Grammys to partner with Berklee, ASU for study on women
FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2017, file photo, various Grammy Awards are displayed at the Grammy Museum Experience at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The Recording Academy is partnering with Berklee College of Music and Arizona State University to complete a study focused on women's representation in the music industry.. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)NEW YORK โ The Recording Academy is partnering with Berklee College of Music and Arizona State University to complete a study focused on women's representation in the music industry. The organization says the data it collects โwill be utilized to develop and empower the next generation of women music creators." The Grammys have been criticized over the years for awarding and nominating more men than women.
Jhene Aiko to host Grammy Award premiere ceremony
FILE - Singer Jhene Aiko poses for a portrait on Dec. 7, 2020, in Los Angeles. Aiko will host the 63rd GRAMMY Awards on March 14. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)LOS ANGELES โ Jhene Aiko will take on hosting duties at the Grammy Awards premiere ceremony this month. The Recording Academy announced Tuesday that the Grammy-nominated singer will host the pre-show, where most trophies are awarded. The Grammys will be held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center.
Grammy Awards shift to March due to pandemic conditions
FILE - The red carpet appears prior to the start of the 62nd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 26, 2020. The step comes some five months after the Academy made changes to several Grammy Awards categories, including renaming the best urban contemporary album category as best progressive R&B album. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK โ The 2021 Grammy Awards will no longer take place this month in Los Angeles and will broadcast in March due to a recent surge in coronavirus cases and deaths. Beyoncรฉโs โBlack Is King," which aired on Disney+, is nominated for best music film while โBrown Skin Girl,โ a song dedicated to dark- and brown-skinned women, is nominated for best music video. The BET Awards was the first major awards show during the pandemic and was a success thanks to its artsy, highly produced, well-crafted pre-taped performances.
The Weeknd criticizes Grammys over nominations snub
He said music from his fifth studio album โChangesโ was wrongly viewed as a pop album, rather than an R&B project. โI set out to make an R&B album,โ he wrote on Instagram. It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album, which is very strange to me.โBieber was nominated in the categories for best pop solo performance, best pop duo/group performance, best pop vocal album and best country duo/group performance. The singer said he loves pop music, but he wants to be respected for his work. โI grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound,โ he said.
BTS, Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa react to Grammy noms
Oh my God.โ โ Megan Thee Stallion, during a livestream after the Recording Academy president and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told the Houston-based rapper about her nominations. โโOhhhhh I need a bad (explicit) Grammy date.โ โ Freddie Gibbs, whose album โAlfredoโ is nominated for best rap album, said on Twitter. โโYouโre joking,โ โ a teary-eyed Dua Lipa, nominated six times including for album, record and song of the year, said during a livestream. Her album โLady Likeโ is nominated for best country album, while โMore Hearts Than Mineโ featuring Sam Ellis and Derrick Southerland is up for best country song. !โ โ Billy Ray Cyrus, the father of Noah Cyrus, who is nominated for best new artist, said on Instagram.
A 'Black Parade' Grammys: Beyoncรฉ leads with 9 nominations
NEW YORK โ Beyoncรฉ is bringing her Black parade to the Grammys: The pop starโs anthem about Black pride scored multiple nominations Tuesday, making her the leading contender with nine. A winner of 24 Grammys, Beyoncรฉ becomes the second-most nominated act in the history of the awards show with 79 nominations. Beyoncรฉ is only behind her husband Jay-Z and Quincy Jones, who have both earned 80 nominations each. Jay-Z picked up three nominations this year for his contributions to Beyoncรฉโs songs: He co-wrote โBlack Paradeโ and โSavage,โ thus earning nominations for song of the year, best R&B song and best rap song. Instead, multiple nominations went to Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch, who each earned six nominations and followed Beyoncรฉ as the second-most nominated acts.
Seeking inclusion, Grammys change name of a music category
NEW YORK โ The Grammy Awards have changed the name of their best world music album category to the best global music album, an attempt to find โa more relevant, modern and inclusive term.โThe Recording Academy said in a statement that the new name โsymbolizes a departure from the connotations of colonialism, folk and โnon-Americanโ that the former term embodied.โโAs we continue to embrace a truly global mindset, we update our language to reflect a more appropriate categorization that seeks to engage and celebrate the current scope of music from around the world," the statement said. The step comes some five months after the Academy made changes to several Grammy Awards categories, including renaming the best urban contemporary album category to best progressive R&B album. It also follows a similar recent step made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which changed the name of its best foreign language film Oscar to best international feature film. In the last few years, the winners of the now-global music album category include Angelique Kidjo's โCelia,โ Soweto Gospel Choir's โFreedomโ and Ladysmith Black Mambazo's โShaka Zulu Revisited.โThe Academy said the newly named category โwill continue to provide a home for influential music from all parts of the globe yet bringing with it a fresh perspective fueled by authenticity, diversity and direct inclusion into our process."
Romance song master Armando Manzanero has more music to give
At 84, the Mexican master of romantic music, who has penned Spanish classics such as โSomos Noviosโ and โContigo Aprendรญโ, is still working the tunes on his piano. The Latin Grammy-winner was also celebrated for his career in 2010 by the Latin Recording Academy. MANZANERO: I am the proudest about still having to sing โAdoro,โ โSomos Novios,โ โPor Debajo de la Mesaโ when I go out to work. MANZANERO: When you talk about Angรฉlica Marรญa, you are talking about an eternal character. MANZANERO: I carry the flag of the best music in the world, the most beautiful music, and I am not the one who created it.
GRAMMY Awards Rename 'Best Urban Contemporary Album' Category
The Recording Academy announced on Wednesday that they've voted to rename four categories ahead of the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. The first of the categories to change is Best Urban Contemporary Album, an award that Lizzo won at this year's ceremony for her album, Cuz I Love You. The category will now be known as Best Progressive R&B Album in an effort to "appropriately categorize and describe this subgenre." The Latin Pop Album and Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album categories are also getting an update, and will now be known as Best Latin Pop or Urban Album and Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, respectively. Watch the video below to see some of the best moments from this year's GRAMMY Awards.