Spalding Wins, Makes Music History

Posted February 15th, 2011 at 7:18 pm (UTC+0)
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Diaa Bekheet | Washington, DC –  On Sunday night, Esperanza Spalding made history at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards, becoming the first-ever jazz artist to win “Best New Artist” of the year.

The 26-year-old singer upset the popular teen heart throb Justin Bieber, along with rapper Drake, Mumford & Sons and Florence and the Machine.

“I take this honor to heart so sincerely and I’ll do my damndest to make a whole lot of great music for all of you,” she said after receiving the prestigious award. “It’s such a blessing and an honor. God bless.”

This isn’t the first time Esperanza Spalding has made headlines.  President Barack Obama invited her to the White House, where she gave a live performance in 2009.

While her Grammy has inspired her fans, it also provoked supporters of Justin Bieber – “Beliebers” as they are known – to hack into her Wikipedia page and write in unpleasant remarks about her victory. One read, Esperanza won “even though no one has heard of her.”

Spalding released three albums since 2006. The latest, Chamber Music Society,  was released last year. Esperanza Spalding has won the Grammy award for “Best New Artist”

Sunday night, upsetting popular teen heartthrob Justin Bieber in the

53rd annual Grammy ceremony Sunday night. She also beat out rapper

Drake, Mumford & Sons and Florence and the Machine.

The 26-year-old bassist-singer has made music history as the first jazz

aretist ever to win the Grammy “Best New Artist” of the year.

“I take this honor to heart so sincerely and I’ll do my damndest to make

a whole lot of great music for all of you,” she reacted. “It’s such a

blessing and an honor. God bless.”

Esperanza Spalding made headlines before, when she performed for

President Barack Obama at the White House.

She released three albums since 2006. The latest, Chamber Music Society,  was released last year.

Beliebers, as Justin Bieber’s are known, hacked into her Wikipedia page after the upset win, making changes such as saying she won, “even though no one has heard of her.”

For more, listen to Jazz America on VOA

Diaa Bekheet

Diaa Bekheet
Diaa Bekheet has worked for a host of media outlets, including Radio Cairo in English, ETV News, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) and the Associated Press. He joined VOA in Feb. 1989 as an International Broadcaster, hosting a variety of popular news and entertainment shows such as Newshour, Radio Ride Across America, Business Week, and Jazz Club USA. He has interviewed a number of Jazz celebrities, including the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, Ramsey Lewis, Wayne Shorter, and George Benson. Diaa is currently an editor for our main English site, VOAnews.com.

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VOA’s music bloggers bring you info about all kinds of music. Katherine Cole will keep you up-to-date on the world of Bluegrass and Americana music while Ray McDonald rocks the Pop charts and artists. Diaa Bekheet  jams with you on Jazz.  Visit us often. Your comments are welcome.

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