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Linda Perry Leads Artists Rallying Millennials To Vote In Midterm Elections

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Linda Perry, Rihanna, A Perfect Circle, and more raise their voices to get Americans to register and vote
Jennifer Velez
Advocacy
Oct 18, 2018 - 10:52 am

Believe it or not, during the 2016 election, 90 million eligible voters didn't go to the ballots, and only 16 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the last midterm elections. As the November 6 midterm election approaches this year, artists have been using their social platforms to inspire more people – especially young Americans – to get out and vote.

"I was literally astonished that over 90 million people didn't vote," says GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter/producer Linda Perry.

Perry, a member of the Recording Academy’s L.A. Chapter Board, has her eye on youth and is spearheading a voter campaign encouraging all music creators and fans not only to register and show up on election day, but also to share social media captions mobilizing young voters to get involved. Here are examples of what you can do to spread the word and get our millennials to vote. Please do one or both of the steps below on Oct. 23 at 12 p.m. noon PST: 

Step 1

Pick one of the following captions for Twitter or Instagram:

- Doesn't matter what you wear just as long as you are there. #GETUP&VOTE! 

- Not voting is equivalent to letting your Grandma decide what to post on your Instagram account. Curate your future! #GETUP&VOTE! 

- We don’t choose our parents, so don’t let them choose 4 you. #GETUP&VOTE! 

Step 2

Record a short video of yourself reading the caption out loud and post on your socials!

The campaign goes a step further, prompting individuals to record a short video of themselves reading the caption out loud and post on their social platforms. Perry is leading the charge specifically targeted at inspiring youth to get involved and decide their own future.

"Our youth that is supposed to be curating their future, they're not paying attention or they're not feeling that their voice is gonna be heard," she said.

Perry is not alone in her passion for encouraging millennials to hit the polls. Rihanna tweeted and used Instagram to send out a list of voter registration deadlines.

"I don’t care what responsibilities you have today. There’s no greater responsibility than being in control of your future and it starts NOW!!" she posted.

John Legend, another member of the Academy’s Los Angeles board, shared a video last month encouraging his followers to vote. Taylor Swift used her acceptance speech at the American Music awards as time to remind people to get out and vote during midterm elections. Recently, A Perfect Circle took advantage of their visit to the GRAMMY Museum to remind their fans to register to vote. Other artists like Common and Alicia Keys are also trying to inspire people to vote.  

Using the recent passing and signing of the Music Modernization Act, which brought together songwriters, producers and artists, Perry says more thinking like that is needed to make change happen.

"That was people coming together that probably didn't think this would happen, but they put all their personal emotions aside and went and fought as a community and that made a huge difference," Perry said. "That's how we win battles by getting together as a community and fighting, and standing up and protecting."

Make Sure You're Registered To Vote

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Your Favorite Artists Will Follow You To The Polls Thanks To State-Specific Playlists

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How one music streaming service is encouraging its users to vote in their local midterm elections on Tues. Nov. 6 with curated state playlists "to take to the polls"
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Nov 5, 2018 - 6:09 pm

With U.S. midterm elections happening nationwide tomorrow, Nov. 6., many musicians and other public figures have taken to social media over the past several weeks to encourage and remind their fans to vote. Spotify has recently joined the charge with their "Get Vocal" playlists curated for listeners across all states and territories.

On Tues. Oct. 30, a week out from election day, Spotify launched a new series of playlists, not to help listeners discover new artists or set a nostalgic vibe like their usual playlists do, but to encourage them to get out and vote. All U.S.-based users age 18 and up who used the app received a notification about their state's playlist, each titled "Get Vocal, [state]!" with a description reading "Songs uniquely popular in your state to take to the polls" and a hyperlink to the Voting Information Tool, powered by Google to help voters find their polling location. According to Billboard, Spotify users will also receive a reminder when the open the app on Nov. 6 with a link to the same site.

