On Tuesday (Nov. 24), the Grammy nominations arrived and, as usual, they shook up the industry -- especially best new artist nominee Noah Cyrus.
Cyrus, who rarely checks her phone, says she was sleeping like a rock when her best friend (whom she’s staying with for Thanksgiving) woke her up to tell her that her manager was calling. Cyrus answered the call to see both Zach Kardisch and her mom, Tish, on a joint FaceTime. “I thought something was wrong,” says Cyrus, “and my mom was like, ‘Can I say it?!’ and she told me I’m nominated for a Grammy.”
Cyrus says the news felt even more special coming from her mom, who has always been her biggest fan; at the beginning of the year, Tish even wrote in her intentions book that Noah would win a Grammy. Cyrus immediately after called her dad and the rest of the family, wiping away tears each time she relived the news.
“I’ve watched the show since I was a little girl and I’ve idolized the show since I was a little girl,” she says. “I’ve always known the importance, the weight and the honor that it holds to be nominated for or to receive a Grammy. This is something I’ve talked about since the day that I started as an artist. I remember being 15 in my manager’s office talking about the Grammys and everybody being like, ‘That’s so far away.’”
Cyrus, now 20 and with over 940 million on-demand career streams, says she had a rough start to the year and more recently lost her grandma, and that such positive -- and validating -- news about where she’s headed couldn’t have come at a better time. Cyrus released her gorgeous, stripped-down folksy-pop EP, The End of Everything, in May. That same month, its single “July” (which received a remix featuring Leon Bridges) climbed to No. 4 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Songs chart. In October, Cyrus re-released EP standout “I Got So High That I Saw Jesus” as a duet with her older sister Miley.
“We put a tremendous amount of energy into laying the foundation of a strong career for Noah, and this Grammy nomination for best new artist is the start of a new chapter for her,” says RECORDS founder Barry Weiss.
Adds Cyrus: “This is just the start of something really special for me. Waking up and hearing you’ve been nominated for a Grammy, not many people get to hear that.”
Comments