The eclectic jazzman Jon Batiste and the young pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo confirmed, on Sunday April 3, their status as favorites during the 64e edition of the Grammy Awards, equivalent of the Oscars for American music.
Jon Batiste, a 35-year-old African-American pianist nominated in eleven categories, won what is considered to be the supreme award of the American music industry, “the album of the year” for We Are.
“I am deeply convinced, there is no better artist, better musician, better dancer, better actor. The creative arts are subjective and they touch people at a time in their lives when they need it most”launched the virtuoso musician and jack-of-all-trades while receiving his prize on stage, the fifth of the day.
” I love music. I’ve been playing it since I was a little boy. It’s more than entertainment for me, it’s a spiritual practice”, added this rising star to the notoriety still modest. A harbinger of his success, Jon Batiste had received an Oscar for the soundtrack of the animated film Soulwhich he composed for Pixar Studios.
We Are is the eighth studio album by this multi-instrumentalist who is also a conductor, a work mainly written and recorded before the pandemic and the emotion aroused by the Black Live Matters movement.
Song of the year and retro look for the duo Silk Sonic
New pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo, 19, won the Grammy Award for “revelation of the year”, a very prominent category in which the young woman won against rappers Saweetie and The Kid Laroi. And it was crowned in a ceremony preceding the gala evening “best solo pop performance” for its title Drivers licence.
The ceremony, moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas due to the pandemic, opened in the early evening with an energetic performance by the group Silk Sonic.
Fine mustache for Bruno Mars, disconcerting bowl wig reminiscent of Mireille Mathieu for Anderson. Paak, the two men at the heart of this retro project returned to the stage a little later to receive the coveted prize of the “song of the year”. The Grammy awarded to the title Leave the Door Open was their third of the day after two victories in the R & B category. prizes in the four major categories.
Cousins Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar won Best Rap Performance for their song Family Ties.
“Fill that silence with your music,” says Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky intervened during the ceremony via a recorded speech to ask for support for his country. ” The war. What is the exact opposite of music? The silence of cities in ruins and people killed”, he launched, dressed in his usual khaki t-shirt. ” Fill this silence with your music,” he added before a performance by John Legend, joined on stage by Ukrainian artists, Mika Newton and Lyuba Yakimchukt.
In the major category of album of the year, Kanye West will face « Evermore » from popstar Taylor Swift, who has bad memories of a previous meeting: «Ye» rudely snatched the microphone from her hands in 2009 as she took the stage to receive an award at the MTV Music Awards.
Among rappers, we noted the absence of Drake, very influential and among the most listened to. Selected, he asked the Academy to withdraw his two candidacies, without giving a reason. His hit album Certified Lover Boy had been royally ignored in the generalist categories during the nominations and the artist has often accused the Grammy Academy of confining him to the category of rappers because he is black.
On the rock side, the Foo Fighters have won the three awards for which they were in the running, a week after the sudden death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins in Colombia, shortly before a concert. The group of Dave Grohl, the ex-drummer of Nirvana, received the Grammys for best rock album, best rock song and best rock performance.