As of March 2018, 29 percent of Spotify users in the U.S. are between 25-34 years old, followed by 26 percent between the ages of 18-24 years old, according to Statista. Because only 16 percent of Americans between the ages of 18-24 voted in the last midterm elections, there has been a larger push this year to get more people to the polls, especially young people. Many artists, including John Legend and Linda Perry, who recently wrote and shared a song and campaign called "#GetUpandVote" just for the occasion, along with Rihanna, Chance The Rapper, Common, Alicia Keys and plenty of others who are using their platforms to encourage more young people to the polls this year.

As Rihanna recently tweeted, "I don't care what responsibilities you have today. There's no greater responsibility than being in control of your future and it starts NOW!!"

Visit gettothepolls.com to find out where to make your voice heard and vote in your local midterm elections.

Linda Perry Leads Artists Rallying Millennials To Vote In Midterm Elections

GRAMMYs

Little Richard

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Unexpected GRAMMY Moments: Little Richard, Evanescence & More

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You never know what’ll happen during Music’s Biggest Night
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Dec 28, 2018 - 8:42 am

Every year, noted music veterans, up-and-coming artists and everyone in between come together under one roof at the GRAMMY Awards to recognize some of the industry's most talented individuals. But with so many personalities in the room, you never know what could happen!

As 2018 draws to a close and we inch closer to the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 10, we're looking back at some of the most surprising moments that have taken place on the GRAMMYs stage.

7 Unexpected GRAMMY On-Stage Moments

For starters, at the 30th GRAMMY Awards in 1988, pop icon Little Richard didn't exactly stick to the script when he was announcing the Best New Artist Award alongside proto-punk king Buster Poindexter.

Clad in a tan suit and aviators, Little Richard cracked: "And the Best New Artist is… Me!" Fortunately, the crowd loved it and broke into uproarious laughter.

READ: Sinatra To The Chipmunks: 7 Things To Know About The 1st GRAMMY Awards

"I have never received nothing,” he continued. “Ya'll ain't never give me no GRAMMY. And I've been singing for years. I am the architect of rock and roll."

Another unexpected moment happened when Taylor Swift was not present to accept her Best Pop Vocal Album win for 1989 during the 58th GRAMMY Awards in 2016. Jack Antonoff, who wrote and produced a number of songs on the album, went onstage to accept the award and phoned Swift to let her know.

"She's gonna freak, hold on," Antonoff says as the phone rings.

"Hello," Taylor answers.

60th GRAMMYs: What You Didn't See On TV

"Taylor, it’s Jack. I'm not doing a bit. We just won Pop Vocal Album."

"What!?" she replies as the crowd cheers. "We won!!" Taylor can be heard over the cheering crowd.

What’ll happen at the 2019 show? Tune in to the 61st GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 10 to find out, and click on the video above to watch more unexpected GRAMMY moments from years past.

Dionne Warwick, Donny Hathaway & More To Receive Special Merit Awards

Conversations In Advocacy #42

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Linda Perry & John Legend Team Up To Get Voters To #GetUpandVote

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With the midterm elections upon us, two of music's biggest names debut a pro-voting song aimed at increasing voter turnout—and the campaign is taking off
Nate Hertweck
Advocacy
Nov 2, 2018 - 2:37 pm

"Hey hey, come together/ We can make the world much better/ Can’t give up on hope/ Gotta get up and vote, gotta get up and vote." –Linda Perry & John Legend, Conversations In Advocacy #42

Last month, super-singer/songwriter/producer Linda Perry launched a social media campaign encouraging Americans—especially Millennials—to exercise their rights and use their voices at the voting booth. Now, #GetUpandVote is sweeping across social media as midterm elections are in full swing, with an original song co-written by Perry and John Legend. A host of other musicians including Christina Aguilera, Natasha Bedingfield, Kelly Clarkson, Jewel, Alicia Keys and Jessica Simpson, along with big names in entertainment such as Cameron Crowe and Sara Gilbert, have all joined in on the campaign.

