THE 67TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

While music was the main focus of the 67th annual Grammy Awards, the wildfires that recently devastated the Los Angeles area was a top priority for the ceremony. Throughout the show, fundraising was being done for the California Fire Relief Fund, asking for donations to help. The evening began with the band, Dawes, an LA based, folk rock duo who lost their homes and recording studio in the fires, performing a version of Randy Newman's "I Love LA" with an all-star backing band that included John Legend, St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley and Brittany Howard. Later in the show, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga paid tribute to Los Angeles with their take on the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreaming". Comedian, Trevor Noah returned for the fifth consecutive time to serve as host and continued to deliver a feel-good mood and light humor to the show.

As it has been stated before on previous Grammys, some of the highlights on the show were moments you would not see anywhere else. Surprisingly for the very first time, all the nominees for Best New Artist performed live on the show with the psychedelic rock trio, Khruangbin, pop vocalists, Benson Boone, Raye and Teddy Swims, hip-hop country artist, Shaboozey and rising rapper, Doechii (who put on an amazing set and won Best Rap Album, for her mixtape, "Alligator Bites Never Heal" earlier), with each displaying exactly why they were nominated. Fellow nominees in this category, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan had their own big production showcases as they were two of the biggest acts from last year. And Charli XCX brought the rave scene to the Grammys with a kinetic performance of "Von Dutch" and "Guess".

A starry tribute to the late Quincy Jones, who passed away last year at ninety-one, with Will Smith providing commentary of the legendary producer who began in jazz and expanded to pop music with Cynthia Erivo along with Herbie Hancock doing a sensational version of "Fly Me To the Moon"; country singer, Lainey Wilson and jazz musician, Jacob Collier teamed up to perform the jump blues number, "Let the Good Times Roll"; Stevie Wonder played harmonica accompanied by Hancock on "Bluesette" and leads a version of "We Are The World" with backing by Los Angeles students who lost their school in the fires and Janelle Monáe throwing down with a thrilling version of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".

The Recording Academy President, Harvey Mason Jr. came out to speak on the changes the Grammys have done to diversify and expand the group after The Weeknd had publicly criticized the awards for the lack of transparency in the award selection process and stated he would boycott the ceremony. And to prove that he accepted the efforts made to improve the Grammys, The Weeknd came out to perform his new song, "Cry For Me", followed by "Timeless" along with rapper Playboi Carti.

Female artists dominated the nominations this year so it's no surprise that they walked away with a majority of awards handed out. And it was these musicians that made some important and memorable statements about the vulnerable and marginalized during their moment in the spotlight. During her acceptance speech for winning Best New Artist, Chappell Roan took the opportunity to call out record labels to support developing artists with livable wages and health care, explaining the struggles she went through having no skills to fall back on after being dropped from her label. Lady Gaga continued her unwavering support of the trans community when she received Best Pop Duo or Group with Bruno Mars. Alicia Keys was the recipient of this year's Dr. Dre Global Impact Award,  delivering a moving speech that drove home the point of the importance of female creatives being recognized for their contributions (and name checked several) and to fight back against shutting down the diversity in music, proclaiming rightly that DEI is not a threat but a gift.

The only male artist who received a major award was Kendrick Lamar for his popular diss track targeting his former friend, Canadian rapper Drake, "Not Like Us" who took home Song of the Year and Record of the Year and winning a total of five Grammys.

And Beyoncé, presented by members of the Los Angeles Fire Department, finally received Album of the Year for her country music concept album, "Cowboy Carter".  After being snubbed by the Country Music Association, she was visibly stunned to receive the Best Country Album award earlier in the evening. So by the time of the final award of the night, Beyoncé, who became only the fourth Black female to receive this prize, appeared to be a bit overwhelmed yet managed to thank the fire fighters, acknowledge one of the first yet slighted African-American country singers, Linda Martell, slyly implying that the prize was long overdue and encouraged artists to keep pushing forward. And while I wouldn't say that "Cowboy Carter" was my favorite out of her eight solo studio albums to date, Beyoncé continues to boldly experiment, not willing to settle for the expected and unafraid to be a little weird. This alone makes "Cowboy Carter" the album of the year.

Here is a partial list of the winners from the 2025 Grammys:

Album of the Year: "Cowboy Carter" – Beyoncé
Record of the Year: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar
Song of the Year: "Not Like Us" – Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)
Best New Artist: Chappell Roan
Best Pop Vocal Album: "Short n' Sweet" — Sabrina Carpenter
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Espresso" — Sabrina Carpenter
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Visions" — Norah Jones
Best Dance/Electronic Album: "Brat" — Charli XCX
Best Dance/Electronic Recording: "Neverender" — Justice & Tame Impala
Best Dance Pop Recording: "Von Dutch" — Charli XCX
Best Rap Album: "Alligator Bites Never Heal" — Doechii
Best Rap Performance: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar
Best Melodic Rap Performance: "3" — Rapsody Featuring Erykah Badu
Best Rap Song: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)
Best R&B Album: "11:11 (Deluxe)" — Chris Brown
Best Progressive R&B Album: "So Glad to Know You" — Avery*Sunshine and "Why Lawd?" — NxWorries (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge) (Tie)
Best R&B Performance: "Made For Me (Live On BET)" — Muni Long
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "That's You" — Lucky Daye
Best R&B Song: "Saturn" — Rob Bisel, Cian Ducrot, Carter Lang, Solána Rowe, Jared Solomon & Scott Zhang, songwriters (SZA)
Best Rock Album: "Hackney Diamonds" — The Rolling Stones
Best Rock Performance: "Now and Then" — The Beatles
Best Rock Song: "Broken Man" — Annie Clark, songwriter (St. Vincent)
Best Alternative Music Album: "All Born Screaming" — St. Vincent
Best Alternative Music Performance: "Flea" — St. Vincent
Best Gospel Album: "More Than This" — CeCe Winans
Best Country Album: "Cowboy Carter" — Beyoncé
Best Country Solo Performance: "It Takes A Woman" — Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "II MOST WANTED" — Beyoncé Featuring Miley Cyrus
Best Country Song: "The Architect" — Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
Best Latin Pop Album: "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran" — Shakira
Best Jazz Album: "A Joyful Holiday" — Samara Joy
Best Comedy Album: "The Dreamer" — Dave Chappelle
Best Musical Theater Album: "Hell’s Kitchen (Original Broadway Cast)" 

Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording: "Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration" — Jimmy Carter
Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: "Maestro: Music By Leonard Bernstein"
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television): "Dune: Part Two" — Hans Zimmer, composer
Best Song Written For Visual Media: "It Never Went Away" [From "American Symphony"] — Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
Best Music Video: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar
Best Music Film: "American Symphony" 

Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical): Amy Allen
Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical): Daniel Nigro

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM . . .

ALICIA KEYS

Alicia Keys has been delivering her blend of piano-driven, classic soul with hip-hop beats since the turn of this century. And now Keys brings her distinctive style to her very first Christmas album, "Santa Baby", released through her own label, Alicia Keys Records and available exclusively through Apple Music. This collection is made up of seven covers of holiday standards (including her version of the title track first made famous by the legendary Eartha Kitt in 1953) and four original compositions written or co-written by the artist. Keys has created a warm and smooth soulful vibe with this album, a very fine addition to the ever expanding options available in Christmas music. Enjoy the first single and video of the original tune, "December Back 2 June" and her stylish version of the title track:

JOSS STONE

Joss Stone began her professional music career at the tender age of sixteen with the 2003 release of "The Soul Sessions", an album of soul song covers that had became popular long before she was even born. What made this acclaimed record (and Stone) so impressive is how this young blonde Brit was able to dig down deep to convey the passion of these songs, possessing a voice that was convincingly mature and soulful. Yet despite this dazzling debut, she surprisingly did not become a major presence in pop music. But the gifted Stone went on to continuously release new music that effectively brought back a feeling of vintage r&b. With "Merry Christmas, Love", the now thirty-five year old artist delivers a yuletide collection that features plenty of traditional holiday classics plus two new songs; "If You Believe" and "Bring on Christmas Day" that are both written by Stone. The first release from the album is "What Christmas Means To Me", Stone's take on the song that first appeared on Stevie Wonder's Christmas album back in 1967 and we have the live version of "Bring on Christmas Day":

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

The US Supreme Court's recent overturning of Roe V. Wade has left many Americans frustrated and angry. This disturbing turn of events has inspired many artists to creatively express their feelings about this decision, some through music. Pink had tweeted strongly worded opinions regarding this reversal of abortion rights, then was told by some online trolls to just "shut-up and sing". So the singer promptly went and did just that, writing "Irrelevant" with Ian Fitchuk who produced the track. This protest song pushes back against people telling her that as a woman or entertainer, her thoughts and opinions are not important and feels she has every right to be heard. The music video for "Irrelevant" visually displays various protests from many different movements, ranging from civil rights, LGBTQ, #MeToo as well as a call to end gun violence.

Billie Eilish was in the middle of her world tour in support of her second album, "Happier Than Ever", performing in Manchester, England when she received word of the Supreme Court's decision. She had debuted a new song, "TV" during the concert, which had been written with her brother, Finneas O'Connell. They had written part of the song earlier and after Roe V. Wade was overturned, "TV" was completed to include their distressed thoughts about what has happened to women's rights. The song was recorded along with another new track, "The 30th" but instead of waiting until the next album, they were promptly released as an EP, "Guitar Songs".



Here is a collection of some new music from some of my favorite artists:

And a tribute to William "Poogie" Hart, the smooth lead vocalist for the soul group, The Delfonics who has passed away on July 14th at the age of seventy-seven. With his brother, Wilbert Hart and Randy Cain, the trio enjoyed their biggest success during the late 1960's and early 1970's with the hit singles, "La-La (Means I Love You)", "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)". Founding member "Poogie" Hart (who had co-written many of the band's songs with their producer, Thom Bell, one of the creators of the "Philadelphia soul" sound) had continued performing with The Delfonics over the years, most recently in 2020.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

The musical sounds of FKA Twigs have always been ethereal and progressive, merging smooth r&b with hard-edged electronic beats. The British artist, born Tahliah Barnett, has been working on a follow-up to her critically acclaimed second studio album, "Magdalene" from 2019 but the pandemic and some acting (she appeared in "Honey Boy", the drama written by actor, Shia LaBeouf that was based on his life as a child actor) created some delay. But now FKA Twigs has released two new songs; "Tears in the Club", a sensuous alt-soul track that features The Weeknd and "Measure of a Man" for the soundtrack of the upcoming film, "The King’s Man" which includes a rap interlude by Central Cee. "Tears" is the first track from her upcoming EP, "Capri Sun" due out early next year. The music video for the song features surreal imagery and slick choreography by Sean Bankhead. And "Measure of a Man" moves in a different direction, delivering the dramatic flair of a James Bond theme song.

