Whoever picks up this year's Brit award for best newcomer on Wednesday will be hoping for better luck than previous recipients.
Over a third of winning acts have failed to score any chart hits 12 months after collecting the title - while three winners never troubled the top 40 again.
Duffy, Ben Howard and Bastille have not enjoyed any major chart success since being named best newcomer.
Yazoo, Busted and Sam Smith (last year's winner) all went on to make the top 40 within 12 months of winning, but Yazoo and Busted have not bothered the charts again.
Of the 34 acts to be named best newcomer since the award was introduced in 1982, only six have managed to keep a hit career going for a decade or longer.
Some high-profile winners who disappeared shortly after receiving the award include The Housemartins (split up a year later) and Yazoo (split up the same year), while Bros stayed together only a few weeks before losing one band member.
Wet Wet Wet hold the record for the longest run of chart hits enjoyed by a best newcomer: 20 years, from 1988 to 2008.
Other newcomers who went on to have long spells in the top 40 include Stereophonics (15 years), Oasis (14 years) and Paul Young (13 years).
The award acquired something of a curse in the early 1990s, when three consecutive winners - Betty Boo, Beverley Craven and Tasmin Archer - all saw their careers falter within a year.
It was rebranded in 2003 as Best Breakthrough Act, but this did not stop a similar fate befalling The Fratellis and Mika, whose top 40 hits also dried up after 12 months.
This year's nominees are Catfish & The Bottlemen, James Bay, Jess Glynne, Wolf Alice and Years & Years.
:: The Brit Awards will be shown live on ITV on Wednesday at 8pm.