Samara Joy took home the prize for Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy Awards on Sunday, beating out fellow nominees Anitta, Omar Apollo, Domi and JD Beck, Latto, Måneskin, Muni Long, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle and Wet Leg.
"I've been watching y'all on TV for so long," said the "Linger Awhile" singer as she began her acceptance speech.
"Thank you so much for this honor, thank you to everyone who has listened to me or supported me. All of you are so inspiring to me and so to be here, because of who I am, because of who you are... to be here just being who I was born to be, by being myself, I'm so thankful," she continued.
The Bronx, New York, native took her younger brother as her date, also giving him a shout-out during her speech.
Joy, 23, gained recognition as a jazz vocalist in college before going viral on TikTok in 2020 with over 1.5 million views. In 2022, she released her sophomore album Linger Awhile to critical acclaim.
In a recent interview with Forbes, Joy spoke about the best new artist nomination. "It's definitely a surreal feeling and I'm definitely honored to be the ambassador chosen at this particular moment to represent the music that I love so much," she told the outlet. "The diversity in the best new artist genre this year just goes to show that when more artists are involved in the voting process and everything like that, then that's what you get. You get the variety that is actually represented in the world."
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, are airing and streaming live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles
.jpg "Samara Joy Wins Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammys: 'I'm So Thankful'")
