State Champ Radio Grammys
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Trevor Noah had a special guest on his Spotify podcast What Now? With Trevor Noah on Thursday (Feb. 8) – Ben Winston, who was one of the executive producers of the Grammy telecast on Sunday, Feb. 4 (along with Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins).
Noah, who has hosted the show the last four years and this year was also credited as a producer, opened by saying “Can I tell you there are few gigs I’ve done in my life that are more stressful than the Grammys? It’s exciting, it’s fun, but … it’s too much stress.”
Winston agreed. “I worked on that show for like four months and then the last three or four weeks it becomes intense and then the last few days it’s even more intense and then the last hour before the show is like the worst of all of it because that’s when everything you’ve been planning for a year falls apart because artists aren’t showing up … I’ve run the Grammys for four years now. For the last two years that half-hour before we’ve gone live I would say without question are the two most stressful half-hours of my entire life. Just the stuff that comes in and how just feel like you’re sinking on a ship that you’ve been building for months.”
One of the major stressors was a number of top stars arriving late for the 5:00 p.m. PT starting time, the result of a combination of factors – always heavy L.A. traffic aggravated by a rainstorm on show day, tight security and demonstrations near Crypto.com Arena where the show was taped, which impeded traffic.
Trevor asked Winston if a story he had heard was true – that Mariah Carey, who was set to present the first award, was picked up in a golf cart to get to the show on time.
“That’s 100% real,” Winston said. He recalled that at 4:48, none of the first three presenters (Carey, Christina Aguilera and Kacey Musgraves) was in the building. “It was an absolute nightmare. So, Patrick Menton, head of talent and co-executive producer of the show, got a guy in a golf cart – this is the God’s honest truth – to drive the wrong way down the [freeway] on the hard-shoulder, drove over a mile, got Mariah out of her SUV, stuck umbrellas to each side of it so she wouldn’t get soaked [and got her there].”
Winston communicated with Noah through an earpiece the host was wearing during the telecast. “I’m trying not to stress you out because I’m in your ears the whole time. I have to give him his props here. Trevor is unbelievable at taking information live in your ear. I was slowing you down because Mariah wasn’t ready yet. [As soon as] they went ‘Mariah is ready,’ you went ‘Time for our first award.’”
Noah and Winston also discussed Jay-Z’s calling out Grammy voters for repeatedly denying his wife Beyoncé the album of the year prize. Jay’s remarks were unexpected, but both men defended his right to say what he said.
The podcast played an excerpt of Jay’s remarks: “Think about that: the most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn’t work. Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category. When I get nervous, I tell the truth.”
“I’ll tell you this much. I didn’t expect it,” Noah said, likening it to the moment in 2005 when Kanye West went off-script at the Hurricane Katrina telethon and said “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.” Noah said when Jay made his surprise remarks, “I felt a little bit like Mike Myers” [who was West’s shocked co-presenter on that telethon].
Noah set the scene: “I have just presented Jay with the Dr. Dre [Global Impact] Award. I’m on stage. I’m standing to the side. I’m expecting Jay-Z to come up and make a speech and I expect it to be a speech the way everybody makes a speech, “Reach for the stars, dream big, this is inspiration, hope for the best, thank you so much, I love you all, good night.”
And then Jay gets up and starts his speech. There are moments where I’m like, ‘Am I hearing this correctly?’ because I’m behind and you can’t really hear exactly what he did. … People are laughing. It was almost like a roast meets an acceptance speech. I liked it, though, I will say that. I like it when people are honest, I won’t lie.”
Winston agreed. “I don’t think it was as disrespectful to the Grammys as has been taken. He and his wife between them have won 60 [56, actually] Grammys as a couple. So he stood there as a real honored guy. Listen, I have nothing to do with the awards. I’m not even in the Academy. I can’t vote. I make the TV show with you Trevor. I’ve done it for the last four years.