For her eighth studio album, Alicia Keys has created a concept album called "Keys". This two-disc collection features on one side, "Originals" which Keys says features her "classic side" while the other, "Unlocked" has another "sonic experience" with some of the same songs. Keys co-wrote and produced the ten originals songs, then enlisted some top writers/producers like Mike Will Made It, Sia, Raphael Saadiq and husband, Swizz Beatz along with appearances by a few musical collaborators, Khalid, Lil Wayne, Pusha T, Swae Lee and Brandi Carlile to work on the other side. There are also six additional songs found on both sides. This an ambitious and exciting work by a incredibly gifted performer. Here is a short clip that visually highlights songs from the album and the "original" single, "Best of Me" which contains a sample of "Cherish The Day" by Sade.





Words can not properly express how much I miss Whitney Houston who I think remains one of the greatest vocalists ever in pop music. With the Christmas holiday approaching, here is a rare, live rendition of Houston's version of "Do You Hear What I Here" to help put you in the proper spirit. She originally recorded this song in 1987 for the first "A Very Special Christmas", a compilation album by the hottest pop stars of the day with the proceeds to benefit the Special Olympics. Houston made an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in 1990 and performed this song.

2021 VMAS

It was forty years ago this year that MTV was launched and delivered to the world the music video, a perfect blend of energized visuals with hard-driving music that completely changed how we were exposed to new songs. I was drawn to the channel immediately as it combined my great love of cinema and music and I would spend as much time as I possibly could watching my MTV. There is no denying MTV helped create pop stars, aiding these musicians by promoting their songs through the rotation of their videos which also defined these performers with a distinctive image. Sure, some of these artists probably would have been fine without the music channel but there is no doubt that many were able to achieve incredible global success with the far-reaching assistance of MTV.

The 2021 Video Music Awards celebrates the legacy of MTV and while the channel doesn't really show these clips anymore, they still enthusiastically honor the artistry behind the music video. Held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Doja Cat was this year's host and while she might be one of the hottest pop acts at the moment, the singer didn't leave much of an impact. As a host, she was barely on stage, didn't say anything meaningful and never made much of an impression beyond her progressively weird outfits (which included some sort of worm-like contraption and a literal chair on her head). Even Madonna, who showed up just to kick off the show, was able to make more of a significant impression in her brief appearance where the still rebellious sixty-three year old highlighted her completely covered yet fully exposed, oddly enhanced backside.

And the Queen of Pop was just one of several musical artists from MTV's glory days that appeared throughout the evening to present awards. There was Madonna's "rival", Cyndi Lauper; Tommy Lee of the metal band, Motley Crew; AJ McLean of Backstreet Boys, Lance Bass of N'Sync and Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees who represented the "Boy Band" era and the still very witty, David Lee Roth of Van Halen. Busta Rhymes appeared on the show (along with his hype-man, Spliff Star) to do a melody of many of his hits from the '90's and '00's but the hip-hop legend was largely out-of-breath and low-energy.

Even though Nicki Minaj and Lorde (due to a "change in production elements") decided to drop out at the last moment, there were still plenty of big names that turned up live on stage. Some highlights included Justin Bieber appearing with The Kid Laroi to do their hit, "Stay" and then Biebs did his newest single, "Ghosts"; Ed Sheeran took to a stage at the Brooklyn Bridge Park to deliver his latest single, "Shivers"; lovebirds, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes appeared separately to perform their songs, "Don't Go Yet" and "Summer of Love" respectively; and our host, Doja Cat had to get on stage, doing a mash-up of "Been Like This" and "You Right" while soaring high above the audience in the air. A few of my favorite appearances included a fierce Chlöe performing (without her sister, Halle) her first solo song, "Have Mercy"; Normani bringing her hit, "Wild Life" to life with a sizzling performance; Kacey Musgraves brought a touch of country-pop while encircled by a ring of fire with the title track of her new album, "Star-Crossed" and the always welcome, Alicia Keys delivering a new song and a tribute to New York City with "Empire State of Mind". And Global Icon Award winners, Foo Fighters did a roaring set of their songs that reminded us that rock & roll is far from dead.

As for the awards, Lil Nas X and Olivia Rodrigo were the big winners of the night, each receiving three awards with Rodrigo winning Song of the Year for "Drivers License" and Best New Artist while Nas took the big Video of the Year award for his controversial clip, "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)". These young entertainers each had a moment on the show to make their presence felt with big, splashy production numbers surrounded by a small army of dancers. But this was were their inexperience as live performers came in to sharp focus. Nas and Rodrigo both looked slightly uncomfortable on stage while struggling to stand out from their massive productions.

This points out a glaring problem with some of today's musicians who manage to get a hit record yet never paid any dues by learning to perform their music in front of an audience. Lil Nas X and Ms Rodrigo are appealing pop stars and have made some great records but are they artists that will still be around in ten years? Five years? No one really knows as talent alone is not necessarily enough to keep people interested. Yet I think the era of "American Idol" insta-pop-stars has done a great disservice to young singers who think skipping much of the long, hard work involved and jumping straight to fame is enough to maintain a career.

NEW SOUNDS

I have always had a take or leave attitude towards Miley Cyrus, usually leave in most cases. However with the recently dropped single from the twenty-seven year old performer, "Midnight Sky", I really loved the song after the first listen. This sparkling dance-pop track utilizes classic disco (and samples "Edge of Seventeen" from Stevie Nicks) to tell a story about finding inner strength and self-love through challenging times. This is the first single from "She is Miley Cyrus", the long-delayed seventh studio album from the singer which had been postponed due to some personal struggles including her marriage and separation with actor, Liam Hemsworth and the shutdown of the world due to the Coronavirus. There is no exact release date yet for the album.



