The joy of music returns for Grammy winners, performers
Beyonce, left, and Megan Thee Stallion accept the award for best rap song for "Savage" at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday, March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish made history at the Grammy Awards. Just as joyously, dozens of creators largely sidelined for a year due to the pandemic got to make music again. 's topical “I Can't Breathe” won song of the year and Megan Thee Stallion was named best new artist. Further crowding the family trophy case is husband Jay-Z, whose songwriting on “Savage” earned him his 23rd Grammy on Sunday, and even their 9-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, who won best music video together with mom.
Grammys' in memoriam especially long, grim in pandemic year
Brandi Carlile performs during the "In Memoriam" section of the 63rd Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)LOS ANGELES – Brandi Carlile paid tribute to John Prine, Bruno Mars celebrated Little Richard and Lionel Richie honored Kenny Rogers during an in memoriam segment on Sunday night's Grammy Awards that featured an especially long list of names after a year of the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier Sunday, Prine won two posthumous Grammys for best American roots song and best American roots performance, a year after receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys. Carlile told The Associated Press that it didn't bother her to be performing without an audience at the pandemic-restricted Grammys because "this time I’m just performing for John Prine. Corea, who died of a rare form of cancer at age 79, won the trophy for best improvised jazz solo and best jazz instrumental album.
The Latest: Billie Eilish wins record of the year at Grammys
Billie Eilish arrives at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday, March 14, 2021. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)NEW YORK – The Latest on the Grammy Awards (all times local):8:45 p.m.Billie Eillish has won the Grammy Award for record of the year for the second straight year. Beyoncé broke the record with her victory Sunday night for best R&B performance for “Black Parade,” surpassing the 27 Grammys won by Alison Krauss. DaBaby says he “feels like it’s going to touch everybody.”Ad— Marcela Isaza at the Grammy Awards (@misaza)___3:15 p.m.Brandi Carlile is excited to perform at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, even if there isn’t an audience. “Jojo Rabbit” and the “Joker” soundtrack also won Grammys in the segment of the show that awarded music created for visual media.
Most Popular 2020 Music Stories in the Houston Press
The pandemic dealt a crucial blow to music in Houston and around the world in 2020. Photo by Houston Livestock Show and RodeoStar Entertainer Lineup at RodeoHoustonIt was all systems go when the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced its Star Entertainer Lineup in January. Ian Shultis as Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle in Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash. Blue October was going to headline Mardi Gras Galveston 2020 Photo by Abel LongoriaBlue October and Bowling for Soup and Mardi Gras GalvestonMardi Gras Galveston 2020 was all set. Talking Heads at the Esmerelda Theater, NYC, 1978: Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz, David Byrne, and Tina Weymouth Photo and copyright by Ebet Roberts/Courtesy of St. Martin's PressChris Frantz Remembers Talking Heads and TinaLocalCommunityJournalismI Support Support the independent voice of Houston and help keep the future of Houston Press free.
houstonpress.comTrailblazer Charley Pride to get lifetime achievement award
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Trailblazing country music star Charley Pride will get a lifetime achievement award at the CMA Awards in November. 1 hits between the 1960s and 1980s, with songs like “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'” and “Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone.”Pride, 82, will accept the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award on the CMA Awards on Nov. 11 on ABC. Pride was named CMA Entertainer of the year in 1971 and won male artist of the year in 1971 and 1972. He has three Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. Other recipients of the award include Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Kris Kristofferson.
Country star and hit Elvis songwriter Mac Davis dies at 78
FILE - Musician Mac Davis performs at the Texas Film Awards in Austin, Texas on March 6, 2014. Davis, a country star and Elvis songwriter, died on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020 after heart surgery. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP, File)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Country star Mac Davis, who launched his career crafting the Elvis hits “A Little Less Conversation” and “In the Ghetto,” and whose own hits include “Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me,” has died. He was named 1974’s entertainer of the year by the Academy of Country Music and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “A small town boy who’d achieved the greatest kinds of fame, he remained a good guy, a family man,” said country star Kenny Chesney.
Country's night to party sobers up amid pandemic
This combination photo shows, from left, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood, nominees for entertainer of the year at the 55th ACM Awards. (AP Photo)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a pre-pandemic world, the Academy of Country Music Awards advertised itself as country music’s night to party with gambling, after-parties and a Las Vegas-style attitude. This year the red carpet, crowds and gambling are all r eplaced with COVID-19 tests, temperature checks and face masks. Swift, who makes her first return to the ACM stage in seven years, was the last female artist to win ACM entertainer of the year in 2011. “I certainly believe that she’s been an entertainer of all entertainers and brought so much grace and class and elegance to country music,” said Bryan.
When the Chronicle took notice of Kenny Rogers
When the Chronicle took notice of Kenny Rogers1987: Kenny Rogers at the Summit. 1987: Kenny Rogers at the Summit. Photo: Ben DeSoto, Houston Chronicle Photo: Ben DeSoto, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close When the Chronicle took notice of Kenny Rogers 1 / 18 Back to GalleryBefore The Gambler, way before Islands in the Stream and before the First Edition, Kenny Rogers was a Jeff Davis graduate attending classes at the University of Houston. But by March 17, 1958, the Chronicle recognized that Rogers was going places. The following month, Rogers, who died Friday at the age of 81, signed autographs at J.J. Newberrys at Gulfgate.
chron.comHouston Native and Music Megastar Kenny Rogers Dies at 81
The Houston Press Chris Gray wrote a more detailed piece on Kenny Rogers Houston in 2017. If you only get one Kenny Rogers album, it's this compilation. He even turned restaurateur at-least-in-name with a nationwide chain of Kenny Rogers Roasters stores that became the plot of a memorable episode of Seinfeld. He also found a passion for photography. It came to Houston in 2016 at the Stafford Centre, and a year later to the Redneck Country Club. "Coincidentally, the A&E network will premiere Kenny Rogers: A Biography on April 13.
houstonpress.comCountry singer Kenny Rogers to be honored in Country Music Hall of Fame
Country singer Kenny Rogers to be honored in Country Music Hall of Fame Kenny Rogers will be honored with an exhibit in Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame starting next month. The performer, who has sold more than 100 million records, joins the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts.
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