“Of the last four years, they’ve turned up three out of the four. The only one that they didn’t come to was the one in Vegas [in 2022]. So, I think it matters to them. I think the Grammys and the Recording Academy matters to them as an institution. And any institution that matters to you, you want it to be done right, and you care about that. I respect that. And I also say ‘fair play’ to the Grammys for saying ‘speak whatever you feel.’ He also gave it credit saying the Black Music Collective has done a lot of good work. So yeah, he feels like Beyoncé should have won an album of the year…”
Noah interjected, “which I second, by the way.” Noah parodied West’s infamous interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and said, “Ben, I’mma let you finish, but I do think Beyoncé should have won for one of the greatest albums of all time” [an apparent reference to Lemonade, which lost to Adele’s 25].
Later in the conversation, Noah returned to the subject of Jay-Z’s blast. “I appreciate the moments where Jay-Z comes on stage and just throws a little spice into the pot. Man, thank you Jay-Z. If Jay-Z can’t do it, who can? Maybe he’ll inspire more people to do it. This is life. It gets people interested. It gets us talking. It’s entertainment.”
Both defended Swift, who has been criticized for not acknowledging Celine Dion, who presented her with album of the year.
“To be fair, she was excited she had just won album of the year,” Winston said. “I don’t think she meant disrespect by it in any way. I think she was just excited.”
Noah concurred. “In those moments, speaking from experience, humbly, you do black out a little bit when it’s like a major moment.”
Noah may have been referring to the moment on Jan. 15 when he won a Primetime Emmy as executive producer and host of The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, which was voted outstanding talk series. For his part, Winston has won at least one Primetime Emmy in each of the last eight years. He won last month as an executive producer of Elton John Farewell From Dodger Stadium, which was voted outstanding variety special (live).
Winston asked Noah if he was worried when he started his monologue that so few of the people who were mentioned in the monologue were in the room yet.
“Live TV is live,” Noah said. “… In this moment in particular, you’re about to do something in a room where people aren’t even sort of in yet, yet you’re talking about them and to them and they’re not there. I’m literally scanning the room praying that I will see anybody, anybody, anybody in their seats. So, you look around and say, ‘Oh thank God, there’s Ed Sheeran, there’s 21 Savage.’
“Like when Meryl Streep came in … First of all, she’s Meryl Streep. She didn’t need to run in because she was late. She ran in. She apologized for being late in a really nice, respectful, human way .. In that moment I was like, ‘OK, everything is going to be OK and thank you Jesus. I think we’re doing to get through this thing.’”
Winston gave Noah credit for his willingness to do his opening monologue in the audience, among the celebrity guests. “Most of the time with comedians at the beginning of the show, they’re on a stage, they’re safe, they’ve got their prompter. We literally stick you in amongst them, for two reasons. Firstly, I think it’s much more of an interesting watch. You walking around the room shows off who’s in the room. The second reason is … [we’ve] got to clear that stage for the next artist. We don’t have space for you on that stage.”
“I both love and hate it,” Noah said of performing his opening jokes while standing in the audience. “I love it from a producer’s perspective. I see why you wanted to do it and I enjoy that element of it. As a performer, it’s chaos….I won’t lie to you guys. It’s terrifying, but I do enjoy it.”
Winston concluded the podcast by explaining his role as one of the executive producers of the Grammys.
“My job I think is to program that show to do the best I can to make sure I have something for everybody, whether you’re Auntie Margaret in Alabama or you’re Cool Kid in New York, there’s something for you. You only get a viewing figure [good rating] for a Burna Boy if you follow it up with a Billy Joel. So, you’ve got to find that balance so you can actually get audience for those new artists, get people excited by Victoria Monét, Burna Boy, because they’re watching these other ones that they came for.”
If we’re going to talk snubs and surprises at the Grammys, let’s address the big Latin elephant in the room.
