Zara Larsson is having another huge moment in pop music – but don’t expect her to appear in the Best New Artist category at the 2027 Grammy Awards.

In fact, she’s not eligible.

The conversation started after Larsson revealed that her former label had looked into whether she could potentially be submitted for Best New Artist following the success of Midnight Sun.

Larsson wasn’t particularly interested in the idea anyway.

Speaking about the possibility, she argued that calling her a new artist would effectively ignore more than a decade of work. Her preferred description of what is happening now is closer to a new “breakthrough” than the beginning of her career.

And she has a point.

Larsson won the Swedish talent show Talang as a child and has been releasing music professionally for years. Tracks including “Lush Life”, “Never Forget You” and “Symphony” had already made her internationally famous long before her current run.

But even if Larsson wanted the nomination, Grammy rules would get in the way.

Her track “Midnight Sun” was nominated for Best Dance Pop Recording at the 2026 Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy’s own artist records show Larsson with one previous Grammy nomination.

A previous Grammy nomination as a performer generally makes an artist ineligible for Best New Artist.

It creates an interesting situation.

Larsson may currently be experiencing one of the biggest periods of her career, but she isn’t suddenly a “new” artist.

And perhaps “breakthrough artist” would be a better description for plenty of artists who suddenly explode years after releasing their first music.

Either way, Zara Larsson could still be a major name when the 2027 Grammy nominations arrive.

Just not in Best New Artist.