Who took the music out of Grammy Awards?
Viewership of the 60th annual Grammy Awards was significantly down from the 2017 telecast.
I never thought that a day would arise when I would ignore the Grammy Awards. But, in fact, that day did arrive, on January 29th this year, when I neither checked the live broadcast nor its repeat. In fact, viewership figures obtained subsequently appear to bear out the fact that viewership of the 60th annual Grammy Awards was significantly down from the 2017 telecast and, in turn, it nabbed the smallest audience in the show's history [24% down on the previous year in the U.S. itself].
The reasons are not hard to find, considering the fact that the focus of the three-and-a-half-hour awards programme was skewed to what I believe is essentially two age group categories - 12-17 and 18-24 - as witnessed by the live acts that performed, and towards the eventual multiple Grammy Award winners: Bruno Mars [six awards], Kendrick Lamar [five], and Ed Sheeran [two]. Similarly, when I checked the live performances on the internet, it showed that, besides Mars and Lamar, the other acts featured were the likes of Pink, Kesha, and Lady Gaga, among others. From the old school, as it were, were a handful of artistes like U2, who sang "Get Out Of Your Own Way", from their last album, 'Songs Of Experience'. Then there was Elton John, who recently announced a retirement tour commencing September 8th, who sang "Tiny Dancer" and, before you knew it, Sting sung a perfectly passable but dull rendition of "Englishman In New York", along with Shaggy, as a precursor for an impending album collaboration between the two that has an obvious Sting to it.
Similarly, the older age group was not entirely ignored at the Grammy Awards either, as this year saw guitarist John McLaughlin, who performed in Mumbai in February with the 4th Dimension, winning his second Grammy, and his first as a solo artist. McLaughlin won an award for 'Best Improvised Jazz Solo' for the live track "Miles Beyond" from his album, 'Live At Ronnie Scott's'. This marked the first solo win for the legendary guitarist (McLaughlin was included with Chick Corea, among other musicians, in a 2009 win for 'Five Peace Band Live').
Unfortunately, classic rock acts were largely shut out during these 60th Annual Grammy Awards as the winners were restricted to the Rolling Stones [only the third of their career], the Foo Fighters, and Leonard Cohen [but more on these artistes later].
Meanwhile, among nominees that failed to win were: Gregg Allman's posthumous release, 'Southern Blood', which earned two nominations: 'Best Americana Album' (eventual winner: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit for 'The Nashville Sound') and 'Best American Roots Song' for "My Only True Friend" (Jason Isbell, winning again, for "If We Were Vampires"); Bob Dylan was nominated for 'Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album' for his three-record set of covers, 'Triplicate', losing out to winner 'Tony Bennett Celebrates 90'; the Grateful Dead earned two nominations: 'Best Boxed Package' for 'May 1977: Get Shown The Light' (winner: The Voyager Golden Record) and 'Best Music Film' for their 'Long Strange Trip' documentary (winner: The Defiant Ones). Metallica received nominations for 'Best Rock Album' for 'Hardwired…To Self-Destruct' and for 'Best Rock Song' for "Atlas, Rise!" but failed to win either; Bruce Springsteen was nominated for 'Best Spoken Word Album' for 'Born To Run' (winner: Carrie Fisher for 'The Princess Diarist');
Roger Waters' 'Is This The Life We Really Want?' received a 'Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical' nomination, but did not win; Cat Stevens received a 'Best Folk Album' nomination for 'The Laughing Apple', but lost to Aimee Mann's 'Mental Illness'; and Chris Cornell received a posthumous nomination for 'The Promise' in the 'Best Rock Performance' category, but failed to win.
Nevertheless, classic rock was represented by the Rolling Stones winning the 'Best Traditional Blues Album' award for 'Blue & Lonesome', the band having previously won Grammys for 'Best Rock Album' for 'Voodoo Lounge' in 1995 and 'Best Music Video, Short Form' for "Love Is Strong", the opening song and the first single off that very album. Leonard Cohen won for 'Best Rock Performance' for the title track of his album, "You Want It Darker". Foo Fighters won for "Run" as 'Best Rock Song'. Randy Newman won for 'Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals' for "Putin", from the album 'Dark Matter', whereas the 'Best Contemporary Blues Album' was won by Taj Mahal - a performer at the Mahindra Blues Festival - with Keb Mo for 'TajMo'.
Then, again, may be I need to provide the Grammy Awards another [point of] view…
The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He continues to pursue his hobby and earns an income out of it.