THE 68TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

Last year, the focus was on the fires that devastated Los Angeles and this year during the ceremony of the 68th annual Grammy Awards, was the current administration’s immigration crackdown that has recently turned tragically deadly. "ICE OUT" pins were worn by many in attendance and several artists made subtle yet passionate comments during their acceptance speeches including Billie Eilish who accurately proclaimed that "No one is illegal on stolen land".

For his sixth and final time as host, Trevor Noah largely continued to focus on playfully teasing the starry audience, rattling off Grammy statistics and rousing the crowd to give a performer or winner another round of applause. One notable change is that Noah, no longer feeling constrained with concern about his future on the show, delivered more pointed political jokes with one reference to Trump and the Epstein files which has sent the President into a litigious tizzy.

As always, the Grammys ceremony is less about handing out awards and more about the performances that you won't see anywhere else. And this show did not disappoint. Bruno Mars kicked off the show with a guitar-driven version of "APT", his duet with K-pop star, Rosé before returning later his band, the Hooligans to perform his new single, "I Just Might". Justin Bieber delivered a literally stripped down performance of "Yukon" from his nominated album, "Swag" in just his underwear and socks. Sabrina Carpenter reliably brought her campy style to the show with an airport setting for her performance of "Manchild" while Lady Gaga went darker for a manic version of "Abracadabra". And just like last year, all of the eight nominees for Best New Artist were given a spotlight to perform on the telecast with some (Lola Young, Leon Thomas and the eventual winner, Olivia Dean) faring better than others (Addison Rae, Katseye and Sombr).

But the highlight of the evening turned out to be a lengthy, "In Memoriam" musical tribute. It began with a lovely rendition of "Trailblazer" by country music legend, Reba McEntire, accompanied by Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson, shockingly making her very first appearance on the Grammy stage. Then an all-star rock line-up that included Post Malone, Slash and Duff McKagan from Guns N' Roses, paid tribute to the late heavy metal artist, Ozzy Osbourne by blasting through with a rousing version of Black Sabbath's, "War Pigs". The set concluded with Ms. Lauryn Hill, who had not appeared on the show since 1999, leading a memorable tribute to D'Angelo and Roberta Flack that was incredibly packed with an impressive group of performers that featured Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, Leon Thomas, Jon Batiste, Lalah Hathaway, John Legend, Chaka Khan and Wyclef Jean, who reunited with his former Fugees bandmate on stage to close with Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song".

While he was unable to perform due to his contractual commitment for his upcoming half-time show on the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny still made a major impact on the show with him winning Album of the Year for "Debí Tirar Más Fotos", becoming the first winner with a Spanish-language recording. The thirty-one performer also won two more awards for Best Música Urbana Album and Best Global Performance. Kendrick Lamar also scored big by winning five of his nine nominations which included Record of the Year for his musical tribute to the late Luther Vandross that featured SZA. Cher, a recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award this year, made an appearance to present Record of the Year. While it ended up being a bit of a mess with missed cues and the winners unable to decide who would speak, this iconic legend looked incredible and contributed to an unforgettable night. And Billie Eilish along with her brother, Finneas made history by becoming the first artists to win Song of the Year three times.

This is the final year the Grammys will air on CBS after fifty-four years of broadcasting the ceremony. The show will begin a ten-year deal on ABC, Hulu and Disney+ starting next year and taking it through to 2036. Time will tell if this will just be a continuation of the show's traditions or begin an exciting new chapter for the Grammys.

Here is a partial list of winners of the 68th Annual Grammy Awards:

Album of the Year: "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" - Bad Bunny
Record of the Year: "Luther" - Kendrick Lamar with SZA
Song of the Year: "Wildflower" - Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
Best New Artist: Olivia Dean
Best Pop Vocal Album: "Mayhem" - Lady Gaga
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "A Matter of Time" - Laufey
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Messy" - Lola Young
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Defying Gravity" - Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
Best Dance/Electronic Album: "Eusexua" - FKA twigs
Best Dance/Electronic Recording: "End of Summer" - Tame Impala
Best Dance Pop Recording: "Abracadabra" - Lady Gaga
Best Remixed Recording: "Abracadabra (Gesaffelstein Remix)" - Gesaffelstein, remixer (Lady Gaga, Gesaffelstein)
Best Rock Album: "Never Enough" - Turnstile
Best Rock Performance: "Changes (Live From Villa Park) Back to the Beginning" - Yungblud featuring Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman and II
Best Rock Song: "As Alive as You Need Me to Be" - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, songwriters (Nine Inch Nails)
Best Alternative Music Album: "Songs of a Lost World" - The Cure
Best Alternative Music Performance: "Alone" - The Cure
Best R&B Album: "Mutt" - Leon Thomas
Best Progressive R&B Album: "Bloom" - Durand Bernarr
Best R&B Performance: "Folded" - Kehlani
Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Vibes Don’t Lie" - Leon Thomas
Best R&B Song:"Folded" - Darius Dixson, Andre Harris, Kehlani Parrish, Donovan Knight, Don Mills, Khris Riddick-Tynes and Dawit Kamal Wilson, songwriters (Kehlani)
Best Rap Album: "GNX" - Kendrick Lamar
Best Rap Performance: "Chains & Whips" - Clipse, Pusha T and Malice featuring Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams
Best Rap Song: "TV Off" - Jack Antonoff, Larry Jayy, Kendrick Lamar, Dijon McFarlane, Sean Momberger, Mark Anthony Spears and Kamasi Washington, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay)
Best Traditional Country Album: "Ain’t in It for My Health" - Zach Top
Best Contemporary Country Album: "Beautifully Broken" - Jelly Roll
Best Country Solo Performance: "Bad as I Used to Be (from "F1: The Movie")" - Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Amen" - Shaboozey and Jelly Roll
Best Country Song: "Bitin’ List" - Tyler Childers, songwriter (Tyler Childers)
Best Americana Album: "Big Money" - Jon Batiste
Best American Roots Performance: "Beautiful Strangers" - Mavis Staples
Best Americana Performance: "Godspeed" - Mavis Staples
Best Folk Album: "Wild and Clear and Blue" - I’m With Her
Best Jazz Vocal Album: "Portrait" - Samara Joy
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Southern Nights" - Sullivan Fortner featuring Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore
Best Alternative Jazz Album: "Live-Action" - Nate Smith
Best Jazz Performance: "Windows — Live" - Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Brian Blade
Best Traditional Blues Album: "Ain’t Done With the Blues" - Buddy Guy
Best Contemporary Blues Album: "Preacher Kids" - Robert Randolph
Best Gospel Album: "Heart of Mine" - Darrel Walls and PJ Morton
Best Latin Pop Album: "Cancionera" - Natalia Lafourcade
Best Tropical Latin Album: "Raíces" - Gloria Estefan
Best Reggae Album: "Blxxd & Fyah" - Keznamdi
Best African Music Performance: "Push 2 Start" - Tyla
Best Musical Theater Album: "Buena Vista Social Club" - Marco Paguia, Dean Sharenow and David Yazbek, producers (Original Broadway Cast)
Best Comedy Album: "Your Friend, Nate Bargatze" - Nate Bargatze
Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording: "Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama" - Dalai Lama
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: "Sinners" (Various Artists); Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson and Serena Göransson, compilation producers; Niki Sherrod, music supervisor
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television): "Sinners" - Ludwig Göransson, composer
Best Song Written for Visual Media: "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" - Ejae, Park Hong Jun, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Mark Sonnenblick, songwriters (Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami)
Best Music Video: "Anxiety" - Doechii
Best Music Film: "Music by John Williams" - John Williams
Best Album Cover: "Chromakopia" - Shaun Llewellyn and Luis “Panch” Perez, art directors (Tyler, the Creator)
Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical): Amy Allen
Producer of the Year (Non-Classical): Cirkut

RESPECT

"Respect", the movie on the life of "the Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin is finally hitting theaters today after a year delay due to COVID. Jennifer Hudson, who was personally selected by Franklin before her passing in 2018, plays the legendary performer. The film traces Franklin from the beginning as a child growing up in Detroit, displaying her amazing gift singing in her church lead by her reverend father. She soon begins a recording career as a young woman but does not find success immediately, struggling to find her voice as an artist. But a move to Atlantic Records and more input in to creating her music lead to Franklin's long, extraordinary career. "Respect" covers the joy and thrills in Franklin's life but also the heartbreak and trauma the singer had to endure. Hudson ignites the screen as Franklin, performing many of the Queen's biggest hits and sang them live on set during filming.



