Big news for fans of Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band—the Boss and company have announced that they will be performing at this year’s 54th Annual Grammy Awards, which, by my calculations, makes this the first time in 54 years that the Grammys will actually be worth watching.
It’s that time of year again, when the meaningless award system known as “The Grammys” begins to dole out awards to people like Katy Perry and the Foo Fighters. The awards show won’t air until February 12, 2012, but the nominations were announced last night, during a concert which featured two performances by Lady Gaga (go ahead and sigh loudly right here).
Somehow, THE MOST IMPORTANT NIGHT IN MUSIC EVAR YOU GUYZ OMG! snagged its highest ratings in nearly a decade last night, according to Billboard. The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, the celebration which marks the most recent evening in which the music industry can pat itself on the back while it continues to slowly, publicly die.
Well, the 2011 Grammy nominations were announced last night during a special on CBS, and gosh dang heck, wouldn’t ya know it, they kind of, well, sucked. ‘Sucked’ in that way in which you can tell the Grammy organization continued to trend downward by nominating musicians not for their artistic worth, but for buzz, albums sold, and pop culture currency (of course, I could totally be wrong, because Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream isn’t really a cynical mishmash of ProTool’d modern pop clichés, meaningless lyrics and hyperslick session musician pap, but indeed is one of the five greatest albums recorded in 2010).
You all know her as the loud-mouthed and pint-sized “Guidette,” Snookie, from MTV‘s Jersey shore. It turns out that she can be fantastic interviewer on the Grammys red carpet, too! (Also, by fantastic we mean hilarious.)
MTV put Snookie (aka Nicole Polizzi) out to interview bands and most likely without her knowing who any of the ones they’ve requested her to talk to, they got some entertaining footage. In the clip below, you’ll see Snookie ask Phoenix if there are “Guidos” in France and tell one of them they look like Twilight‘s Robert Pattinson, which is “good” according to the Jersey Shore star.
Taylor Swift may have been one of the most successful artists in 2009, but the majority of both music critics and general music fans still can’t shake off her unsteady performance from The Grammys. First, there was a debate on whether or not Swift was singing out of key during her set with Stevie Nicks. Secondly, Scott Borchetta, the head of her record label Big Machine Records has fired back at critics for expressing their unhappiness with Swift’s pitchy-ness during live shows.
It’s been a big year for country music. Thanks to pop crossovers such as Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, country has become a little mainstream nowadays. Not only did those two pop stars win numerous awards at both CMT and Grammys, but they’ve created a new niche for country artists who wanted to give us more of a folk pop edge such as Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum.
Although majorly billed as a country act, Lady Antebellum’s quick success also grew on the pop charts for 2009 and their outreach level has soared even more after their Grammy performance from Sunday. Their latest album, Need You Now, has debuted at No. 1 on the US Pop chart which makes them the biggest first-week tally for a country act since November 2008.
We previously informed you about Quincy Jones’ quest to re-record the 1985 hit, “We Are the World.” Jones produced the song which Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote together and it became an instant classic when all three invited singers from every genre to record for the benefit of USA For Africa.
Now, after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Jones and Richie have rounded up some of the biggest stars of the current generation to lend their talents to great use and make a difference once again.
