Awards
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Tim Rice will be the 2023 recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award at the 52nd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner, which is slated for Thursday, June 15, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
Rice, who teamed with Andrew Lloyd Webber to write such classics as Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, is the first songwriter primarily known for his work in theater to receive this award since Stephen Sondheim in 1999.
Rice is the second EGOT recipient to receive the Johnny Mercer Award – following Alan Menken. The two songwriters shared an Oscar and three Grammys for their work on Aladdin.
He’s the fifth songwriter or songwriting team from the U.K. to receive the honor, following Jule Styne (1993), Phil Collins (2010), Elton John & Bernie Taupin (2013) and Van Morrison (2015).
The Mercer Award, the SHOF’s highest honor, is reserved for a songwriter or songwriting team who has already been inducted in a prior year and whose body of work upholds the standards set by Johnny Mercer, a four-time Oscar-winner.
“I am truly honoured to be chosen to receive the Johnny Mercer Award,” Rice said in a statement. “My induction into the SHOF in 1999 was itself a highlight of my writing career and I never expected to receive any further recognition from the most distinguished gathering of songwriters in the world. So, I am bowled over (a cricketing metaphor) with gratitude. I have attended quite a few SHOF events in the past 25 years and they have always been among the most enjoyable of entertainment world extravaganzas – unpretentious, unpredictable, and spectacular. So, June 15, 2023, is a golden booking in my electronic diary.”
Inductees at this year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner are Sade Adu, Glen Ballard, Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne, Teddy Riley and Liz Rose. The recipient of a second honorary award, the Hal David Starlight Award, will be announced at a later date.
SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said, “Tim Rice is an artisan. He has crafted some of the greatest lyrics and stories in musical history with Jesus Christ Superstar, and his incredible work with Andrew Lloyd Webber being amongst my favorites.”
Rice has won an Emmy, five Grammys, three Oscars and three Tonys. He won an Oscar and three Grammys for his work on Aladdin; two Tonys, a Grammy and an Oscar for Evita and its film adaptation; a Tony and a Grammy for Aida; an Oscar for The Lion King and an Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert.
Rice has worked in music, theatre, and films since 1965. In addition to his work with Webber, Rice has worked with such other top composers as Elton John (The Lion King, Aida), Menken (Aladdin, King David, Beauty and the Beast) and Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (Chess). He has also written with Freddie Mercury, Burt Bacharach and Rick Wakeman, among others.
Rice’s recent musical From Here to Eternity returned to London in November 2022. A new Broadway presentation of Chess is set to open in the fall of 2023. In early 2024, a new production of Aida will make its U.K/West End début. Rice is currently writing and presenting a podcast, Get Onto My Cloud, in which he reminisces about his years in music, theater and film.
With the 2023 Oscars just weeks away, Son Lux is in rarified company. They are the first band to receive a scoring nomination, credited as a band, since The Beatles won best original song score in 1971 for Let It Be.
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Son Lux, which consists of Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia and Ian Chang, is nominated for best original score for Everything Everywhere All at Once. This is their first film score as a band.
Son Lux originated as a solo project of Lott’s, but became a three-piece band with the addition of Bhatia and Chang. It was as a band that they released the studio albums Bones (2015) and Brighter Wounds (2018) and the Everything Everywhere All at Once soundtrack.
The Beatles, who had broken up a year earlier, weren’t present at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles on April 15, 1971 when they won the Oscar. The award was accepted on their behalf by Quincy Jones, who was the music director for that year’s Oscar telecast.
In addition, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the two current members of Nine Inch Nails, have been nominated three times for best original score, but under their own names, not as NIN. They won in 2011 for The Social Network and again in 2021 for Soul (shared with Jon Batiste). They were also nominated for Mank in 2021.
Several other band members have been nominated for – and in some cases have won – scoring Oscars, but not in collaboration with other members of their bands. These include Pete Townshend of The Who (Tommy, 1976), Prince of Prince and the Revolution (Purple Rain, 1985), David Byrne of Talking Heads (The Last Emperor, 1988), Will Butler of Arcade Fire (Her, 2014) and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead (Phantom Thread, 2018 and The Power of the Dog, 2022).
Lott shares a second Oscar nomination for best original song with David Byrne and Mitski for “This Is a Life.” It is performed in the film by Son Lux, Byrne and Mitski.