Perry and Legend, both members of the Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter board, each started by posting a solo version of the simple, yet powerful song they wrote together, and other artists have followed suit. The drive to make a difference in this year's midterm elections came from some shocking statistics.

"I believe in taking control of your future," said Perry. "Over 90 million people felt their voice didn’t matter and wouldn’t be heard. So I thought it was important to let people know that their voice DOES matter and will be heard, no matter what their choice."

Perry's drive to motivate the next generation of difference-makers comes to life via music in the campaign. "John Legend and I wanted to write a little song for people to do their own version and post themselves," she says. "We wrote this while I was on a plane to N.Y. and John was home in L.A."

You can hear Aguilera's and Clarkson's versions below. As momentum builds toward Election Day, Nov. 6, more and more artists are joining the campaign, encouraging their fans—regardless of circumstance or political affiliation—to get out and vote. As Perry puts it in one of her social posts for the campaign, "Doesn't matter what you wear just as long as you are there."

The best part? It might be working, as reports show a much higher early voter turnout-- proof of the power of music to enact change in our world.

Artists Are Rallying Millennials To Vote In Midterm Elections
 

Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza Spalding

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Which Women Musicians Do You Think Are The Most Influential Of This Century?

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Women have always played an important role in shaping music and culture. Now you can weigh in on which artists you think are shifting the playing field and making the biggest waves
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 30, 2018 - 3:34 pm

There are so many powerful women currently making their mark in music—and consequentially on society and culture—that compiling an exhaustive list of the most influential women musicians of the 21st century seems like quite an endeavor. From Beyoncé continually redefining what it means to be a strong independent woman to Taylor Swift standing up for girls and women everywhere to Janelle Monaé showing the world what an empowered queer woman looks like, there are so many women in music right now who are reshaping the industry and questioning societal norms. There are women who are the minority in their genres, like Cardi B and Nicki Minaj redefining what a rapper looks and sounds like, superstars like Rihanna who are using their platform to speak out, trailblazers like Esperanza Spalding, who takes jazz to a new level and legends like Amy Winehouse, whose career was cut tragically short, though her influence continues to grow. The list could go on and on, so now NPR Music wants to know: who do you think are the most influential female musicians currently making waves of change?

Janelle Monaé's "Time's Up" Speech

Recently, NPR Music, as part of their female-focused Turning the Tables project, began the conversation with their own essays on 25 women, but acknowledge the list is incomplete and want to give you the chance to tell them which ten artists "at the peak of their powers in this century" you feel are making the biggest impact and why.

What these women all have in common is they are speaking their mind and people are listening. Last year at the 60th GRAMMY Awards, Monaé gave an impassioned speech when introducing Kesha's performance of "Praying," reminding the world "just as we [women] have the power to shape culture, we also have the power to undo the culture that does not serve us well." That is exactly what artists like Monaé and Kesha are doing by speaking their truth, showing the world that they are both powerful and vulnerable at the same time. Women like them are such a vital part of our social fabric, using their art to offer the world different representations of what modern women look like and using their platforms to empower other women to do the same.

It is so important to have a diverse group of women in popular culture not only for the world to see, but as positive role models for young girls and women. Swift reminded us how women often have to do more to prove themselves at the 58th GRAMMY Awards when she became the first female to take home Album Of The Year twice. NPR's initial list of 25 includes GRAMMY-winning megastars including Swift, Beyoncé and Rihanna, as well as other lesser-known yet still influential musicians, such as Spalding, the GRAMMY-winning jazz mastermind who took home Best New Artist at the 53rd GRAMMY Awards, a year when both Justin Bieber and Drake where in the running.

Who are the women that inspire you to speak up for what you believe in, who inspire you to be yourself even if it doesn't conform to others' ideas of who you should be? What women are making music and sharing stories that are helping women and men, girls and boys, see all the different sides of a strong woman? Let NPR know. The poll is open until Nov. 13.

Esperanza Spalding Is Making Waves In Her Own Lane