We’re at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards today, and we are psyched! The Grammy Awards are by far one the most entertaining award shows around – and the most authentic when it comes to really celebrating music… all types of music. What most people don’t know is that awards are given out all day. The early part of the ceremony (the part that is not televised) celebrates the artists, musicians and groups that, while not radio friendly mainstream, are the biggest and best in their categories. From folk album to spoken word, to Hawaiian music, there are amazing talented passionate people who LOVE music – and all kinds. So this year, while we’re backstage in the interview room, we’re going to do our best to share with you the names and stories of people who come back here.
Today is a day of celebration, but it’ll also be a day to mourn and reflect on one of music’s biggest icons, Whitney Houston, who sadly passed away yesterday. Today will be a day of mixed emotions, so check back often as we continue to update you on what music’s greatest have to say about today.
1:50pm – Did you know that Paul McCartney has never heard the archived collection of his “Band On The Run” album? McCartney admitted this fact to Grammy winner Sam Okell who won for Best Historical Album while working alongside each other while remastering the collection.
2:21pm – Best New Artist nominee Skrillex has already SCORED and the show hasn’t officially begun yet. He walked away with two pieces of gold, a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronica Album and Best Dance Recording for “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites.”
2:36pm – Adele just won a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video for “Rolling In The Deep.”
2:38pm – Foo Fighters won a Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video for “Foo Fighters: Back And Forth.”
3:06pm – It was touching as Amy Winehouse’s parents accepted her Grammy award for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.” She worked alongside Tony Bennett on the track from “Duets II.” They mentioned during their acceptance speech how much it meant to Amy that Tony Bennett wanted to work with her. The best part of the speech was when Amy’s Dad recalled asking his daughter if she knew the words to the song before she began working with Tony and she told him — Of course Dad, you’ve been singing them to me all my life. You heard a big, “Awww…” backstage.
4:24pm – Melanie Fiona & Cee-Lo Green won a Grammy for Best R&B Song (A Songwriter(s) Award). The song is “Fool For You” and working alongside Cee-Lo Green to create this hit was a dream come true. She personally thanked Whitney Houston for her win and couldn’t of done it without her. Her very first album was named “The Bridge,” inspired by Whitney because Melanie was born and grew up listening to Whitney’s voice. She describes Whitney as one of those artists who bridged all genres of music and therefore inspired the title of her first album. By the way, her sophomore album is coming out March 27th, so definitely check it out.
5pm – Bruce Springsteen opens up the show with “We Take Care Of Our Own” and ROCKS it out! We saw Paul McCartney rockin’ out in the audience too!
5:13pm – Bruno Mars does the James Brown and very well might we add! He takes it way back with his performance of “Runaway Baby.”
5:20pm – Bonnie Raitt and Alicia Keys pay tribute to Etta James with their rendition of “A Sunday Kind Of Love.”
5:22pm – By the way, Alicia Keys and Bruno Mars decided to wear the same hair style to the Grammys. Who wore it better?
5:23pm – Adele won a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance. “Someone Like You” changed her life as well as ours. She’s here with her new man by the way and they look SO cute together. We’re happy for you Miss Adele!!
5:28pm – Chris Brown shows off his awesome dance moves while performing “Turn Up The Music” and “Beautiful People.”
5:32pm – Just heard Deadmau5 showed up to the Grammy Awards
wearing a t-shirt with Skrillex’s phone number on it. Haha!
5:35pm – AND…the Grammy for “Best Rap Performance” goes to Jay-Z & Kanye West for “Otis,” their hit track off the album “Watch The Throne.”
4:45pm – Foo Fighters, who won 4 Grammy Awards tonight, performed their hearts out. They went against the norm and ROCKED out their single “Walk” outside of The Staples Center in front of hundreds of fans! Did you know that they recorded their album, “Wasting Light,” in Dave Grohl’s garage? With just a microphone and a tape machine. Talk about the basics….it totally paid off!
5:57pm – Rihanna performs “We Found Love,” followed by “Princess of China” with Coldplay. A simple, beautiful duet. Love her raw voice. Coldplay wraps it up with one of our personal favorites, “Paradise.”
6:13pm – Foo Fighters just picked up ANOTHER Grammy Award for “Best Rock Performance.” Where will they be storing all of these pieces of gold? That’ll be our first question when they come back to the press room…stay tuned!
6:25pm – We caught Lady Gaga groovin’ to “Good Vibrations,” performed tonight by The Beach Boys, Maroon 5 and Foster The People.
6:31pm – Paul McCartney sets the mood tonight with his performance of “My Valentine,” which he performs alongside Diana Krall and Joe Walsh.