Spike Lee didn’t mince words when it came to sharing his opinion about Beyoncé‘s loss at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Speaking to The Guardian, the director explained that while he’s by no means “the male president of the Beyhive,” he does have “love and support” for the superstar. “Her album is amazing,” he continued. “I know she’s won multiple Grammys, but four times nominated for album of the year and she’s lost every time? No disrespect to those artists like Adele or Harry Styles who won – it’s not their fault – but that’s some straight-up bullsh–.”
She is the most-awarded artist in Grammy history, but Beyoncé has gone zero-for-four when it comes to album of the year nominations as a lead artist. The singer has also only ever one once in any of the Big Four categories — taking home song of the year in 2009 for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
In his interview, Lee eventually widened the scope of his remarks to reflect on Black artistry as a whole. “We all know their work is great, because art speaks for itself,” the BlacKkKlansman filmmaker said. “But then it always comes down to this tricky territory of validation. Do black artists say ‘F–k it,’ or seek white validation and chase awards?”
While Beyoncé is still without a Grammy for album of the year, her latest single “Cuff It” reached a new high mark on the Hot 100 this week by leaping to No. 6 (chart dated Feb. 18).
Two jazz musicians, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah and Somi Kakoma, were among six creators who were named Doris Duke Artists on Monday at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Oscar- and Grammy-winning rapper Common hosted the event.
The Doris Duke Foundation also announced the doubling of the prize money associated with the award. Each recipient is receiving an award of $550,000, up from $275,000, in recognition of their contributions to the fields of contemporary dance, jazz and theater.
This year’s other Doris Duke Artists are director Charlotte Brathwaite and playwright and performer Kristina Wong in the theater category, and choreographers and performers Ayodele Casel and Rosy Simas in the dance category.
“When artists thrive, we all thrive,” Sam Gill, president and CEO of the Doris Duke Foundation, said at the event. “Tonight we evolve the Doris Duke Artist Award from an award to a platform—a platform to advocate and fight for the future of artists.”
“What a decade of this award has revealed to us is that if you trust extraordinary artists like the ones here tonight and give them the conditions to thrive, they will go beyond the boundaries and expectations that you or anyone else could set for them,” added Maurine Knighton, chief program officer at the Doris Duke Foundation.
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, 39, is a jazz trumpeter, composer and producer. Has received six Grammy nominations since 2008 – three for best contemporary instrumental album, two for best improvised jazz solo and one for best contemporary jazz album.
“Receiving the Doris Duke Artist Award offers me the ability to dedicate more time and care to what I truly love, which in itself is the most valuable gift a person can receive,” Chief Adjuah said in a statement. “Not only is this tremendously meaningful for myself, it also puts me in the position to create new opportunities throughout my community. Growing up, I often heard elders use the phrase ‘Take my song and pass it along,’ and I look forward to embodying this spirit in passing along this gift to others.”
Somi Kakoma, 41, is singer, songwriter, playwright and actor. In July 2020, Somi released Holy Room – Live at Alte Oper on her own Salon Africana label. The live album, which featured the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, was nominated for a 2021 Grammy for best jazz vocal album. It also won the 2021 NAACP Image Award for outstanding jazz album, vocal.
“As a proud daughter of immigrants, I have never fit neatly into a ‘here’ or ‘there’—nor has my music,” she said in a statement. “Receiving this award is affirmation that this journey has not been in vain. Knowing that it was determined by a panel of my peers is especially meaningful—I feel seen, understood, supported, and so very grateful. This award will allow me to pursue or formalize more of my artistic projects on the African continent in spaces where the local cultural economy doesn’t always have the resources in place to support them.”
The event included performances by six members from the inaugural class of Doris Duke Artists: Vijay Iyer, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Bebe Miller, Nicole Mitchell, Eiko Otake and Basil Twist.
The Doris Duke Artist Awards program supports approximately six performing artists annually with unrestricted individual grants. Recipients may use funds on anything: work space, travel, study, a new home, health care, exploring new collaborations or retirement savings.
The increase to the grant amount from $275,000 to $550,000 per artist reaffirms the Doris Duke Foundation’s commitment to investing in individual artists as the lifeblood of the performing arts. Gill announced the increase to an audience of around 400. He additionally revealed that the foundation has locked in a $30 million commitment to carry the program forward.
Established in 2012, the Doris Duke Artist Award is the largest national prize dedicated exclusively to individual performing artists. Since its inception, 129 Doris Duke Artists have received a total of $35.5 million in Doris Duke Artist Awards. This includes a total of $12.6 million in funding to 44 jazz artists.
The program was originally launched as a five-year program in 2012 as part of a $50 million special initiative but was made a core part of the foundation’s arts funding strategy in 2018. It was, and continues to be, the largest national prize dedicated to individual performing artists. It was also one of the first grant programs to offer a unique matching feature for up to $25,000 of the award to encourage artists to invest in late-career savings given the limited benefits programs available to them.
The Doris Duke Foundation operates five national grantmaking programs—in the performing arts, the environment, medical research, child and family well-being, and mutual understanding between communities—as well as Duke Farms and Shangri La, two centers that serve the public directly.
The Doris Duke Foundation is one of only two foundations to have received the National Medal of the Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts. To learn more, visit www.dorisduke.org.
To learn more about the Doris Duke Artist Awards and the six new Doris Duke Artists, visit: DorisDukeArtistAwards.org.
Brit Award winner Harry Styles brought “As It Was” to the O2 Arena on Saturday night (Feb. 11).
Styles, who won all four awards for which he was nominated, followed up last weekend’s Grammys performance of the Harry’s House hit — which Styles’ dancers said had a technical malfunction, with its rotating stage unexpectedly turning in the wrong direction — with a fresh take at the 2023 Brit Awards ceremony. “As It Was” opened the show.
The star, wearing an open red sequin jacket and showing his chest tattoos, fronted a live band and focused on audience engagement at the Brit Awards. He let the crowd take over on the first chorus, mouthing the lyrics “you know it’s not the same as it was” along with them, and reached down to touch their hands.
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His clean sweep at the Brit Awards included the honors for artist of the year, Mastercard album of the year, song of the year and the fan-voted pop/R&B act. A full list of winners can be seen here.
Check out a clip of Styles’ “As It Was” performance below.
Harry Styles achieved a clean sweep at the 2023 Brit Awards, which were held at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday (Feb. 11). Styles won all four awards for which he was nominated — artist of the year, Mastercard album of the year, song of the year and the fan-voted pop/R&B act. This is even better than Adele’s strong showing last year. She won three of those awards, but lost pop/R&B act to Dua Lipa.
Harry’s House is the fourth album to win the top album award at both the Brits and the Grammys since 1985, when the Brits began presenting an award in that category on a consistent basis. It follows Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required and a pair of Adele albums, 21 and 25.
This is Styles’ second win in three years for song of the year at the Brits. “Watermelon Sugar” took the award two years ago. Styles first won in the category 11 years ago as a member of One Direction for the fizzy “What Makes You Beautiful.”
Styles opened this year’s telecast with a terrific performance of his global smash “As It Was.” This made up for a performance of the song on the Grammys that was hindered by technical issues. “This night has been really special to me and I’ll never forget it,” he said on winning Mastercard album of the year. “I’m so proud to be a British artist out in the world.”
Wet Leg and Beyoncé each won two awards on the night. Wet Leg became the third female-fronted group in a row to take group of the year. Wolf Alice won last year. Two years ago, the award went to an all-female group, Little Mix, for the first time. Wet Leg also won best new artist. The five-member band is the first group to win in that category since Catfish and the Bottlemen seven years ago.
Beyoncé won international artist of the year, beating three other American acts (Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo and Taylor Swift) and Nigerian superstar Burna Boy. Beyoncé had previously won female international artist of the year twice, back when the Brits had gendered categories. Beyoncé also won international song of the year for “Break My Soul,” beating Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” and Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” among other songs.
Styles, Wet Leg and Beyoncé all won in multiple categories at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5. Styles took album of the year and best pop vocal album for Harry’s House. Wet Leg won best alternative music album for their eponymous debut album and best alternative music performance for “Chaise Longue.” Bey won four Grammys, enabling her to set a new record as the most awarded artist in the show’s history.
Fontaines D.C. became the third Irish group to win international group of the year. They follow U2, which won in that category a record five times between 1988 and 2001, and The Corrs (1999).
Kid Harpoon, who co-wrote all but one song on Harry’s House, won the 2023 songwriter of the year award.
David Guetta won as producer of the year. This marks the first time someone from continental Europe (Guetta is French) has won the award. Accepting the award, Guetta said, “I’ve been making records for 22 years. To have longevity is such a miracle in what we do.” Guetta has yet to receive a Grammy nomination for producer of the year, non-classical.
Becky Hill won the fan-voted award for dance act for the second year in a row. She was the only one of the 2022 winners in the four fan-voted genre award categories to win again this year.
The 1975 won the fan-voted award for alternative/rock act, beating Wet Leg, among others.
Aitch won the fan-voted award for hip hop, grime, rap act. He beat last year’s winner in the category, Dave, among others.
The awards were hosted by British comedian Mo Gilligan for the second year in a row. Styles, Wet Leg and Smith & Petras performed on the show, as did Cat Burns, Lewis Capaldi, Lizzo, Stormzy and the team of David Guetta & Becky Hill & Ella Henderson. The show also included an encore airing of an Adele performance clip, “I Drink Wine,” from last year’s show. Since Adele didn’t perform on this year’s Grammy telecast, it was good to see her in action again.
The show was not glitch-free. Gilligan introduced Lewis Capaldi as “Sam Capaldi.” The Scottish singer didn’t let it throw his performance of his hit “Forget Me.” Gilligan later apologized for his gaffe on-air, adding: “It just goes to show how strong the drinks are at the Brits.”
Lewis Capaldi took the 2023 Brit Awards stage to perform “Forget Me,” and host Mo Gilligan apparently did just that.
The comedian mistakenly introduced Lewis — whose “Forget Me” was nominated for song of the year at this year’s ceremony — as “Sam Capaldi,” which viewers were quick to comment on Saturday night (Feb. 11) on Twitter.
“I do apologize. I just called him Sam,” Gilligan said post-performance, blaming his error on the drinks served at the show.
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“Guys you know LEWIS CAPALDI gonna make some viral tweet and tiktok out of that sam capaldi thing ahahahahahahahahahah,” one fan predicted on Twitter, while others made memes of Lewis Capaldi’s head on Sam Smith‘s body on the Brits red carpet — which Capaldi immediately shared.
“Sam capaldi x,” Lewis tweeted.
“Forget Me” is the first single from Capaldi’s upcoming sophomore album, Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent. It was first released in September and peaked at No. 58 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart, but blasted to No. 1 in the U.K.
Catch the moment in the quick clip below. See the full list of 2023 Brit Award winners here.
The 2023 Brit Awards are here! The prestigious ceremony is taking over London’s O2 Arena on Saturday (Feb. 11).
Harry Styles and Wet Leg tied as the most-nominated artists for the awards this year, with four nods each. Styles is up for artist of the year, Mastercard album of the year, song of the year and pop/R&B act.
Meanwhile, Wet Leg is nominated for Mastercard album of the year, group of the year, best new artist and alternative/rock act.
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See all of the night’s biggest winners below:
Mastercard Album of the Year
The 1975, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, Dirty Hit
Wet Leg, Wet Leg, Domino Recordings
Harry Styles, Harry’s House, Columbia, Sony Music
Stormzy, This Is What I Mean, 0207/Merky, Universal Music
Fred Again..,, Actual Life 3 (January 1-September 9 2022), Atlantic Warner Music
Song of the Year
Aitch/Ashanti, “Baby,” Capitol, Universal Music
Cat Burns, “Go,” RCA/Since 93, Sony Music
Dave, “Starlight,” Dave/Neighbourhood, Universal Music
Ed Sheeran & Elton John, “Merry Christmas,” Atlantic/EMI, Warner Music, Universal Music
Eliza Rose/Interplanetary Criminal, “B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All),” Warner Records/One House/Warner Music
George Ezra, “Green Green Grass,” Columbia, Sony Music
Harry Styles, “As It Was,” Columbia, Sony Music
Lewis Capaldi, “Forget Me,” EMI, Universal Music
LF System, “Afraid to Feel,” Warner Records, Warner Music
Sam Smith & Kim Petras, “Unholy,” Capitol, Universal Music
Artist of the Year
Central Cee, Central Cee
Fred Again…, Atlantic, Warner Music
George Ezra, Columbia/Sony Music
Harry Styles, Columbia/Sony Music
Stormzy, 0207/Merky, Universal Music
Group of the Year
The 1975, Dirty Hit
Arctic Monkeys, Domino Recordings
Bad Boy Chiller Crew, Relentless, Sony Music
Nova Twins, Marshall Records, Blue Raincoat Music
Wet Leg, Domino Recordings
Best New Artist
Kojey Radical, Asylum/Atlantic, Warner Music
Mimi Webb, Epic/RCA, Sony Music
Rina Sawayama, Dirty Hit
Sam Ryder, Parlophone, Warner Music
Wet Leg, Domino Recordings
Rising Star
Cat Burns, RCA/Since;93, Sony Music
WINNER: FLO, Island, Universal Music
Nia Archives, Island/Universal Music
Alternative/Rock Act
The 1975, Dirty Hit
Arctic Monkeys, Domino Recordings
Nova Twins, Marshall Records, Blue Raincoat Music
Tom Grennan, Insanity, Sony Music
Wet Leg, Domino Recordings
Hip-Hop, Grime, Rap Act
Aitch, Capitol, Universal Music — WINNER
Central Cee, Central Cee
Dave, Dave/Neighbourhood, Universal Music
Loyle Carner, EMI, Universal Music
Stormzy, 0207/Merky, Universal Music
Dance Act
Becky Hill, Polydor, Universal Music
Bonobo, Ninja Tune
Calvin Harris, Columbia, Sony Music
Eliza Rose, Warner Records/One House, Warner Music
Fred again…, Atlantic, Warner Music
Pop/R&B Act
Cat Burns, RCA/Since’93, Sony Music
Charli XCX, Asylum/Atlantic, Warner Music
Dua Lipa, Warner Records, Warner Music
Harry Styles, Columbia, Sony Music
Sam Smith, Capitol, Universal Music
International Artist of the Year
Beyoncé, Columbia/Parkwood/RCA, Sony Music — WINNER
Burna Boy, Atlantic, Warner Music
Kendrick Lamar, Polydor/Interscope, Universal Music
Lizzo, Atlantic, Warner Music
Taylor Swift, EMI/Republic, Universal Music
International Group of the Year
BLACKPINK, Polydor/Interscope, Universal Music
Drake & 21 Savage, Island/OVO/Republic, Epic/Columbia, Universal Music, Sony Music
First Aid Kit, Columbia/Sony Music
Fontaines D.C., Partisan Records
Gabriels, Parlophone, Warner Music
International Song of the Year
Beyoncé, “Break My Soul,” Columbia/Parkwood/RCA, Sony Music
David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, “I’m Good (Blue),” Parlophone, Warner Music
Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran, “Peru,” Island/Atlantic, Universal/Warner
Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and cast of Encanto, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” Universal Music Recordings, Walt Disney, Universal Music
Gayle, “abcdefu,” Atlantic, Warner Music
Jack Harlow, “First Class,” Atlantic, Warner Music
Lizzo “About Damn Time,” Atlantic, Warner Music
Lost Frequencies/Calum Scott, “Where Are You Now,” Capitol/Insanity, Sony Music/Universal Music
OneRepublic, “I Ain’t Worried,” Polydor/Insanity, Sony Music/Universal Music
Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero,” EMI/Republic, Universal Music
Ben Affleck was there to support Jennifer Lopez at the Grammys Sunday (Feb. 5), and now, she’s returning the favor by promoting his new movie — but not without poking a little fun at his viral “happy face” in the process.
The actor has been the subject of good-natured jokes for years thanks to his seeming distaste for public events and his glum, “don’t wanna be here” default expression that’s been photographed and meme-ified time and time again. So when Affleck was spotted several times looking, well, miserable at the Grammys, he immediately started going viral all over again.
And while sharing the trailer for the Gone Girl star’s upcoming movie Air on social media, Lopez couldn’t resist making a joke of her own. “My husband’s happy face,” she captioned a homemade meme added to the beginning of the trailer, featuring a still image from the film of Affleck looking tense.
“AIR … cannot wait!” the “Let’s Get Loud” singer wrote Thursday (Feb. 9) of the film, which Affleck both directed and acted in.
J. Lo’s followers loved her gentle dig at the Good Will Hunting actor, with whom she said she had “the best time” at the Grammys in an Instagram post following the ceremony. “He was bored to death at the Grammys, but we all love him anyways….,” commented one fan, while another wrote, “God Bless Ben!!”
The internet’s fixation with “Sad Affleck” memes dates back to 2016, when shots of the Oscar-winning star looking downcast during an interview for Batman v Superman were picked up and passed around by folks on social media who felt both amused and endeared by his all too relatable expression. Every time he’s been photographed in a similar light — morosely fumbling with a large Dunkin Donuts order or taking a dispirited cigarette break, to name some examples — the meme-making continues.
The Grammys were no exception. “Sad Affleck” lovers had a ball cracking jokes about the frowning actor being a symbol for “every introvert everywhere.” One person tweeted, “however bad of a day you’re having, I promise you’re not as miserable as Ben Affleck at the Grammys right now.”
See Jennifer Lopez’s customized trailer of Ben Affleck’s new movie below: