Who Is Esperanza Spalding, Grammy Best New Artist Winner? 
 
 Email This Who is Esperanza Spalding? The 26-year-old jazz bassist who snatched the Best New Artist Grammy out of the hands of 
 
 
 
 Although cameras quickly cut away, Bieber's disappointment at the announcement seemed clear. The AP reports Spalding had just one Grammy nomination entering the show's 53rd annual ceremony Sunday night. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "From the time Esperanza Spalding appeared on the scene in 2005, the dynamic singer, bassist, composer and arranger has been heralded as jazz's next big thing," the Who is Esperanza Spalding? The 26-year-old jazz bassist who snatched the Best New Artist Grammy out of the hands of Justin Bieber , that's who.Although cameras quickly cut away, Bieber's disappointment at the announcement seemed clear. The AP reports Spalding had just one Grammy nomination entering the show's 53rd annual ceremony Sunday night. Drake , Mumford & Sons and Florence and the Machine were also nominated. While a lot of people will spend the wake of Bieber's Best New Artist loss figuring out who Spalding is, there's little doubt she's extremely talented."From the time Esperanza Spalding appeared on the scene in 2005, the dynamic singer, bassist, composer and arranger has been heralded as jazz's next big thing," the AP wrote in a lead-up to the Grammys. "Her impressive musicianship has won her White House recital dates, praise from the likes of Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock, and critical acclaim." 
 
 "I am new in that I haven't been around that long, and I'm an artist," Spalding told AOL's Spinner in January, following her Grammy nomination. "So it fits. Somebody out there thinks that in their mind that I am one of the best. It's flattering. I'll take it."Spalding's third album, 'Chamber Music Society,' dropped in the summer of 2010. Co-producer Gil Goldstein told the AP of Spalding's nomination, "I've been kind of joking, saying it would be nice that if once in a while, the best new artist would be someone who reads and writes [music]."Spinner's in-depth interview with Spalding gave a solid glimpse into her career: "I like to work. I like music," she explained. "The real issue is that the solo career is the odd man out in my life right now. I have much more experience playing bass for other bandleaders than leading my own gigs, and I love being a sideman just as much. That's why I got into music. It wasn't to become my own phenomenon; it was to play music with other people. So whomever wants to play with me, and I can, and I'm into it, and inspired? Then off I go." 

 If you were just Googling "Esperanza Spalding"—tonight's surprise winner of the Grammy for Best New Artist—you may have been surprised to learn from her Wikipedia page that "SHE IS F****** REATARD," or that her middle name is either "Justin" or "Quesadilla," or, for that matter, that she beat out "Nominee and gay favorite Justina Bieber" for the award. Well! Far be it from us to cast aspersion on the accuracy of a user-edited font of knowledge like Wikipedia, but it certainly seems possible that fans of losing nominee Justin Bieber (or, perhaps, people who like to throw poop around the internet) may have been "vandalizing" her Wikipedia page, adding possibly-untrue facts like: 
 
 Her middle name is "Quesadilla" 
 
 "She now has the 2011 Grammy for being the Best new Artist! Even though no one has ever heard of her! Yay!" 
 
 " JUSTIN BIEBER DESERVED IT GO DIE IN A HOLE. WHO THE HECK ARE YOU ANYWAY?" (n.b. this does not really seem to be a "fact" about anyone) 
 
 "HaHa Justin Bieber, you're just a little boy with no Grammy for Best New Artist.irehjbpojeh[ker" 
 
 "(Dan cannot believe the Biebs did not win)" 
 
 Poor Ms. Spalding! We can only imagine what it's like to have thousands of people trying to kill you with their minds. You can check out all of the vandalisms by going here and clicking "next edit" to your heart's content.
– Fear the Bieber! Or at least the wrath of Justin Bieber fans—especially if you had the misfortune of beating the young heartthrob at last night's Grammy Awards. Angry fans of the Bieb ran wild on Esperanza Spalding's Wikipedia page after the talented but less-well-known singer won the Best New Artist award, Gawker reports. Among the many changes Spalding found: her middle name changed to "Quesadilla"; she won the Grammy "by stealing it from Justin Bieber"; and, perhaps most poetically, "SHE IS F****** REATARD." If you'd like some un-vandalized, and likely more coherent, facts about Spalding—click here.