There was very little Latin presence at this year’s Grammy awards. Only three Latin names – Edgar Barrera, Gustavo Dudamel and 123 Andrés – were nominated in non-Latin categories (for songwriter of the year (non-classical), best orchestral performance and best children’s musical album, respectively). The first nomination is a major look, perhaps explained by the fact that this is a relatively new category with a fresh perspective.
And the latter two won – not entirely unsurprising, given Dudamel’s stature and new appointment as the director of the New York Philharmonic. The best children’s album win for 123 Andrés was the most poignant, a sign that the more innocent children’s music perhaps has less barriers.
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As for the show itself, only 10 to 12 awards of the 91 total are typically given out during the telecast. In his post Grammy column, Bob Lefsetz wrote, “Now if I want to be honest, a lot of other genres were recognized in the pre-show, but unless you won an award, or are related to or work with the winner, no one knows and no one cares. They won’t put this music on the telecast, it’s not broad enough.”
I beg to differ. First, many categories are given out in the pre-telecast simply because only a handful of awards are given out on air. There are many others that many people care about.
When it comes to the Latin music categories historically, however, they have hardly ever made the telecast – despite the fact that Latins now represent nearly 20% of the U.S. population, and that Spanish is the second most-consumed language in music in the country. But, the Grammys aren’t about representation, right? If that were the case, we would be advocating for Latin nominees in every category of the awards, because, well, we’re 20%. But that’s not it.
The Grammys are about quality, and cultural and artistic impact. That’s why the absence of Peso Pluma – a catalyst for the revival of an entire musical genre that has impacted the charts and American consciousness, and whose music is downright dazzling — in the general categories was so jarring.
The Mexican music superstar’s absence was especially conspicuous in the best new artist category. He was eligible among 405 new artists who competed for those eight slots, but he was not nominated. In fact, only two other artists who perform in Spanish have ever been nominated for best new artist – Rosalía in 2019 and Anitta in 2022, and neither artist won.
Why was Karol G considered good ratings fodder – the stadium headliner was seated at the front of the room and received her award for best música urbana album on air, after all — but was still shut out of any non-Latin category? This, despite the fact that she ended the year at No. 23 on Billboard’s year-end top artists chart, her Mañana Será Bonito was a top 20 album on Billboard’s year-end chart, and she played to sprawling sold-out crowds all year.
Clearly, despite all the positive moves towards diversifying the Recording Academy’s voting body, members are still resisting the concept of including music in Spanish as part of the mainstream. In the entire history of the Grammys, only one album in Spanish has ever received an album of the year nomination: Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Tí in 2023. The last Spanish-language song nominated for song of the year or record of the year was “Despacito” in 2018. It didn’t win in either category, but it got the chance to compete. The importance of those opportunities to participate in the competition cannot be overlooked.
Ironically, the first-ever record and song of the year winner, back when the awards launched in 1959, was an Italian-language song, Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare).” Then in 1964, the Stan Getz/Astrud Gilberto version of “The Girl From Ipanema” won record of the year. Los Lobos’ hit cover version of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” was nominated for both record of the year and song of the year in 1988, and Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” was nominated in those same two categories in 1999 (although Martin’s smash was mostly in English). That’s an awfully short list across 60-plus years, and yet we remain unable to even consider Spanish-language music as a real option in the Big Four.
Yesterday, a major Latin recording artist told me, “How come we never get nominated in the main categories? It makes me really angry.”
It doesn’t make me angry. Just sad.
Leila Cobo is Billboard’s Chief Content Officer for Latin and Español.
Jack Antonoff had much cause to celebrate after his big wins at the 2024 Grammys, and celebrate he did indeed. In newly shared photos from the producer, he parties with his close collaborators and fellow nominees Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey as well as poses with Ice Spice, Sabrina Carpenter, Jon Batiste and more […]
Multiple songs performed at the 2024 Grammy Awards reach Billboard’s LyricFind U.S. and Global charts dated Feb. 10, paced by Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which reaches No. 1 on both rankings.