While Dua Lipa's latest album, "Future Nostalgia" was already dance-floor ready, the British singer decided to take it up another notch. And that has lead to "Club Future Nostalgia", a remix collection of songs from the record that takes them in some interesting new directions. This mixtape forges 1990's house with 2020 pop music and a splash of 1980's soul. The first single released is "Levitating" which was remixed by the DJ, The Blessed Madonna and features Missy Elliott and the Queen of Pop, Madonna. It's been revealed that Mark Ronson will take on the song, "Physical" with Gwen Stefani but no additional info on other tracks has been made available at this time. But the album will be out on August 28th.



Alicia Keys has released another song from her forthcoming album simply called, "Alicia". "So Gone" is a guitar-driven ballad that teams the singer with the young alt-r&b artist, Khalid which results in a thrilling meeting of classic and contemporary soul. I love the music video which features actress, Sasha Lane. The clip, which takes place at a prom with Keys and Khalid as the live entertainment, humorously looks at our youth's obsession with their phones and creating social media content instead of interacting with the people right next to them.



Finally we have another generational musical pairing but this time in country music. The rising alt-country artist from Canada, Orville Peck comes together with fellow Canadian, the legendary, Shaina Twain on the new song, "Legends Never Die". This is the latest track from Peck's recently released EP, "Show Pony" which pays tribute to the style of country music he grew-up listening to and also features a cover of Bobbie Gentry's 1970 classic, "Fancy". The music video cleverly uses social distancing with Peck and Twain performing the song at a drive-in. I love seeing these two over-the-top performers, who never fitted comfortably in the traditional country music format, come together on this great track.

THE TIMES ARE A' CHANGING

Everything that has been going on over the last few months has certainly proven to be difficult with so much upheaval and complicated challenges all occurring at the same time. We will get through this but what will happen down the road remains the big question. After all of the protests and activism, will there be real change for African-Americans and other marginalized people in this country? I am hopeful and optimistic as this feels different this time with people from across the entire globe standing in support of the idea that Black lives matter. Yet I also remain skeptical. Movements have come and gone in the past with minimal change and a continuing lack of meaningful conversation regarding the history and on-going plight of African-Americans in this nation.

One thing that comes from any movement is an inspiration to create art. This work comes in all forms to speak on the times, express motivating objectives and provoke serious discussion. Here are a few recent songs that will help uplift, energize and empower in this fight towards justice:

SONGS FOR THE ISOLATED

As the world has been, most likely, irreparably changed due to this ongoing pandemic, it is no surprise that artists have are inspired by what is happening around them and have been creating. Staying at home, trapped with your thoughts on overdrive days on end, will certainly stir-up ideas. And these musicians are expressing the emotions that many, many people are definitely feeling right now. Some of these songs (including the remix of Megan Thee Stallion's latest song, "Stallion" with Beyoncé and Sia's moving ballad, "Saved My Life", co-written with Dua Lipa) have the proceeds going to COVID-19 relief funds which is incredibly important right now and will be needed long after the world has gone back to "normal". So here are a collection of songs and videos that have been created, modified or just simply released during this pandemic:

THE 62ND ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

With the messy scandal and controversy involving the Recording Academy and their now-ousted president along with the tragic and shocking passing of the legendary basketball star, Kobe Bryant and his teenage daughter, the 2020 Grammy Awards had a dark and heavy cloud to lift before the ceremony even began. But thankfully the show had host, Alicia Keys, appearing for the second time, to deliver a healing voice and positive energy to the somber audience. After asking everyone to hold Bryant in their hearts, she sang A cappella an incredibly moving version of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" along with Boyz ll Men who had a hit in 1991 with their cover.

The Grammys have always been about spectacle and big musical numbers and on that front, the show did not disappoint. Dedicating her performance to Kobe, Lizzo opened the show with the fiery ballad, "Cuz I Love You" and then put on display body positivity with an army of ballet dancers and her flute skills during her live version of "Truth Hurts".

Tyler The Creator may have started with a traditional r&b sound with assistance from Boyz ll Men and Charlie Wilson on "Earfquake" before he shifted to a lively punk/new wave energy while performing "New Magic Wand" with fellow bewigged blonde, male back-up dancers. And I loved his speech and his proud, teary-eyed mother who joined her son on stage to accept his win for Best Rap Album. Gary Clark Jr. brought fire and rage during his performance of "This Land", the title track of his Grammy-winning album which makes a compelling statement about his experience with racism in America.

I would have preferred to have seen less of Lil Nas X and his novelty country/rap hit, "Old Town Road" with his performance of the song extended beyond what was necessary with K-pop group, BTS, YouTube sensation, Mason Ramsey, DJ/producer, Diplo and Billy Ray Cyrus all brought on stage to join him. Aerosmith, the legendary rock group who received this year's MusiCares Person Of The Year award, struggled to bring vigorous life to their time on stage even with Run DMC joining them on their shared hit, "Walk This Way". The odd couple, country star, Blake Shelton and pop-punk singer, Gwen Stefani may have looked truly in love but their ballad, "Nobody But You" lacked actual passion.

And to promote an upcoming Grammy special to celebrate the music of Prince, Usher appeared to perform a number of the late funk master's songs. While he did a fair job on "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry" and "Kiss", FKA Twigs. a Grammy nominee this year, joined him on stage but was shamefully regulated simply as a back-up dancer. This British pop-art performer should have definitely been given an opportunity to have done at least one song, perhaps bringing a more intriguing spin to this tribute to the Purple One.

