Samara Joy, the 23-year-old jazz sensation, won her first Grammy on Feb. 5 for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Linger Awhile. Later that night, she took home the award for Best New Artist, beating out the likes of Latto, Måneskin, Muni Long and others.
Samara Joy, GRAMMY-winning best new artist #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/IuyJwSok8x
— 😄 (@Jd_burn3r) February 6, 2023
Joy was in awe when she won her second award of the night.
“I’ve been singing all of my life. Thank you so much for this honor, thank you to everyone who has listened to me or supported me,” Joy said after accepting the award for Best New Artist. “All of you are so inspiring to me, and so to be here because of who I am. All of you have inspired me because of who you are. You express yourself and exactly who you are, authentically. So to be here by just being myself, by just being who I was born as, I am so thankful.”
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Joy spoke with rolling out in November 2022, and shared how she planned to be the best at what she does.
“Don’t look to be a star because I know that there are plenty of singers and musicians who are like, ‘I’m going to make it. This is the hard work that I’m willing to put in. I’m going to be a star.’ For me, I personally didn’t look at that like that,” Joy said. “All of this happened unlike anything that I would have planned, but at the start of it, I knew I loved music so I went to this program for jazz. I was like, ‘OK, I don’t know anything about this but I’m going to learn about it and I’m going to invest in it and learn how to be the best at this.’ ”
It looks like Joy’s investment is paying dividends, not only for her but for music lovers, too.
“I feel like, or at least I hope I am maybe opening a door for those who don’t listen to jazz to at least have a bridge to it,” Joy said. “Because everybody has their preferences. I found that this genre is where I can express myself at the moment. Hopefully, when I share my music, there’s maybe 100 people or maybe 50 of them, who are like, ‘Oh, I’ve never heard anything like this. ‘”
