Bronxite and alum of both Fordham High School of the Arts and SUNY’s Purchase College, Samara Joy [McLendon], was a relatively unknown jazz singer before she was awarded a Grammy for Best New Artist at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Monday, Feb. 5.

Joy beat out a field of newcomers including Anitta, Omar Apolo, JD Beck, Molly Turtle, and Tobe to capture the coveted prize. During her acceptance speech, the 23-year-old Castle Hill native appeared flabbergasted, telling the recording world’s A-list stars, “I am so… Oh my gosh! I can’t even believe… I’ve been watching you all my life on TV for so long!”

Joy continued, “So to be here with you all, born and raised in The Bronx, New York… my family’s here… I’ve been singing all my life… Thank you so much for this honor. All of you are so inspiring to me, so to be here because of who I am… all of you have inspired me because of who you are.”

Joy had taken home a second Grammy earlier in the evening when her 2022 album “Linger” won Best Jazz Vocal Album. Norwood News contacted Belmont’s Fordham High School of the Arts via NYC Department of Education (DOE) for a comment on Joy’s win. As of press date, we had not received a response.

JAZZ SINGER SAMARA Joy gives one of two acceptance speeches for her Grammy wins for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards held in the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Monday, Feb. 5, 2023. Video courtesy of The Grammys via YouTube

Meanwhile, Manhattan-based New York Youth Symphony has become the first youth orchestra to ever win a Grammy. The orchestra, whose members range in age from 12 to 22, took home their Grammy Sunday night for Best Orchestral Performance for their untitled album, recorded during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The record’s producer, Judith Sherman, also took home a Grammy for Classical Producer of the Year.

According to Wikipedia, Joy recorded her first self-titled album while still in college, and her win for Best New Artist makes her only the second jazz singer to win the award, the first being Esperanza Spalding in 2011.

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.