But the highlights for me were the small yet emotional moments like Tanya Tucker, accompanied by Brandi Carlile, bringing depth and grit with her comeback country single, "Bring My Flowers Now"; Camila Cabello had nearly everyone in tears with the touching ballad, "First Man", dedicated to her father which she sang directly to him and Demi Lovato, who delivered a powerhouse vocal on "Anyone" , a heartbreaking song about her struggles with addiction, yet was so overcome before she even began that she had to start over.

And our fifteen time Grammy-winning host did not let anyone forget that she's still a vital musical artist. Early in the evening, Keys did an original song using the melody of Lewis Capaldi's hit, "Someone You Loved" which she name-checked some of the musicians who made an impact last year before returning later to perform her new single, "Underdog" which had Britney Howard joining her with a too short appearance on guitar.

Billie Eilish was the big winner of the evening, taking all four of the major categories with the eighteen year old being only the second artist ever to accomplish this feat (Christopher Cross was the first back in 1981). And Eilish surprised everyone with her low-key performance on the show by showing off her vocals with the ballad, "When The Party's Over" instead of the more expected frenetic energy we usually see from the artist.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 62nd annual Grammy Awards:

Album of the Year: Billie Eilish, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?"
Record of the Year: Billie Eilish, "Bad Guy"
Song of the Year: "Bad Guy" - Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O'Connell; songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Best New Artist: Billie Eilish
Best Pop Vocal Album: Billie Eilish, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?"
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Elvis Costello & The Imposters, "Look Now"
Best Pop Solo Performance: Lizzo, "Truth Hurts"
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus, "Old Town Road"
Best Rap Album: Tyler the Creator, "Igor"
Best Rap Song: "A Lot" - Jermaine Cole, Dacoury Natche, 21 Savage & Anthony White; songwriters (21 Savage featuring J. Cole)
Best Rap Performance: Nipsey Hussle featuring Roddy Ricch & Hit-Bo, "Racks in the Middle"
Best Rap/Sung Performance: DJ Khaled featuring Nipsey Hussle and John Legend, "Higher"
Best R&B Album: Anderson .Paak, "Ventura"
Best Urban Contemporary Album: Lizzo, "Cuz I Love You (Deluxe)"
Best R&B Song: "Say So" — Pj Morton; songwriter (Pj Morton Featuring Jojo)
Best R&B Performance: Anderson .Paak & André 300, "Come Home"
Best Traditional R&B Performance: Lizzo, "Jerome"
Best Rock Album: Cage The Elephant, "Social Cues"
Best Rock Song: "This Land" — Gary Clark Jr.; songwriter (Gary Clark Jr.) Best Rock Performance: Best Rock Solo Performance: Gary Clark Jr., "This Land"
Best Country Album: Tanya Tucker, "While I'm Livin'"
Best Country Song: "Bring My Flowers Now" - Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth and Tanya Tucker; songwriters (Tanya Tucker)
Best Country Solo Performance: Willie Nelson, "Ride Me Back Home"
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: Dan + Shay, "Speechless"
Best Comedy Album: Dave Chapelle, "Sticks & Stones"
Best Dance/Electronic Album: The Chemical Brothers, "No Geography"
Best Dance Recording: The Chemical Brothers, "Got To Keep On"
Best Music Video: Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, "Old Town Road (Official Movie)"
Best Music Film: Beyoncé, "Homecoming"
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, "A Star Is Born"
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: Hildur Guðnadóttir, "Chernobyl"
Best Song Written for Visual Media: "I’ll Never Love Again" - (Film Version), Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Aaron Raitiere (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born)
Best Remixed Recording: "I Rise (Tracy Young’s Pride Intro Radio Remix)" - Tracy Young (Madonna)
Best Instrumental Composition: "Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Symphonic Suite" — John Williams; composer (John Williams)
Best Spoken Word Album (includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling): Michelle Obama, "Becoming"
Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical): Finneas O'Connell

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

One name that was unexpected to hear during the announcement at this year's Grammy Award nominations was Tanya Tucker. Professionally singing since she was thirteen, the now sixty-one year old country music legend has had plenty of ups and downs throughout her career. But she has received plenty of praise and attention with her twenty-fifth album, "While I'm Livin'" with it receiving four nominations including Song of The Year. It has been over fifteen years since Tucker's last studio record of original material with musicians, Shooter Jennings and Brandi Carlile (who had her own career breakthrough after her Grammy nominations in 2018) stepping in to produce. Carlile, a hard-core Tucker fan, wrote a majority of the album with Tim and Phil Hanseroth while three songs are covers including Miranda Lambert's 2010 hit, "The House That Built Me". My favorite track is the nominated, moving ballad, "Bring My Flowers Now", where the album's title comes from, which focuses on appreciating your loved ones while they are still around to be appreciated.



Here are some videos of new music that I'm enjoying right now:

Alicia Keys, who will be hosting the 2020 Grammys this weekend for the second year in a row, has just dropped a new single. "Underdog" is an inspirational song that brings attention to the people out there struggling while offering encouragement to never giving up on their dreams. This is a powerful message that we really need to hear right now. This is the third single which delivers another preview of music from Keys' upcoming seventh album, "ALICIA" due out in March.

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC IN 2019

2019 seemed to highlight the further fragmenting of pop music with the growing emphasis on the song and less on the singer. In this Spotify generation, endless playlists filled with disconnected songs by a variety of artists have increasingly replaced a focused collection of work by a singer/songwriter with specific thoughts on life and love. Even the way music is created has moved back in time to the days when a factory of songwriters and producers put together a track and then find the right singer to fill in the rest. While it has become much more difficult for performers to maintain enduring careers after their initial burst of success, there were certainly some promising new artists who broke out and made fresh, memorable works last year who look like the real deal.

