13 years of me being an artist. I’m not a new artist.” While it’s unclear when these discussions might have occurred, Larsson wouldn’t be eligible for Best New Artist at the 2027 Grammys anyway, due to a prior nomination.
The Recording Academy’s official eligibility rules for Best New Artist cover a few bases. First, an artist’s breakthrough must have occurred within the eligibility period for the year, which in this case would be between Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, and Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. This would fit Larsson’s timeline, since her biggest singles of the year, “Midnight Sun” and “Stateside” with PinkPantheress, both hit the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2026.
But it turns out, the Grammys were ahead of the charts. “Midnight Sun” was already nominated for Best Dance Pop Recording at the 2026 Grammy Awards alongside releases from Selena Gomez, PinkPantheress, Tate McRae, and Lady Gaga, who ultimately won for “Abracadabra.” Per the Recording Academy, to be submitted for Best New Artist, “artists also cannot have been previously nominated as a performer — whether as a solo act or as part of a group — even if they haven’t been nominated in the Best New Artist Category. There are two exceptions to this rule pertaining to being a featured artist or collaborator on a compilation or another artist’s album.”
In June, the Recording Academy amended the Best New Artist eligibility rules, among other category changes and additions. Now, artists are allowed to be submitted in the category a maximum of four times, one more than the previous ceiling. All other requirements and restrictions apply.
Larsson has already had the first-time Grammy nominee experience. She found out about “Midnight Sun,” called her mom to pass on the news, and cried about it. Being ineligible for Best New Artist isn’t necessarily a loss for her, but the technicalities around her exclusion — beyond her personal reasons — echo a recurring argument that resurfaces with each Grammy Awards season: Either rename the Best New Artist category, or introduce a new category to account for mid- to late-career breakout acts.
“That’s why I like ‘breakthrough’. It feels like the whole world is looking at me at the same time,” Larsson said. “Before, this song was successful over here, and another song a year later was successful over there. Now it feels like it’s all coming together quite nicely.”
In July, Larsson inked a new deal with RCA Records, splitting with her longtime label home Epic Records after more than a decade. She’s the latest in a wave of artists to wipe their slate clean with a new contract, including Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, and more.
The difference between now and the past decade-plus of her career is that Larsson has a defining brand with a clear presence in pop culture — and more people paying attention to her than ever before. Still, when asked how she measures her own success in the interview, Larsson directed the conversation towards her audience, not a golden gramophone.
“The older I get, it’s becoming clearer and clearer to me that my passion and what I really care about is people coming to my shows. For me, the ultimate success would be a stadium world tour. People have taken time out of their real lives,” she told Perfect Magazine. “What’s been so amazing about Midnight Sun is I feel like it’s gone beyond just a good album or a good song. People are being invited into my world by putting on their outfits and their flowers and the glitter and the colors. The culture around it is how I feel successful.”