The LyricFind Global and LyricFind U.S. charts rank the fastest momentum-gaining tracks in lyric-search queries and usages globally and in the U.S., respectively, provided by LyricFind. The Global chart includes queries from all countries, including the U.S. The company is the world’s leader in licensed lyrics, with data provided by more than 5,000 publishers and utilized by more than 100 services, including Amazon, Pandora, Deezer, Microsoft, SoundHound and iHeartRadio.
“Fast Car” was performed on the Grammys telecast Feb. 4 as a duet between Chapman and Luke Combs; the latter covered the song in 2023. It was the first time the pair had performed the song together.
According to LyricFind, “Fast Car” earned a 6,171% increase in lyric searches and usages in the U.S. following the ceremony, plus a similarly sizable 6,084% bump globally.
More gains on the Billboard charts are in “Fast Car”’s future – both Chapman’s original and Combs’ rendition. The Billboard charts dated Feb. 17 will cover streaming, sales and airplay activity for Feb. 2-8.
Behind “Fast Car” comes Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” which appears on the LyricFind U.S. survey at No. 2. Like Chapman, who rarely performs publicly, Mitchell was a unique addition to the Grammys broadcast; she had never performed during the ceremony before 2024, and has performed sparingly in recent years due to health issues.
The performance of “Both Sides Now” found Mitchell joined by a bevy of musicians on backing vocals and instrumentation, including Brandi Carlile, Lucius, Allison Russell and more.
“Both Sides Now” scored a boost of 3,465% in lyric searches and usages in the U.S., according to LyricFind. The song also appears on the Global ranking at No. 3.
A third song performed during the ceremony, Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?,” rises 25-20 on the Global chart via a 153% increase. The tune from the Barbie soundtrack was also a big winner at the Grammys, scoring the nod for song of the year (plus best song written for visual media during the pre-telecast).
Other Grammy-related appearances on the latest LyricFind rankings include Paramore’s “This Is Why” at No. 8 on U.S. (and No. 18 on Global) and Dua Lipa’s “Houdini” at No. 9 on Global. “This Is Why” won the award for best alternative music performance, while Lipa performed “Houdini” during the broadcast.
Front row, from left: Public Enemy’s Chuck D, Victoria Monét, The Isley Brothers’ Ernie and Ronald Isley, Keyshia Cole, Clive Davis, Dionne Warwick and Rickey Minor. Back row, from left: Lainey Wilson, Andrew Wyatt, Harvey Mason Jr., Mark Ronson, Maluma, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav, Noah Kahan, Jelly Roll, Josh Groban, The War and Treaty’s Michael Trotter Jr., Green Day’s Tré Cool, The War and Treaty’s Tanya Trotter, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Andra Day and Green Day’s Mike Dirnt photographed on February 3, 2024 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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Crypto.com Arena and its concessions partner, Levy Restaurants, broke their previous record for food sales at this year’s 66th Grammy Awards, averaging $97.17 in sales per person, says Lee Zeidman, president of Crypto.com Arena, Peacock Theater and LA Live. The sales figure was enough to top the record per cap of $95.94 at last year’s […]
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Killer Mike should be solely basking in the glow of making a perfect sweep of the categories he was nominated in at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. However, the Atlanta rapper and public figure was arrested at the venue where the Grammys were held. He has since addressed the incident while focusing on his new trophy haul.
Killer Mike, 48, notched the Best Rap Album award for his sixth studio album MICHAEL, and the Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance trophies for the track “Scientists & Engineers” with André 3000, Future, and Eryn Allen Kane.
Shortly after winning the awards, Killer Mike was seen in video footage being hauled off by officers on the scene with the LAPD stating the arrest resulted from an altercation at the Crypto.com Arena.
By way of Hip-Hop N More, the artist born Michael Render issued a statement and urged his supporters to continue running up MICHAEL despite the setback.
