Brampton’s Alessia Cara first Canadian-born performer to win best new artist at Grammys

Cara accepted the award — the first Grammy of her career — saying that she’s been “pretend winning” Grammys in the shower since she was a kid.

Alessia Cara’s dreams of winning a Grammy Award are no longer confined to her bathroom shower.

The Brampton-raised singer became the first Canadian-born winner of the best new artist Grammy at Sunday night’s televised ceremony.

She accepted the award — the first Grammy of her career — saying that she’s been “pretend winning” Grammys in the shower since she was a kid.

The 21-year-old encouraged people to “support real music and real artists,” saying “everyone deserves the same shot.”

While other Canadian-born artists including Drake, Alanis Morissette and Justin Bieber have been contenders for best new artist, none of them emerged victorious. The category has existed since the awards were first handed out in 1959.

Robert Goulet, who won at the 1963 event, spent his teenage years in Edmonton after being born in Massachusetts. He had parents of French-Canadian ancestry.

It’s been a stellar rise for Cara, who swept through the Juno Awards nearly two years ago, winning breakthrough artist.

Since then she’s appeared on a number of big hits, including Logic’s suicide prevention anthem “1-800-273-8255,” and Zedd’s “Stay.”