Here are a few more favorite songs that I didn't get chance to share previously throughout last year:

THE 61ST ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

What a difference a year makes.

Last year, Lorde was the only female nominated for Album Of The Year and the only spot she was offered on the show was being a part of the Tom Petty tribute (which she respectfully turned down). Now with The 2019 Grammy Awards, there were five female artists receiving a place in the Best Album category. And the fifteen-time Grammy winner, Alicia Keys was selected as the host of the telecast which is the first time a woman has done that in fourteen years. With this year's Grammys, women dominated the evening by delivering some of the most electrifying performances of the night while also receiving a fair share of the trophies handed out including the top prize of Album Of The Year.

Ms Keys proved to be a perfect host, bringing a positive energy and laid-back style to the event. She brought some excitement almost immediately when she brought out an impressive roster of powerful women to the stage; Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and the very missed, former First Lady, Michelle Obama who all shared the importance of music in their lives. Keys later in the program displayed why she won all those Grammys as she impressively played two pianos at the same time (which she acknowledged was in the style of jazz pianist, Hazel Scott) and performed a melody of her favorite old tunes (a tribute to birthday girl, Lauryn Hill) and new (Ella Mai's Grammy-winning hit, "Boo'd Up").

This year had a particularly strong line-up of musical performances that kicked off with Camilla Cabello celebrating Latin music in a lively production number of her hit, "Havana" with some help from Ricky Martin and J Balvin, which they ended the performance with his song, "Mi Gente". A tribute to Dolly Parton, who was this year's MusiCares honoree, was a respectable affair to the beloved country artist starting with Kacey Musgraves and Katy Perry doing a shaky version of "Here You Come Again". Parton, who seemed to take over this retrospective medley at this point, sang with Miley Cyrus for a cover of "Jolene"  before they were joined by Maren Morris for a beautiful rendition of "After The Gold Rush". Little Big Town came out to join Parton on a new song from the "Dumplin" soundtrack, "Red Shoes" before everyone took the stage to close with Dolly's biggest hit, "9 To 5".

Unlike Ms Parton, Diana Ross didn't need anyone's help to pay tribute to her career. With her proudly announcing she's celebrating her seventy-fifth birthday next month, the still quite stunning singer had the usually jaded industry crowd mesmerized as she did lively versions of "The Best Years of My Life" and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". Sure, she was a little pitchy but she still displayed why she has remained a musical legend.

Other highlights include Janelle Monáe tearing it up with a futuristic fembot staging of her songs, "Make Me Feel", "Django Jane" and "Pynk"; H.E.R. taking advantage of her first major television appearance and delivered a solid performance with "Hard Place"; Dua Lipa and St. Vincent bringing a sensual Sapphic vibe to a mash-up of their songs "One Kiss" and "Masseduction" while briefly shouting out Aretha in the middle and we had Andra Day, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia together to sing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" which I think was one of the best tributes for the Queen of Soul to date.

Cardi B had a very good night for her first time at the Grammys. She dazzled during a performance of "Money" in a Busby Berkeley styled production (with a few stripper moves added) before she was left almost uncharacteristically speechless after winning Best Rap Album which she became the first woman to take that prize.

My absolutely favorite moment of the night was when the sister act, Chloe X Halle did a perfectly harmonized version of Donny Hathaway (who was honored this year with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award) and Roberta Flack's "Where is The Love?" before presenting an award. It was stunning and way too short.

And that leads me to what I thought was the worst moment which was Jennifer Lopez doing a musical tribute for the 60th anniversary of Motown Records. I could have thought of many different ways to honor one of the first black-owned record labels that brought soul music to a worldwide audience and helped create respected African-American pop superstars but JLo and her high-flying, Vegas showgirl routine would not have been one of them. And no, the brief appearance by Motown legend, Smokey Robinson in the middle did not help.

While it was inspiring and long overdue in honoring so much female musical talent, I'm just hoping this is not some short-lived event for the Grammys. During her acceptance speech for Best New Artist, Dua Lipa reminded the audience of the words by the now-outgoing President of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow implying that female artists needed to "step up" in order to win the award that stirred a backlash last year. It may seem like this might be an overreaction to that uproar but it is important to recognize that in order to have diversity and inclusion, a conscious effort has to be made to ensure that can happen.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 2019 Grammy Awards:

