Bon Iver: 5 Things You Didn't Know About the Grammys' Best New Artist

Who is he?

When Justin Vernon, the lead singer of folk band Bon Iver, won the Grammy award last night for Best New Artist, many music lovers were left wondering how the statue could not have gone to music's ubiquitous "It" girl Nicki Minaj, or even the underdog with the unwavering fanbase J. Cole. What was even more disappointing was Vernon's seemingly ungracious and unappreciative acceptance speech.

While being admittedly awkward up on stage, the tall, bearded man took some jabs at the show, saying "It's really hard to accept this award. There's so much talent out there and on this stage. There's so much talent that's not here." He continued to thank "All the non-nominees who never will be here."

It should be noted that prior to airing, the band was asked to perform at the show and refused. Vernon explained, "We wanted to play our music, but were told that we couldn't play. We had to do a collaboration with someone else. And we just felt like...we're getting nominated for this record that we made...we were given accolades for it, and all of a sudden we were being asked to play music that had nothing to do with that. We kind of said 'f**k you' a little bit." We wonder who the collabo was with.

Thankfully, Vernon managed not to let any insulting obscenities fly (though for a second, it looked like it was bound to happen M.I.A.-style). Here are some things you don't know about Bon Iver:

Kanye West-Certified

You've already heard Bon Iver's music, likely without knowing. Kanye West heavily sampled their "Woods" song on his auto-tuned My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy track "Lost In The World" giving it an other-worldy vibe, and Jay-Z later cosigned the group, having lead singer Vernon help pen "That's My Bitch" on Watch The Throne's collaborative debut album. Listen again!

French Class(y)