6:38pm – Chris Brown walks away with a Grammy tonight, he won Best R&B Album for “F.A.M.E.”
6:42PM – Can you believe this is the first time The Beach Boys ever performed at the Grammy Awards? They describe the experience as, “it’s about time!” They’re about to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a group together and are excited about working on some new material. What do they remember about their early days? They weren’t making any money and being told in their college days that they’d never make it. Their message to all striving artists, never listen to the doubters!
6:50pm – The “Song Of The Year” Grammy Award goes to Adele for “Rolling In The Deep.” She looks absolutely stunning, as always.
6:57pm – NY Giants players Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham admit Sundays are much easier on the football field versus being presenters at the Grammy Awards. Winning the Superbowl was a dream come true and they look forward to getting their Superbowl rings. Victor Cruz admits the real celebrity that Sunday was his grandmother who was happy he celebrated with a Salsa dance and represented his heritage. As for the Grammy’s, they’re excited to see and meet Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. They love music just as much as football and that’s why they’re excited to be here. Music plays such a huge role before they hit the field every Sunday. What do they listen to to get pumped up? Drake and Kanye West…good choices.
7:07pm – Adele’s performance of “Rolling In The Deep” — Perfection. She got a standing ovation and never-ending applause which brought tears to her eyes.
7:33pm – Best New Artist = Bon Iver. Woo hoo!
7:38pm – As Jennifer Hudson sings “I Will Always Love You” in memorium of Whitney Houston, it’s completely silent in the press room. Still can’t believe it….
8:06pm – Nicki Minaj’s performance of “Roman’s Revenge” and “Roman Holiday” is shall we say…interesting.
8:10pm – So who walks away with the “Record Of The Year”? No surprise…Adele! Go girl! She accepted her award with the words, “This is ridiculous.” So humble…no surprise.
8:18pm – The Album Of The Year Grammy Award will go home with Adele for “21″ – the girl has swept the Grammy’s!! She accepted it with tears and thanks her mom. This record was inspired by a “rubbish relationship.” What comes around, goes around…doesn’t it?
8:23pm – Lady Antebellum remembers listening to Whitney Houston and actually “The Bodyguard” soundtrack was one of Hilary Scott’s favorite. They told us that love, and simply love, inspires them to write songs. The entire group has grown closer as a band since they first started out and hope to keep growing in the right direction. They are so proud of this third record. They truely didn’t think they had a shot tonight and winning the Grammy certainly was a dream come true.
8:46pm – Ryan Tedder won a Grammy for Album Of The Year for Adele’s “21″ album. He says the win was phenomenal. He says nobody deserves it more than Adele because he witnessed first hand when she first lost her voice. Her struggle to get it back was what made her stronger aaaand all her Grammys prove that. So what inspires Ryan these days? He feeds off the energy of the artists in the room when he’s working with them. He looks for the “goose bump” factor. What’s next for him? He’s working on B.o.b.’s single, he’s working with Gavin DeGraw, new Beyonce material and last but not least Onerepublic, of course. His favorite motto to live by these days — “There’s no victims in life, only volunteers.”
9:02pm – Bon Iver won for Best New Artist and as he reflects back to what inspired him to play guitar…it was Joan Baez back when he was 14 years old. He admits he was nervous about coming to the Grammys. He felt like he didn’t deserve to attend and he felt a lot of confusion but definitely feels very honored. It’s surprising to hear especially when it comes out of the mouth of this years Best New Artist.
9:27pm – That wraps it up…Adele and Foo Fighters have left the building!
As you no doubt already know, the music world lost one of its contemporary legends yesterday, when Whitney Houston passed away at the far-too-young age of 48. When she died, she was at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, preparing to attend the annual pre-Grammys party thrown by her mentor, Clive Davis.
Signed by Davis to Arista Records in 1983, she became a superstar two years later, when three songs from her debut album — “Saving All My Love For You,” “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love Of All” — each soared to Number 1 on the Billboard pop chart.
She would top the chart an additional eight times during her career, with her biggest hit coming in 1992, when she spent 14 weeks at Number 1 with the cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” she recorded for her movie debut, “The Bodyguard.” Years ago, Houston spoke to us about that film and why she loved it. (Click on the audio player to hear Whitney Houston)
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Houston followed up her initial Hollywood success with two other memorable movie roles, in 1995′s “Waiting To Exhale” and 1996′s “The Preacher’s Wife.” She told us she considered taking acting lessons, but was talked out of it by “Bodyguard” co-star Kevin Costner, who convinced her to “just be herself.” (Click on the audio player to hear Whitney Houston)
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We’ll see Houston on the big screen one last time in August, when the movie “Sparkle” is released. Ironically, the film deals with a singing group that has to deal with the pitfalls of fame and drugs, a story that (sadly) bears more than a passing resemblance to Houston’s own life. While we mourn the tragic circumstances of her loss, we do so knowing that her talent will live on, in music that will be listened to and enjoyed for generations to come.
