James Corden of The Late Late Show is set to host the 59th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Feb. 12 airing live on the CBS Television Network. The Grammys previously announced that Adele, John Legend, Bruno Mars, Metallica, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban would perform and now some major collaborations have been announced. The Recording Academy announced Anderson .Paak will be joining hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest and Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl. Other collaborations announced include the Weeknd performing with the electronic-music duo Daft Punk and R&B star Alicia Keys playing with newcomer Maren Morris.
This latest lineup of performers know a thing or two about the Grammys as most of them have not only attended the ceremonies but have their own collections of awards they have won from the prestigious institution: Both Dave Grohl and Alicia have won a jaw-dropping 15 Grammys over the years followed by Daft Punk and the Weeknd who have a respectable eight Grammys between them (six for Daft Punk, two for The Weeknd).
Though there is an incredible line-up of performers and collaborations set for the 59th annual Grammy Awards some artists are choosing to boycott the ceremonies altogether.
Among the artists boycotting includes Justin Bieber who is nominated for 4 Grammys, Drake with 8 nominations and Kanye West who also has 8 nominations. Frank Ocean who has also stated he would not attend. While the four all have their reasons to not attend the music awards; the artists have all raised questions both of the relevance the ceremony today as well as if individual artists and demographics are being continually underrepresented by the nomination and screening processes.
Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and the Times are a few of the publications that have charted Frank Ocean’s 2016 album, Blonde, as one of best music album of 2016. However, Ocean has decided not only how would not attend the ceremony but also did not even submit his record for consideration. The rapper says “That institution certainly has nostalgic importance. It just doesn’t seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down. I think the infrastructure of the awarding system and the nomination system and screening system is dated. I’d rather this be my Colin Kaepernick moment for the Grammys than sit there in the audience.”
West has about 21 Grammys to his name but also has said he felt he wasn’t being considered equally and that every time he is pitted against a white artist, he ends up losing.
UDPATE 2/4: Dave Grohl no longer performing with ATQC + Anderson .Paak:
In an exciting announcement earlier this week it was revealed that Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl would be collaborating with Anderson .Paak and A Tribe Called Quest at the upcoming 59th annual Grammy Awards. However, in a disappointing turn of events; the Recording Academy has now announced that Grohl will not take part in the performance after all.
The Recording Academy released a statement on Thursday, Feb 2nd on behalf of themselves as well as AEG Ehrlich Productions apologizing for the “premature” announcement and offering their apologies for the misinformation.
“Earlier this week, we announced that Dave Grohl would be performing with Anderson .Paak and A Tribe Called Quest prior to confirming all participants. Dave Grohl will not be part of this performance. Unfortunately, our announcement was made prematurely. On behalf of The Recording Academy and AEG Ehrlich Productions, we sincerely apologize to all parties involved for our error.”
The 2017 Grammys will be broadcasted live from Los Angeles’ Staples Center at 8 p.m. and though Grohl is as of now NOT performing with A Tribe Called Quest (unless he changes his mind when he sees the positive reaction the initial announcement received and holds a “surprise” performance) Daft Punk is still scheduled to play their first live gig in three years.
Leave a Comment