Jim Farber of Parade Magazine has looked back on Franklin's incredible catalog of music and selected twelve of her biggest hits and tells the story behind each of them. We get her iconic cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" to Franklin's last major charting song in 1998, "A Rose Is Still a Rose", which was written and produced by Ms. Lauryn Hill.

Click below to read the article:

Aretha! The Stories Behind Her Greatest Hits

SAVE THE DAY: THIRTY YEARS OF MARIAH CAREY

In celebration of the thirty years since the release of her self-titled debut album, Mariah Carey will be releasing "The Rarities", a collection of previously unreleased songs that hold personal relevance and meaning to the singer. One of the first songs recently dropped is "Save The Day", a track recorded fifteen years ago and features a duet with the now elusive vocalist, Miss Lauryn Hill. While the song (which features a sample of "Killing Me Softly", the popular cover by Hill's former band, the Fugees) is a thrilling collaboration and features these divas at the height of their powers, I understand perfectly why it was not release before. This recording is lacking in those magical moments that would have been expected by such a team-up of two big-name artists. 

The album will also feature live performances of some of her classic songs recorded during a concert at the Tokyo Dome back in the '90s. "The Rarities" will be released on October 2nd, just a few days after the long-awaited memoir, "The Meaning of Mariah Carey" on September 29th. Have a listen to "Save The Day" and see what you think:

MTV VIDEO OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS RANKED

As the music video has lost most of its luster and relevance, the MTV Video Music Awards have generally done pretty much the same. At one time, the show was the place to go for water-cooler moments (do people still actually chat by water dispensers?) and incredible live performances by the hottest artists of the day. Now, it seems to struggle to get popular musicians to attend and the ones that do hardly create memorable musical moments. And while MTV claimed to have something “special” planned to honor Aretha Franklin during this year’s show, the best they came up with was to have Madonna go onstage and tell this long-winded story (which ended up having very little to do with the Queen of Soul. And I won’t even get in to what the singer was wearing) before presenting the Video of the Year Award, then it’s quite clear that the VMA’s glory days are long gone.

Vulture has decided to look back at all of the previous thirty-four winners of MTV’s Video of The Year Award and ranked them from worst to best. Looking over this list, I’m kinda shocked by some of these actual winners of this prize. Many of these videos were barely impressive when they won and have hardly stood up to the test of time (yes, I’m taking about you “Money For Nothing”).

Anyway, Click below for the entire list but I have included my personal favorites here:

Every VMA Video of The Year Award Ranked

WHAT HAPPENED MISS SIMONE

This year has put a long overdue spotlight on one of the most distinctive and influential musicians in pop music history. Nina Simone is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, "What Happened, Miss Simone?" which is directed by award-winning film maker, Liz Garbus with the singer's daughter, Lisa Simone serving as an executive producer. The film uses concert footage and interviews, some never seen or heard previously, to explore the passionate, difficult and complicated life of the North Carolina native. Simone was an extraordinary gifted but moody performer who actively defied musical categories. She mesmerized audiences with the sheer force of her talent, using her voice to not only entertain but inspire and stir protest.

In celebration of this film, a new album, "Nina Revisited: A Tribute To Nina Simone" features the songs made famous by Ms Simone recorded by several contemporary artists. Some of the musicians involved include Mary J. Blige, Usher, Common with Lalah Hathaway and Lisa Simone but the highlight is the very welcome return of Ms Lauryn Hill. She is on six of the thirteen tracks with Hill impressively breathing fresh new life in to some of Simone's signature tunes such as "Wild Is The Wind", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" and "Feeling Good". This collection perfectly honors the legacy of this quite special and unique performer.

Listen to rising jazz artist, Gregory Porter (who was heard early this year on a dance track for the upcoming Disclosure album) doing a radical but fascinating re-working of the Nina Simone classic, "Sinnerman":

"Sinnerman" - Gregory Porter (2015) mp3

Enjoy this electric performance of "Feeling Good" by Ms Lauryn Hill:

NEW SOUNDS

LAURYN HILL

After serving a three month jail sentence for tax evasion,  Lauryn Hill has decided the time was right to release some music. Over the years there has been new material dropped sporadically (including an ill-fated reunion with The Fugees) since the mega-success of her 1998 solo debut, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" but it now seems like she could possibly be ready to seriously refocus on her career although it still might only be financially motivated.