We first got to know Katharine McPhee back in 2006, when she went all the way to the “American Idol” finale. And even though she lost to Taylor Hicks she’s managed to come away with the more enduring career. This week, her brand-new TV show premieres… it’s called “Smash,” and its executive producer is none other than Steven Spielberg. And, as it turns out, Katharine told me the seeds of the show were first planted during her time on “Idol”.
The Voice, the reality musical talent series, was a surprise hit last season on NBC. Like so many other reality shows, the series is looking for the next great singer. The shows judging panel features R&B hit singer Cee-Loo Green, country star Blake Shelton, and pop stars Adam Levine (lead singer of Maroon 5) and Christina Aguilera, all of whom had great chemistry together.
While the show was liked by both fans and critics, Adam Levine admitted that at times the judges had no idea what they were doing and were uneasy. However, Levine thinks the shows second season, which premieres tonight after the Super Bowl on NBC, will be better than the last.
I’ll readily admit to being an Anglophile; I fell in love with all things British after my first visit to London in 1995. I especially love their music, and I’ll often get my fix by going online to listen to the BBC’s streaming radio broadcasts. That’s how I first heard about Ed Sheeran — when a BBC Radio 1 DJ chose his song, “The A Team,” as her “song of the week.” Sweetly melodic, but with a heart-wrenchingly haunting lyric, it was one of those songs that won me over the first time I heard it.
Ed Sheeran on stage at the Hotel Cafe.
So I was thrilled to find out that Ed’s been picked up by a record label here in the States, and even more excited to find out we’d get a chance to bring him into the Fox All Access studios and see his first headlining gig at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood..
He didn’t disappoint at either venue.
In the studio, he played three songs for us, just his guitar and voice. He showed off his softer side with “The A Team” and “Lego House” (you’ll find his acoustic version of “The A Team” below), and showed off his hip-hop side on “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” which shows off his ability to spit rhymes at nearly hypersonic speed.
Needless to say, we were impressed. And when Chris Leary sat down to talk with him, we discovered a young man whose soul is much older than his 20 years. He’s thoughtful and grounded, yet still possesses that wickedly dry British sense of humor.
Before I got to the Hotel Cafe for his show, I was expecting the typical showcase crowd — curious-but-jaded industry types, wondering if they’re indeed witnessing the much-hyped “next big thing.” But when I arrived, I was shocked to see that Ed’s already picked up a fervently devoted fan base. (Surprisingly enough, I learned that a lot of the young fans found out about Ed because of “Harry Potter” actor Rupert Grint’s appearance in the official “Lego House” video.)
Then the show started, and over the course of the next 90 minutes or so, he had the audience mesmerized with his mix of acoustic numbers and uptempo songs augmented by intricately built beat-boxing loops. And though he’s built up his stage act over the course of hundreds of shows (in one year alone, he played more than 300 gigs), he wasn’t afraid to change things up. When he heard some young women singing harmony during “Lego House,” he spontaneously invited them up on stage to help him finish the song. (Afterward, one of the women, who’d flown in from Chicago earlier in the day for the show, simply said, “I can die now.”)
Soon, we’ll be posting Chris Leary’s interview with Ed Sheeran, along with more of his music. For now, though, enjoy his acoustic version of his first single, “The A Team.”
Victoria Asher of Cobra Starship knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate her birthday, January 20th, and that included partying in Vegas. Although before taking off to Sin City, she along with Gabe Saporta and Ryland Blackinton stopped by Fox All Access to talk about their new single featuring Mac Miller, ”Middle Finger.” What we love about the band is that they don’t take themselves too seriously which makes for a hell of a good time in the studio. You’ll learn how lead singer Gabe was inspired by a cobra from the future and how Sigourney Weaver aroused him. Ryland tells us about his first memory of music and what he first called Bruce Springsteen as a kid. Victoria gives us the scoop on how she literally flipped out at a Michael Jackson concert and how she deals with living on a tour bus with four guys. What’s with boys and farts? We give her props because she’s a total sport. This band is a hoot!
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Check out their new music video for their single, “Middle Finger.” We’re diggin’ it….are you? (Warning: The video contains potentially offensive language.) .