Album of the Year: "Golden Hour" - Kacey Musgraves
Record of the Year: "This Is America" - Childish Gambino
Song of the Year: "This Is America" - Donald Glover and Ludwig Goransson, songwriters (Childish Gambino)
Best New Artist: Dua Lipa
Best Pop Vocal Album: "Sweetener" — Ariana Grande
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)" — Lady Gaga
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Shallow" — Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "My Way" — Willie Nelson
Best Rock Album: "From the Fires" — Greta Van Fleet
Best Rock Performance: "When Bad Does Good" — Chris Cornell
Best Rock Song: "Masseduction" — Jack Antonoff and Annie Clark, songwriters (St. Vincent)
Best Alternative Music Album: "Colors" — Beck
Best Rap Album: "Invasion of Privacy" — Cardi B
Best Rap Song: "God’s Plan" — Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels and Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake)
Best Rap Performance: "King’s Dead" — Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake and "Bubblin" — Anderson .Paak (tie)
Best Rap/Sung Performance: "This Is America" — Childish Gambino
Best R&B Album: "H.E.R." — H.E.R.
Best R&B Song: "Boo’d Up" — Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai and Dijon Mcfarlane, songwriters (Ella Mai)
Best R&B Performance: "Best Part" — H.E.R. featuring Daniel Caesar
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand" — Leon Bridges and "How Deep Is Your Love" — PJ Morton featuring Yebba (tie)
Best Urban Contemporary Album: "Everything Is Love" — The Carters
Best Dance/Electronic Album: "Woman Worldwide" — Justice
Best Dance Recording: "Electricity" — Silk City and Dua Lipa featuring Diplo and Mark Ronson
Best Country Album: "Golden Hour" — Kacey Musgraves
Best Country Song: "Space Cowboy" — Luke Laird, Shane Mcanally and Kacey Musgraves, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
Best Country Solo Performance: "Butterflies" — Kacey Musgraves
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Tequila" — Dan + Shay
Best Bluegrass Album: "The Travelin’ Mccourys" — The Travelin’ Mccourys
Best Jazz Vocal Album: "The Window" — Cécile Mclorin Salvant
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Emanon" — The Wayne Shorter Quartet
Best Latin Pop Album: "Sincera" — Claudia Brant
Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: "Aztlán" — Zoé
Best Reggae Album: "44/876" — Sting and Shaggy
Best Americana Album: "By the Way, I Forgive You" — Brandi Carlile
Best American Roots Performance: "The Joke" — Brandi Carlile
Best American Roots Song: "The Joke" — Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)
Best Folk Album: "All Ashore" — Punch Brothers
Best Gospel Album: "Hiding Place" — Tori Kelly
Best Gospel Performance/Song: "Never Alone" — Kirk Franklin and Victoria Kelly, songwriters (Tori Kelly featuring Kirk Franklin)
Best Roots Gospel Album: "Unexpected" — Jason Crabb
Best World Music Album: "Freedom" — Soweto Gospel Choir
Best Comedy Album: "Equanimity & the Bird Revelation" — Dave Chappelle
Best Musical Theater Album: "The Band’s Visit" — Etai Benson, Adam Kantor, Katrina Lenk and Ari’el Stachel, principal soloists; Dean Sharenow and David Yazbek, producers; David Yazbek, composer and lyricist
Best Song Written for Visual Media: "Shallow" — Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper)
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: "The Greatest Showman" — Alex Lacamoire, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Greg Wells, compilation producers (Various Artists)
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: "Black Panther" — Ludwig Göransson, (composer)
Best Music Film: "Quincy" — Alan Hicks and Rashida Jones, (video directors); Paula Dupré Pesmen, (video producer)
Best Music Video: "This Is America" — Childish Gambino
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books and Storytelling): "Faith - A Journey for All" — Jimmy Carter
Producer of the Year (Non-Classical): Pharrell Williams

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

BEYONCE - "LEMONADE"

With her sixth studio album, "Lemonade", Beyoncé continues to form her own path on how she will present her music to the world. First, on April 23rd, she released an hour-long HBO film that presented all of the new songs together as a "visual album" which featured striking imagery and poetic interludes covering many subjects involving race, gender and marriage. Shortly after the television premiere, the album was released exclusively for on-line streaming on Tidal (which she's a co-owner) before it became available to everyone two days later.

The title of the album references that old saying that when life serves you lemons, you gotta make some lemonade and that's exactly what the multiple Grammy winner has done. Without ever being specific, Beyoncé seems to have used some difficult times in her marriage as well as her parent's acrimonious break-up to create a searing collection of songs involving betrayal, anger, revenge, hope and ultimately, forgiveness. The music blurs and twists together many genres, perfectly complementing the lyrics with edgy and offbeat sounds. "Lemonade" is far from comfortable, easily digestible pop music. The album makes a bold statement and I think it's the singer's strongest work to date.



PET SHOP BOYS - "SUPER"

I can't believe it's been thirty years since Pet Shop Boys released their debut album, "Please". The record featured the now classic tunes "Suburbia", "Love Comes Quickly", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" and still my favorite track from them, "West End Girls".  There is no doubt that their early sound can be attributed to the current popularity of electronic dance music. Now, the boys, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, are back with their thirteenth album. "Super". With production duties once again handled by Stuart Price, the band dives deeper in to pure electronica yet retain much of their pop sensibilities. The first single, "The Pop Kids" takes a nostalgic look back at the dance scene in the '90's when they first started out. This song also became Pet Shop Boys' eleventh number one song on the U.S. Dance Club chart.

"The Pop Kids" - Pet Shop Boys (2016) mp3

Tegan and Sara, those formerly alt-rocking Canadian twins, continue to move in an eletropop direction. With their eight album, "Love You To Death" due out in June, the ladies may be seeking commercial success but only want it on their terms and the single, "Boyfriend" clearly indicates that. The song involves a love triangle with a confused girl caught between a boy and another girl.

"Boyfriend" - Tegan and Sara (2016) mp3

After taking some time off to have her second child, Alicia Keys is finally back with some new music since 2012's "Girl On Fire". The first single, "In Common" is a smooth dance hall-flavored track that should easily put the artist back on the charts. For the music video directed by Pierre Debusschere, Keys is lovely and fresh-faced in this slick black& white clip featuring energetic dancers in a pseudo-cityscape.



Finally, Justin Timberlake is not only lending his voice to the upcoming animated film, "Trolls" (due out later this fall) but he has also just released a song for the soundtrack. "Can't Stop The Feeling", co-written and produced by pop wizard, Max Martin, has already reached the the top of the charts in seven countries including the U.S. The song feels very similar to "Happy", another catchy, feel-good song for an animated film that swept the globe. Even the music video, directed by film maker Mark Romanek, features average people dancing and singing along to the song.

