Grammys
The 2009 Emmy Awards Experiment That Reshaped Award Shows
The trend at award shows these days as far as the number of nominees in marquee categories is go big or go home. The Emmy Awards bucked 60 years of tradition when they announced the nominees for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on July 16, 2009. They unveiled seven nominees for each of what are widely seen as their top awards—outstanding comedy series and outstanding drama series. They had usually had five nominees in each of these categories. Six and a half months later, on Feb. 2, 2010, the Oscars took it even further when they announced the nominees for the 82nd annual Academy Awards. They unveiled 10 nominees for their flagship award, best picture, up from the usual five. They announced 10 nominees the following year as well. The Tony Awards have a much smaller field of potential nominee...
17 Women Are Among the Recording Academy’s 40 Trustees on Newly Constituted Board
The number of women on the Recording Academy’s 40-member board of trustees jumped from 14 to 17 following the recent trustees elections, which included, for the first time in academy history, four “at large” trustee seats. In three of those four two-person contests, two women faced off, ensuring that a female would fill that seat. Trustees are primarily selected by the governors of each of the academy’s 12 chapters. This year, for the first time, voting members selected the winners in four “at large” trustee seats. In those elections, Chelsey Green defeated Maimouna Youssef; Natalia Ramirez bested Sarah Hudson; Carolyn Malachi outpolled Kelly Price; and, in the one all-male face-off, PJ Morton beat Camilo Landau. In addition to Green, Ramirez and Malachi, three other female trustees were n...
Tim McGraw Shares Touching Performance of ‘Something Like That’ for ‘United We Sing’ Special: Watch
Tim McGraw stripped it down for his performance on Sunday night’s (June 21) United We Sing: A Grammy Salute to the Unsung Heroes. During the two-hour special honoring essential workers, the country superstar delivered a touching acoustic rendition of “Something Like That,” lifted from his Grammy-nominated 1999 album A Place in the Sun. Harry Connick Jr. hosted the special event on CBS, which also featured performances from Jon Batiste, Andra Day, John Fogerty, Jamie Foxx, Herbie Hancock, Cyndi Lauper, Little Big Town, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Dave Matthews, Trombone Shorty and more. United We Sing supports charities that benefit underserved children, including No Kid Hungry and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in New Orleans, as well as the MusiCares COV...
What the 2021 Grammys Could Look Like
With a confirmed date for the 2021 ceremony, the Recording Academy is now focused on pandemic-proofing the show. The show will go on. That’s the word from Recording Academy chair and interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. about the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, slated to take place Jan. 31, 2021. Less certain, in the age of the coronavirus, are all of the other particulars, including whether the ceremony will air live from Los Angeles’ Staples Center as planned. Mason says he is in “constant communication” with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, medical advisers, network partner CBS, the venue and executive producer Ben Winston regarding the latest updates that inform the reopening process. California is currently in stage two — and concert venues in the state do not reopen until ...
Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globes Sites Commemorate Black Out Tuesday
Both the Grammy and Emmy sites urged visitors to support Color of Change and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The lead stories at the sites tied to the Grammy Awards and the Emmy Awards on Tuesday (June 2) didn’t have anything to with awards or nominations, but with social justice. Visitors to www.Grammy.com were greeted with this announcement, set against a stark black background: “The Recording Academy stands with our members, colleagues, creators and the entire music community as we observe ‘Black Out Tuesday’ on June 2. We will use this day to reflect, as we know we can all be better…do better. “We recognize and embrace the responsibility that we all have in the fight against racial injustice. The Academy will join our colleagues in the music industry t...
Grammy Watch: Summer Walker, Doja Cat & More Likely Nominees for Best New Artist
Roddy Ricch has a good chance of landing Grammy nominations for both record and album of the year. His smash “The Box” headed the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks, longer than any other single this year. His album Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial led the Billboard 200 for four weeks. But you can scratch Ricch off your list of likely Grammy candidates for best new artist. He won a Grammy last year (best rap performance for his featured role on Nipsey Hussle‘s “Racks in the Middle”), which makes him ineligible. Several other artists who might have had a good shot at best new artist nods are also probably going to be ruled ineligible when the Grammy Screening Committee meets (either in-person or by Zoom) this fall. Megan Thee Stallion had released ...
Megan Thee Stallion & Beyoncé Could Make Grammy History With ‘Savage’
This would be Beyoncé’s first nomination for best rap performance. With Megan Thee Stallion‘s “Savage” (featuring Beyoncé) jumping from No. 4 to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, the track is a serious contender for a Grammy nomination for best rap performance. This would be the first time in 23 years that an all-female collab was nominated in that category (or one of its forerunner categories, best rap solo performance or best rap performance by a duo or group). It last happened when “Not Tonight” by Lil’ Kim featuring Da Brat, Left Eye, Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott and Angie Martinez was nominated for the 1997 award for best rap performance by a duo or group. This would be Beyoncé’s first nomination for best rap performan...
Little Richard Never Won a Grammy, But He Brought Down the House at the 1988 Grammy Awards
Richard’s tone was genial and good-natured, but you can bet that it reflected a genuine sense that his role as a rock’n’roll pioneer had been under-appreciated. Little Richard never won a Grammy in competition, but he provided one of the most memorable moments at the 30th annual Grammy Awards, held on March 2, 1988 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. That was a strong Grammy show to begin with. It was the year Michael Jackson gave one of the most captivating performances in Grammy history, and U2 won album of the year for the first time. Little Richard and David Johansen, former leader of the New York Dolls (who recorded solo as Buster Poindexter), walked onstage to present the award for best new artist. Richard pointed out that Johansen’s hair was styled in a pom...
