The Recording Academy has fixed a gaping hole in its eligibility requirements for Best New Artist. As a result, hip-hop newcomers Drake and Kid Cudi will be able to compete for the award, even though both artists were nominated in multiple categories at the show that was telecast in JanuaThe academy had a rule that artists were ineligible for Best New Artist if they had ever received a Grammy nomination in any category. That may seem reasonable at first glance, but the rule kept two prime candidates, Jennifer Hudson and Lady Gaga, from competing for Best New Artist in the past two years
Hudson had been nominated in 2007 for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Dreamgirls, in which she appeared with Beyonce Knowles and Anika Noni Rose, among others. Gaga and Colby O'Donis had been nominated in 2008 for Best Dance Recording for her breakthrough smash, "Just Dance."

These early recordings preceded the release of their debut albums, Jennifer Hudson and The Fame, respectively

Hudson and Gaga were caught in a classic Catch-22. Grammy rules dictated that artists could be considered for Best New Artist only when they released a full album. But when those artists finally did release their debut albums, they weren't eligible for Best New Artist because they had previously received Grammy nominations in other categories! They literally couldn't win. To its credit, the Recording Academy saw the problem and fixed it this year.

The correction came too late for Lady Gaga, who would almost certainly have won Best New Artist in January if she'd been eligible. She was nominated for all three of the leading awards, Album, Record and Song of the Year, which is highly unusual for a new artist. (The Best New Artist winner, country favorites the Zac Brown Band, wasn't nominated in any of those marquee categories.)