Shelby Lynne suffers Grammy jinx with new album

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne's underwhelming reaction to winning the best new artist Grammy in February now makes a little more sense.

Winners of the coveted prize are often never heard from again, and Lynne may have been conjuring up nightmare scenarios of joining Paula Cole, Arrested Development and Debby Boone in rock 'n' roll oblivion.
If so, her premonitions may be on track since her new album just tanked.

"Love, Shelby," the Glen Ballard-produced follow-up to her 2000 breakthrough release "I Am..." fell out of the top 200 pop album charts just one week after debuting at a lowly No. 109. Reviews for the album were underwhelming, and most of the buzz centered around 33-year-old Lynne's seductive pose on the cover. Officials at her Island Records label declined comment.
If there's any consolation for Lynne, it's that 2001 has not been a good year for other winners of the best new artist Grammy either.

- LeAnn Rimes (the 1997 winner) spent a lot of time in court suing her stepfather and trying unsuccessfully to break out of an onerous recording contract.

- Darius Rucker, frontman for Hootie and the Blowfish (1996) had to take his solo album to an indie label after the group's Atlantic Records home declined to release it.

- Mariah Carey (1991) suffered a mental breakdown and flopped with her movie and soundtrack album.

- Bette Midler's (1974) self-titled sitcom was canceled by CBS.

On the other hand, both Natalie Cole (1976) and Toni Braxton (1994) got married. Even Fabrice Morvan, the surviving half of Milli Vanilli (1990; revoked), teamed up with a liquor company to perform some high-profile "shower karaoke" gigs in the Midwest.