The 52nd Grammy Awards have nominated their 5 New Artists of the year: MGMT, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings, Keri Hilson, and the Zac Brown Band. Whether you know these bands or not, there is a good chance you’ve heard them during your regular nightly TV programs. Before you answer the question of who should win the 2010 Grammy Award for best New Artist, take a closer look at the bands below.
Nominated for New Artist:
MGMT
MGMT, formerly known as “The Management,” has produced 2 albums since 2005 and is expecting their third album, Congratulations, out in January 2010. Their second album, Oracular Spectacular, features the songs “Time To Pretend” and “Kids,” which has been featured in 3 pilot episodes including “90210”, “Vampire Diaries”, and “The Beautiful Life: TBL”.
In total, MGMT has been featured in 9 TV shows and movies, including an episode of “Gossip Girl”, “Much ‘I Do’ About Nothing.”
MGMT has also received a nomination in Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals for the song “Kids.” Both nominations are a first for MGMT.
SILVERSUN PICKUPS
While some bands receive instant stardom, others have a slower claim to fame. The Silversun Pickups Grammy Award nomination has drawn some controversy since the band has had moderate success prior to this year’s nomination as best New Artist.
The Silversun Pickups released their debut album Carnavas in 2006. Following the release of their first full-length album, they toured with OK Go and Snow Patrol, both bands who would later share air time on the TV show “Gossip Girl”. The Silversun Pickups have also had their songs featured in the video games ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour,’ ‘Rock band 2,’ and ‘Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground.’ Earlier this year, they released their second album Swoon.
The song “Rusted Wheel” appeared in a 2006 episode of “One Tree Hill”, “All These Things That I’ve Done,” and in a 2007 episode of “The O.C.”, “The Night Moves.” “One Tree Hill” most heavily featured the Silversun Pickups in a total of 4 episodes, 2 using the same song, “Three Seed,” and another “Growing Old is Getting Old” in an episode from season 7.
The Silversun Pickups had their songs “Lazy Eye” and “Sort Of” featured in 2 pilot episodes “The Reaper” and “The Vampire Diaries” respectively. “Panic Switch” can be heard on an episode of “90210”, “Between a Sign and a Hard Place.”
In total, Silversun Pickups have had 7 songs from both of their CDs featured in 6 TV shows and movies, most recently in the movie “Jennifer’s Body” (2009) with their song “Little Lover’s So Polite.”
THE TING TINGS
Since The Ting Tings first album release in 2008, four of their hit singles have made it across TV airwaves.
The Ting Tings were most heavily featured on the show “90210”, in which 3 songs appeared throughout the first season. Its premiere episode, ‘We’re Not in Kansas Anymore,’ made a grand introduction to 4.9 million viewers with the song “Shut Up and Let Me Go.” It seemed as if The Ting Tings would become a staple on the show as the very next episode, ‘Jet Set’, featured another song, the “Great DJ.” There was a small gap before The Ting Tings music would appear again on episode 14, ‘By Accident,’ with their song “That’s Not My Name.”
However, The Tings Tings aren’t new to the CW. Both “Shut Up and Let Me Go” and “That’s Not My Name” appeared in back to back episodes of season one of “Gossip Girl”, ‘All About My Brother’ and ‘Desperately Seeking Serena.’ Before that, The Ting Tings lesser known song “Be the One” appeared on an episode of “One Tree Hill”.
In total, The Ting Tings have had their music present in 16 TV shows and movies, including “Ugly Betty”, “Numb3rs”, and “Royal Pains”.
KERI HILSON
Prior to her singing career, Keri Lynn Hilson was a song writer for multiple artists including Britney Spears and Ludacris. She also performed as a backup singer over the years. In 2007, she guest performed on Timbaland’s single, “The Way I Are,” which was featured in the pilot episode of “Gossip Girl”.
Only recently did she begin her solo career releasing her debut album this year, In a Perfect World. Of the 4 singles release, her third single, “Turnin’ Me On,” become a top 20 hit in the U.S., while her fourth single, “Knock You Down,” has seen even more success reaching the top 5.
Her hit single “Knock You Down,” featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo, has also been nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
ZAC BROWN BAND
There is always an exception to the rule, while The Zac Brown Band hasn’t had their music featured on a TV show, it doesn’t mean they won’t be down the road. Nonetheless, the band is still up for best new artist and deserves to be checked out all the same.
The Zac Brown Band has charted 4 singles on the billboard country charts since 2008, with 2 songs in the number one spot, “Chicken Fried” and “Toes,” and 2 in the second spot, “Whatever It Is” and “Highway 20 Ride.”
They released their first album in 2004, Far from Einstyne, followed by Home Grown in 2005. In 2007, they recorded a live album entitled Live from the Rock Bus Tour. When the group signed to Live Nation Records in 2008, soon after controlled by Atlantic Records, songs that were featured on previous CDs, such as “Chicken Fried” were re-recorded and released in a fourth album, The Foundation. The 4 hit singles took the Zac Brown Band to the top of the charts reaching platinum.
The Zac Brown Band has also been nominated in the category Best Country Performance By a Duo Or Group With Vocals for their song ”Chicken Fried” and Best Country Album for their CD The Foundation.
Who do you think deserves the title of best New Artist of 2010? Let us know in a comment below!
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Information was gathered from multiple sources including Grammy.com, IMDB.com, and Wikipedia.
Very cool to see this here. Anyone know if MGMT is going to be touring?
Actualy peeps, the Ting Tings are from Manchester in the UK and they’ve also been kicking up tunes since 2006 just like the Silversun Pickups. Personaly, I think the award should go to the Pickups regardless. They’ve worked their socks off and have drawn an entire generation who had ‘given up on new music’ back into the excitement of new independant music.