This was always going to be a heavy Grammy ceremony, but there was no way to tell just how heavy it would get. Upheaval at the highest levels of the Recording Academy had muddied the days leading up to the show. On January 16, it was announced that Academy president and CEO Deborah Dugan — […]
Hours after the news broke that basketball legend Kobe Bryant tragically died in a helicopter crash, his friend Kanye West, along with Chance the Rapper and Kirk Franklin, celebrated his life and legacy at West’s weekly Sunday Service. “I was driving home / They was leaving your jersey on the freeway / And I just […]
Spanish singer Rosalía won the Grammy award Sunday night for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album for El Mal Querer, and her performance of “Juro Que” and “Malamente” on the telecast featured the vibrant influence of Flamenco on her music. In the press room after accepting her trophy, Rosalía, who is the first all-Spanish-language […]
Ah, musical tributes: the very lifeblood of any good Grammy Awards broadcast. This year’s ceremony is no exception. On Sunday night, Usher and FKA twigs performed a, erm, well-intentioned tribute to Prince, John Legend and DJ Khaled gave a powerful tribute to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, and Camila Cabello performed what appeared to be […]
Billie Eilish ran out of people to thank as she took the stage to accept the Grammy for Record of the Year (for “bad guy”), simply saying “thank you” in unison with her brother and producer, Finneas. That’s because the 18-year-old became only the second artist ever to sweep the four general categories of Record […]
The Grammys are ostensibly music’s biggest night, but once again, Sunday night’s awards felt more like music’s longest night. Looming over the celebration were two unexpected happenings: the sudden death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, and the news of turmoil within the organization, prompted by Recording Academy president Deborah Dugan’s ouster. Could there be a […]
Do you see that? Billie Eilish is shining, in more ways than one, on the Grammys stage. The singer-songwriter abandoned her usual dark, electronic backing to perform “when the party’s over” with her producer brother Finneas on piano. The sibling duo are already both Grammy winners tonight, with Eilish taking home Best Pop Vocal Album […]
For all of the winners tonight, an air of loss has hovered over this year’s Grammy Awards. First, there were dedications and tributes by Lizzo, Boys II Men and Alicia Keys to basketball great Kobe Bryant, who died earlier on Sunday. Then, there is the absence of nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was tragically murdered […]
Given his own unbridled sensuality, unbuttoned blouses and love of guitar riffs, hopefully Prince would have approved of Usher, Sheila E. and FKA Twigs paying tribute to his oeuvre at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, complete with intricate pole dancing and lingerie as outerwear. Of course, if Prince had been alive, it feels like he would […]
The sky was thick with fog Sunday morning as media outlets began to take their place on the Grammys red carpet for music’s biggest night. There was already a significant heaviness preceding this year’s ceremony given the ongoing controversy surrounding the Academy and its decision to put its president, Deborah Dugan, on leave ten days […]
Lizzo can’t cure broken hearts, but she opened the 2020 Grammys with a little music for thought. “This is for Kobe,” she declared, before ripping into her song “Cuz I Love You.” The singer dedicated her first ever Grammys performance to the late basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, who died Sunday morning. The award show takes […]
This morning in Calabasas, California, a helicopter with Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people crashed, killing everyone aboard. At the start of this year’s Grammy telecast, Alicia Keys led a tribute to the basketball legend with the help of Boyz II Men. Together, they sang a somber rendition of “It’s So Hard […]
The 62nd annual Grammy Awards have arrived at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and many, many more Grammy Awards have arrived at the Microsoft Theater directly across the street. Before the performances begin, and following the victories Beyoncé and Lady Gaga have already netted, we’re gathering the best looks turned by the best stars […]
While the world is reeling from the tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, the Grammys must go on. It’s music’s self-proclaimed biggest night of the year. This year’s nominees were announced back in November by Alicia Keys, who hosted the awards show for the second time. Turns out when Beyoncé sang “Who run the […]
Saw James corden and Justin Bieber filming carpool karaoke and this is why I have trust issues — he isn't even driving! pic.twitter.com/bkP9moGJmu — Zoli ⚡️ (@zolihonig) January 23, 2020 Is this … the Cybertruck? Thanks to a very amusing video posted on social media this week, fans of James Corden’s musician-adored “Carpool Karaoke” segment […]