We’re going off the pop music grid to share a song and video that you need to know. The artist? Gotye. The song? “Somebody I Used To Know - featuring Kimbra”. I encountered the song by chance just once and caught the earworm infection immediately. The symptoms included uncontrollable urges to hear the song again and again followed by an obsessive desire to replay the video on YouTube. That of course led to incessant humming and a desire to paint. Obviously a few other people are having the same symptoms, which account for the 55 million plus views Gotye’s official music video has gotten on YouTube (It’s jumped almost 10 million views in the last two weeks). In fact, the song has hit such an emotional cord, its inspired YouTube covers and re-mixes here in the U.S. that have generated their own fame. So what’s the big deal? Gotye has a sound that is reminiscent of Peter Gabriel (with a dash of Phil Collins and Sting). Mix in a variety of unique instruments, and some vintage effects and you’ve got a special song that is both amazingly refreshing and ear-fectious. Then there are the lyrics. With lines like ”Told myself that you were right for me, But felt so lonely in your company”, the song is quickly becoming one of the coolest, rawest break-up songs to date. “Somebody I Used To Know” takes on another layer of emotion thanks to the addition of female counterpoint vocals, Kimbra, a successful New Zealand artist who is now making her way to the U.S. Add all the elements together, and you have a perfect storm of a song that is just plain different and something worth checking out. Take a listen and a view, and let us know what you think.
Gotye’s album “Making Mirrors” is out this week. “Somebody I Used To Know” will get its U.S. debut, when Gotye and Kimbra take the stage Wednesday night, Feb. 1, on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Gotye and Kimbra will then hit the road here in the states with a U.S. spring tour starting end of March.
Beverly Hills, CA – Six actresses – Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig – from the hit comedy “Bridesmaids” will be presenters at the 84th Academy Awards, telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced today. McCarthy received her first Oscar® nomination this year for her supporting role in the film, and Wiig also became a first-time nominee for the film’s original screenplay. All six will be making their first Oscar show appearances.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
Tonight, American Idol hits Galveston, Texas, where aspiring singers are hoping to make it to Hollywood to have a chance at being the next American Idol. Before the auditions started in Galveston, Idol judge Randy Jackson stopped by and spoke about how in the eleventh season, the bar has risen and the standards that he and the other judges are looking for are higher.
In the past few seasons, the majority of those who won have been country singers, and the majority of the winners were male. Jackson says that he and the rest of the judges are looking for singers who are not just country singers, but are from all different genres of music. Jackson went on to say that he would like to see the girls get far in the competition this year.
Ask Grammy winning music artist Ne-Yo about his experience working on the new World War II action epic “RED TAILS” and he’ll tell you, “It was very, very, trying.” The movie, executive produced by George Lucas, shares the heroic story of the first all African-American aerial combat unit, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, who fought in World Ward II.
Ne-Yo, who plays “Andrew ‘Smoky’ Salem” in the movie, described the challenges of filming in Budapest and trying to live in a 1942 state of mind, “The whole set was 1942, meaning we weren’t allowed to listen to current music, we weren’t allowed to watch TV, we were in 1942!” and while Ne-Yo is part of an elite group of songwriters and music artists, he told us the acting thing was a different story, “I’m still fairly new to the acting world, so standing next to a Cuba Gooding Jr., a Terrance Howard, or even a Nate Parker, guys that do this for a living, just trying to soak it all up… I just learned how to act through osmosis, just being near those guys.” It also didn’t hurt to have some of the actual remaining Tuskeegee airmen on set with the cast, “These are some of the most lively 80 year old men you’ll ever meet in life. Age is really just a number in regards to these guys… We would just sit back and let these guys tell stories; stories about what it was to live back then, what it was to go through what they did. They went through something that was really, truly incredible, and I hope that this movie gives people at least a little bit of insight on who they were and the astonishing things they did.”
Check out below to hear Ne-Yo’s full interview, and catch the trailer for “RED TAILS” which opens this Friday, January 20th in a theatre near you.
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We’re at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards today, and we are psyched! The Grammy Awards are by far one the most entertaining award shows around – and the most authentic when it comes to really celebrating music… all types of music. What most people don’t know is that awards are given out all day. The early part of the ceremony (the part that is not televised) celebrates the artists, musicians and groups that, while not radio friendly mainstream, are the biggest and best in their categories. From folk album to spoken word, to Hawaiian music, there are amazing talented passionate people who LOVE music – and all kinds. So this year, while we’re backstage in the interview room, we’re going to do our best to share with you the names and stories of people who come back here. 