THE 150 GREATEST SCHLOCK SONGS EVER

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" is used as the perfect example of a schlock song. On intial release, this rock tune was popular but critically derided. But now, after some time has past, this song is now universally embraced as a classic. What changed? Good question.

New York Magazine looks to explain when bad taste becomes great art and ranks these songs from throughout pop music history. I personally find some of these selections questionable but as with all art, schlock is in the ear of the beholder.

Click below to read the article and see the entire list of songs:

From Journey to Beyoncé: The 150 Greatest Schlock Songs Ever

I have included a few of my personal favorites from the list and where they ranked:

13. "I Will Always Love You" - Dolly Parton (1974)

29. "If You Leave Me Now' - Chicago (1976)

31. "It's A Man's, Man's Man's World" - James Brown (1966)

49. "Empire State of Mind" - Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys (2009)

71. "More Than Words" - Extreme (1990)

114. "Kiss of Life" - Sade (1992)

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

"GIRL ON FIRE" - ALICIA KEYS

Alicia Keys has recently become a wife and mother, which has unavoidably changed the musician and that is reflected on her fifth studio album, "Girl On Fire". She's ready to explore new sounds as she's taken the classic soul structure that is her claim to fame and mixed in experimental textures that fits in to the alt-r&b movement currently in the works.

While many have responded favorably to this latest recording by Ms Keys but unfortunately I am not one. Although I've warmed up slightly to the title track but otherwise, I'm not really feeling this album and I'm very disappointed to say that as I am a big fan. The singer has once again written songs that are deeply personal and thoughtful but musically, this ballad heavy set fails to - well, catch fire.

This track, "Fire We Make" features Maxwell and while it's fine but when these two powerhouses came together, I expected something with more fireworks:

"Fire We Make" - Alicia Keys Featuring Maxwell

In the video for the title track, Alicia looks absolutely amazing and the more I hear "Girl On Fire", the more I enjoy it:


"UNORTHODOX  JUKEBOX" - BRUNO MARS

First, let me say that I think Bruno Mars is a truly gifted talent and he has a long future ahead of him. Now, having said that, I have to admit that I haven't really gotten in to much of his music. That opinion may have changed as the twenty-seven year old Hawaii native has just released his sophomore effort, "Unorthodox Jukebox" and all of the songs (which he co-wrote) on the record certainly reflect that.

The album is an eclectic collection that features touches of all of the different musical styles that the artist likes. The first single, "Locked Out Of Heaven" brings to mind the early songs of The Police while "Treasure" has some nice tasty funk, and "Show Me" features some pretty convincing reggae. I have a feeling we will be hearing plenty of Bruno Mars in 2013.

"Treasure" - Bruno Mars

I love this music video for "Locked Out Of Heaven":




"UNAPOLOGETIC" - RIHANNA

You can probably call pop superstar, Rihanna many things but one thing you can't say is that she's lazy. The singer from Barbados has released a new album every year in November for the past four years with her recent seventh, "Unapologetic", surprisingly, has become the first to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.

The lead single, "Diamonds" is a smash-hit (that went to number one in fifteen countries) but the rest of the new material while adventurous, feels slightly scattered and unfocused. The usual suspects are on board: David Guetta, Stargate, The Dream along with Australian pop artist, Sia (who co-wrote, "Diamonds") and Chris Brown shows up on a duet so the two can flaunt their "true love" to the world.

After her 777 Tour, where she flew on a Boeing 777 with her hardcore fans and journalists from around the globe to perform in seven different cities, in seven different countries in seven days to promote the album, look for Rihanna on the road next year for her Diamonds World Tour.

This track spells out what Rihanna and Chris Brown wants the world to know about their relationship:

"Nobody's Business" - Rihanna featuring Chris Brown

"KALEIDOSCOPE DREAM" - MIGUEL

Miquel is one of the current artists out there pushing the boundaries of soul music by offering unexpected beats and sounds which he has done on his second studio album, "Kaleidoscope Dream".  This confident collection, written and produced by the twenty-seven year old Southern Californian native, has incorporated thoughtful ideas of love and sexuality combined with slinky rhythms of funk, rock, electronica and dub-step.

Just like another member of the alt-r&b movement, Frank Ocean, Miguel has received critical praise and Grammy love by garnering four nominations this year including the prestigious Song Of The Year category for, "Adorn".

Have a listen to the title track:

"Kaleidoscope Dream" - Miguel

"WARRIOR' - KE$HA

When Ke$ha first came on the scene in 2009 with her international smash, "Tik Tok", her rap-pop sound combined with her wild-child, party girl antics was highly entertaining. Now, a few years in and she's (more or less) still doing the same shtick and it has grown a little tiresome.

"Warrior" is her second studio album, following a couple of EPs , and features the same producers (Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Shellback and Benny Blanco) that she has used previously as well as every other current pop star out right now. However, the singer has attempted to freshen her sound by adding some rock elements which has her teaming-up with punk legend, Iggy Pop on the tune, "Dirty Love" as well as contributions from rock bands, The Flaming Lips and The Strokes with the results being semi-successful. She's even covers a track, "Old Flames Can't Hold A Candle To You", which was a number one country hit for Dolly Parton and co-written by her mother, Pebe Sebert. The song is on another EP, "Deconstructed" that features acoustic versions of Ke$ha's songs and only available on her website.

Here is the title track:

"Warrior" - Ke$ha"

After a less than stellar appearance as a judge on the U.S. version of "The X Factor", Britney Spears has returned to music and back to the top of the charts. She provides backing vocals to will i.am's latest tune, "Scream & Shout" and shows up in the music video: