Zara Larsson makes shocking Grammys confession: ‘downplay me as an artist’

Zara Larrson has said there’s one huge accolade she doesn’t want to win, revealing that she pushed back when her former label announced plans to submit her for next year’s Grammys.

The 28-year-old is riding high off the success of her fifth studio album Midnight Sun, which rocketed her back into the spotlight last year.

Released under Epic Records, which she has since left, Midnight Sun topped the charts in Larsson’s native Sweden and was met with critical acclaim elsewhere, while its title track became one of the songs of the summer.

But in a new interview, Larsson says she disagreed with her label about plans for her Grammys submission.

She told Perfect Magazine, “They were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to see if we can put you in Best New Artist for the Grammys.’”

Zara recalled, “And I’m like, ‘I don’t even want that. That would downplay the 13 years of me being an artist. I’m not a new artist.’”

It has since been reported that Larsson wouldn’t be eligible for Best New Artist anyway, because her song Midnight Sun was up for Best Dance Pop Recording at this year’s Grammys – though it lost out on the night to Lady Gaga’s Abracadabra.

The Recording Academy says in its rules that an artist is ineligible in the newcomer category if they have “a previous Grammy nomination as a performer, including a nomination as an established member of a nominated group.”

Larsson added that she doesn’t object to 2025 being labelled her “breakthrough” year, though.

“It feels like the whole world is looking at me at the same time,” she 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.”

Larsson found fame when she won Talang, the Swedish version of Britain’s Got Talent, when she was just 10 years old, and while it didn’t make a splash internationally, her 2013 debut single Uncover went to number one in Sweden and Norway.