Before seeing the documentary Miss Americana, which had its second Sundance Film Festival screening on Friday night in Salt Lake City, you’d be forgiven for thinking Taylor Swift and filmmaker Lana Wilson unlikely bedfellows. Wilson is best known for After Tiller, a probing, no-holds-barred doc centering on the only doctors in America willing to perform […]
Following an early morning raid at his home, the rapper YG has been arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that they arrived at YG’s home in the San Fernando Valley armed with a search warrant and an arrest warrant related to a robbery case. TMZ reports that YG […]
Paramore’s journey from the beefy pop-punk of “Emergency” and “That’s What You Get” to the soul and pop-rock moves of “Ain’t It Fun” and “Hard Times” is a surprising turn, but not an unlikely one. You could sort of see a singer with the immense chops of a Hayley Williams not wanting to be confined […]
A few years ago, Yola caught fire. That’s not a metaphor for the multidimensional British singer-songwriter’s speedy rise to the top of a heap of her own creation. 2019 saw her cut a jaw-dropping debut solo full-length record with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, collaborate with some of country music’s fiercest voices on the Highwomen […]
After years of being famously private, Taylor Swift is opening up in her new documentary, Miss Americana. In the Netflix doc, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Taylor Swift reveals that she’s struggled with her body image and an eating disorder. Variety reports that in a voiceover in the movie, Swift describes how […]
Get ready to turn your screen up to max brightness because Billie Eilish has directed and released the new music video for her single “everything i wanted,” and it is, on the one hand, very good, but on the other hand, it looks like it was shot by the cinematographer who did “The Long Night” […]
Today in Twitter blunders comes the story of Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, better known as Halsey, who had a very rough morning. First, someone made the mistake of letting her read the Pitchfork review of her new album Manic, which settles on a 6.5 rating and harps on its “painfully stretched ballads” and “overly sanitized rhythms.” […]
Two things about Rosalía and the new video for her song “Juro Que.” First, it’s great. Second, can this be her audition for season three of Netflix’s Élite, because she and Omar Ayuso look great? (We’re not saying break up Omander. That is sacred ground. But why not bring a new student who is also […]
Jessica Simpson opens up about her toughest struggles in her new memoir Open Book. Through excerpts in People, the singer revealed her history of anxiety and emotional pain stemming from sexual abuse she suffered as a young girl. As she grew up, she says she used pills and alcohol to numb the pain, starting around […]
When the lights dim and someone tall and famous and glamorous opens the envelope for Best New Artist at the Grammys on Sunday night, they will probably twist their lips to say the name we all expect: the teenage sensation Billie Eilish, whose horny-emo thumping pop music has earned her many a trophy and the […]
Back in 2008, Rush delighted one of their all-time biggest fanboys, Stephen Colbert, by stopping by The Colbert Report for their first American television interview in decades. It is … an incredible five minutes of increasingly silly questions, and the chat (paired with the subsequent performance of “Tom Sawyer”) was one of the first things […]
Tired: Taylor Swift doing whatever the hell she was doing with digital fur technology in Cats. Wired: Taylor Swift pouring her heart out while wearing feline backpacks in Miss Americana. In the trailer for Swift’s upcoming Netflix documentary, which was unexpectedly revealed during her public feud with Scooter Braun, the songstress gives us a very […]
“Music’s biggest night” is this Sunday, but it’s already been overshadowed by behind-the-scenes tension. Last Thursday, a dramatic news story broke revealing that Recording Academy president Deborah Dugan, newly in the role as of August 2019, was put on administrative leave only ten days ahead of this year’s Grammys ceremony. Dugan, the former CEO of […]
Joey Kramer, the drummer and longtime member of Aerosmith, is currently suing the band for excluding him in the lead-up to several high-profile events. Per court documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Kramer is alleging that the band forced him to re-audition months after sustaining a few minor injuries last spring, when they were preparing to […]
Tanya Tucker was a teen star in the thoroughly adult world of country music in the 1970s, schooled in singing with feeling and grit by her father Beau, who also managed her, and entrusted with poignant, weighty material by her legendary Nashville producer Billy Sherrill. Lightly rocking, loosely swinging, string-swathed, southern gothic tales like “Delta […]