"Consumerism" is the title of her latest and Ms Hill spits out rapid fire verses about her views of the current state of the world. This edgy tune is far from catchy or memorable but still serves as a reminder of her great talent. Hopefully, this is just a taste to whet our appetite for something bigger and better to come.

 "Consumerism" - Ms Lauryn Hill (2013)

JENNIFER HUDSON

Oscar-winner, Jennifer Hudson has been spending most of her time making films and showing off her new figure but has now put some of that energy back in to music. She has teamed up with the hot producer of the moment, Pharrell Williams and together have created a sizzling new track, "I Can't Describe (The Way I Feel).  I'm not sure if this is for her upcoming new album or some other project but no matter. What I do know is that I'm really loving this funky jam.

"I Can't Describe (The Way I Feel)" - Jennifer Hudson (2013)

HAIM

Born and raised in the Southern California valley, the Haim sisters, Este, Danielle and Alana have been performing music together professionally since they were little girls along with their parents in a classic rock band.  Since leaving the family nest, the sisters (now in their 20's) are a band known by their surname, Haim and have been creating some serious buzz by opening for such acts as Rihanna and Mumford & Sons as well as making a splash at some of the top music festivals.

Haim have recently released their debut album, "Days Are Gone" which features a solid collection of songs that are a clever mash-up of the type of music they listened to on L.A. radio in their youth; soft rock, r&b grooves and '80's pop.

"Forever" - Haim (2013)

WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO. . .

                                            LAURYN HILL?

Last seen: MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002)

She seemed destined for a long and successful career in music but after releasing her live album eight years ago, she pretty much disappeared from the public eye. What happened to Lauryn Hill?

She started her career as an actress, appearing on the soap opera, "As The World Turns" and in films like, "Sister Act 2" and Steven Soderbergh's "King of the Hill" before focusing on music.

In high school, she met Prakazrel "Pras" Michel and his cousin, Wyclef Jean and together they formed a musical group called The Fugees which was short for "The Refugee Camp".  They released two albums but it was their second one, "The Score" (1996) that brought the band world wide acclaim. The Fugees won two Grammy Awards for the album, which included Best R&B Vocal By A Duo Or Group for their hit remake of the Roberta Flack classic, "Killing Me Softly With His Song".

In 1998, Lauryn Hill completed her first solo record, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" which was partly prompted by her frustrations within the Fugees. She took what she had done with her band and pushed it forward, creating a near perfect album that combined rap, reggae and hip hop beats with touches of classic soul throughout.

The album was a monster hit topping the Billboard album and R&B album charts and would go on to sell eighteen million copies. She received ten Grammy Award nominations and would go to win five of them, including Best New Artist and Album Of The Year. This was the most nominations and wins by a female artist ever in one year.

She became a media sensation and appeared on a wide range of magazine covers including Time. She soon became disenchanted with her new found fame and the music industry and retreated. She stayed away from the public for a few years, trying to refocus her life on her family and other creative outlets.

In 2001, she resurfaced and performed new material for a small audience for MTV. The concert was essentially a guitar, her voice and songs that focused on her thoughts on religion, society and love. An album of that concert was released the following year and although it was not critically praised, it did manage to sell over a million copies.

The Fugees attempted to come back together in 2004, which included an appearance at the 2005 BET Award show, a European tour, a Hollywood reunion concert in 2006 and a few leaked songs before old tensions flared back up, causing the group to disband, apparently for good in 2007.

There have been rumours that Lauryn Hill has been working on her follow-up album since 2004 and has made sporadic concert appearances over the years but not much has really come together.

Here are a few of my favorite songs off of her first album:

Lost Ones - Lauryn Hill

Everything Is Everything - Lauryn Hill

Nothing Even Matters - Lauryn Hill & D'Angelo


This is the beautiful music video for her song, "Ex-Factor":



This song, "Repercussions" has popped up on the internet but no one seems to know whether it is actually a new song or some older material but it is a good tune. It makes me hopeful that she will release a new CD sometime real soon.

Repercussions - Lauryn Hill