“I do want to note that last night, my team and I fielded a number of calls from concerned fans and colleagues wanting to know if I was OK. I greatly appreciate the concern and support, but I am better than OK. As you can imagine, there was a lot going and there was some confusion around which door my team and I should enter. We experienced an over-zealous security guard but my team and I have the upmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.
Until that time, keep listening to ‘Michael,’ and keep going after your dreams,” a portion of the statement reads.
A longer statement of gratitude for the Grammy wins by Killer Mike can be viewed below.
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Photo: Getty
Killer Mike is confident his name will be cleared after an altercation with Grammy Awards security personnel on Sunday (Feb. 4) led to his arrest.
It was a bittersweet night for the Atlanta rapper, who won three Grammys — for rap song of the year and rap performance of the year for “Scientists & Engineers” and rap album of the year for Michael — and ended on a sour note when he was placed under arrest and was transported to LAPD Central Division.
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“I first want to extend my appreciation to the Grammy’s Committee for recognizing me and my team for the work that went into Michael,” he writes in a statement, seen by Billboard.
“We are incredibly proud and are basking in this moment. I am also grateful that one of my prayers has been answered – the day after my Grammy win – I learned that my son, who has been on the list for a kidney for years, finally has a match. Obviously, we are elated.”
According to reports, Killer Mike (real name Michael Render) exited a secure area at the Peacock Theater, where many of the awards were announced and handed out Sunday, before the main televised ceremony took place inside of Crypto.com arena.
He is then said to have attempted to return with several individuals to the secure area, sources tell Billboard, where he was stopped by security. When personnel demanded to see his access credentials, an argument ensured, and the hip-hop artist was led off in handcuffs.
“I do want to note that last night, my team and I fielded a number of calls from concerned fans and colleagues wanting to know if I was OK,” his statement continues. “I greatly appreciate the concern and support, but I am better than OK. As you can imagine, there was a lot going and there was some confusion around which door my team and I should enter. We experienced an over-zealous security guard but my team and I have the upmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.”
Until that time, he continues, “keep listening to ‘Michael,’ and keep going after your dreams.”
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Drake called out the Grammy Awards in a post on social media, declaring his support for those artists nominated that evening
As the Grammy Awards got underway Sunday night (Feb. 4), Drake expressed his feelings about the ceremony, making it clear that he wasn’t going to be paying attention. In a post to his Instagram Stories, he shared a clip of his acceptance speech during his last appearance at the awards in 2019. “All you incredible artists, remember this show isn’t the facts, it’s just the opinion of a group of people (whose) names are kept a secret (literally you can Google it),” the rapper wrote in a text caption over the clip. “Congrats to anybody winning anything for Hip-Hop, but this show doesn’t dictate s—t in our world.”
His animosity against the Grammy Awards and the Recording Academy began during that 2019 appearance where he won the Best Rap Song for “God’s Plan.” “We play in an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport,” he said at the time (at one point, his microphone seemed to be cut off). “It is not the NBA … This is a business where sometimes it is up to a bunch of people that might not understand what a mixed-race kid from Canada has to say … or a brother from Houston right there, my brother Travis,” Drake said. “You’ve already won if you have people who are singing your songs word for word, if you are a hero in your hometown. If there is people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain, in the snow, spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows, you don’t need this right here, I promise you, you already won.”
The Toronto, Canada, native also threw barbs at the Grammys in 2021 after The Weeknd didn’t receive any nominations that year. Drake was nominated four times at the 66th edition of the Grammys, including Best Rap Performance for “Rich Flex” from the Her Loss joint album with 21 Savage, which was also nominated for Best Rap Album. His solo album from last year, For All The Dogs, was not submitted for consideration. Drake is currently on his It’s All A Blur: Big As The What nationwide tour, performing the second of two nights at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, with J. Cole. It runs through April 16, where it will end at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
After two decades as a band, Paramore won their first two Grammys on Sunday (Feb. 4), taking home the awards for best rock album, best alternative music performance for This Is Why. To celebrate, the trio took to Instagram to thank fans for listening to their music. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news […]
