Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys

Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys

Photo: Aurora Rose/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

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Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz To Receive 2018 Producers & Engineers Wing Award

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GRAMMY winners set to be honored for their outstanding artistic contributions at annual GRAMMY Week event
GRAMMYs
Nov 30, 2017 - 6:00 am
Renée Fabian

GRAMMY winners Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz are a power couple to be reckoned with. In 2018 their stars will burn even brighter with new recognition from the Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing.

The power duo will be honored during GRAMMY Week 2018 at the P&E Wing's 11th annual GRAMMY Week celebration on Jan. 25, 2018, at Rockefeller Center's iconic Rainbow Room in New York City. The invite-only event, which celebrates the artistic contributions of the Wing's professional members, will highlight the unparalleled accomplishments of Keys and Beatz.

Keys has earned a total of 15 career GRAMMYs to date, including Best New Artist and Song Of The Year for "Fallin'" at the 44th GRAMMY Awards and wins in the R&B Field for classics such as "You Don't Know My Name" (2004), "No One" (2007) and "Girl On Fire" (2013). She also earned a win for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song for her collaboration with fellow GRAMMY winner Jay-Z on "Empire State Of Mind."

Primarily a sought-after producer, Beatz — aka Kasseem Dean — has worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Madonna, Beyoncé, Busta Rhymes, Gwen Stefani, Kanye West, and Metallica. He has earned six GRAMMY nominations, and won his first career GRAMMY at the 53rd GRAMMY Awards for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group for "On To The Next One" with Jay-Z.

"With multiplatinum success, fierce dedication to the craft and unwavering support for the art of recorded sound, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz represent the power of groundbreaking ingenuity in our creative community," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. "Alicia and Swizz have set new precedents for excellence and their contributions are paramount. This is sure to be an unforgettable evening, and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate them together as an undeniable force in the industry."

Previous P&E Wing honorees include Jack White, Rick Rubin, Nile Rodgers, Neil Young, Al Schmitt, Quincy Jones, Ahmet & Nesuhi Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Tom Dowd, Chris Blackwell, T Bone Burnett, and Jimmy Iovine.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

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"Dear Evan Hansen" Producers On Winning A GRAMMY In New York

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The creatives behind the hit musical detail their path from the idea stage to Broadway to Music's Biggest Night
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Feb 2, 2018 - 12:00 pm

If you haven't seen "Dear Evan Hansen," given the show's win at the 60th GRAMMY Awards in New York, now is the perfect time to look into checking out the hit Broadway musical.

"Dear Evan Hansen" One-On-One: 2018 GRAMMYs

Written by composers/lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and produced by orchestrater Alex Lacamoire, Stacey Mindich, Pasek, and Paul, "Dear Evan Hansen" explores the struggle of social anxiety.

"It's about a young man who feels incredibly isolated and alone in his world," producer Pasek explained backstage at the 60th GRAMMYs. "And through a series of events he is believed to have been the best friend of a kid who just passed away and he basically [helps] a grieving family make them think that he was actually best friends with their son who has recently been deceased. His whole life changes as a result and the question is whether or not he should come clean and how his life changes because of this lie."

"Dear Evan Hansen" opened on Broadway in 2016 following a premiere at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 2015. For the creators of the show, getting the musical from the conceptual stage all the way to Broadway was a collaborative process.

"The songs are created along with the rest of the show, so we really worked in tandem with our book writer Steven Levenson on this project. We developed these characters and this storyline all together. Then Michael Greif our director," said Paul. "We sit in a room for a long time and come up with it all together. We bring in our music team, Alex Lacamorie and the rest of them. It's an amazing sort of journey where you keep picking up more incredible, wonderful people all along the way as you create this show from scratch and then get it up, workshopped, up on its feet and finally, eventually, thankfully on Broadway."

"Dear Evan Hansen" has earned critical acclaim since its opening. The show took home six Tony Awards, including Best Musical in 2017, and Ben Platt's role as the lead garnered him a Best Performance by an Actor Tony Award. Now the creators and Platt have added a GRAMMY to the list of the musical's accolades, having earned the GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album this year.

Ben Platt "Somewhere": GRAMMY Performance

Pasek and Paul couldn't wait to share their GRAMMY success with the rest of the cast and crew of the show, especially because Music's Biggest Night was celebrated right in the musical's hometown.

"It is really cool that our show is playing just up the street and then we get to celebrate this with our whole cast," Pasek said. "They're just finishing a matinee performance right now so I think they're going to come down and find out they're all GRAMMY winners at the end of it, which is a very, very cool thing. And to have it be in New York and to celebrate that energy that Broadway's so vital in, it's a very exciting thing for us."

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Ledisi

Ledisi

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Ledisi On Why She Celebrates Black History Month Year-Round

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The GRAMMY nominee lets us in on why celebrating the culture of African-Americans is so important
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Feb 1, 2018 - 5:27 pm

Feb. 1 marks the beginning of Black History Month, a time to celebrate the many significant — and often overlooked — contributions that African-Americans have made to the fabric of our country, including in the arts.

Ledisi On Why Black History Month Matters

African-Americans have long since been integral to music, whether it's jazz, R&B, hip-hop, rock and roll, or the undeniable influences of all of these genres that have found their way into pop, rock and even country music. Think of greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and contemporary movers and shakers like Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, SZA, and Ledisi.

We caught up with the GRAMMY-nominated R&B singer/songwriter Ledisi at the Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter's GRAMMY Nominees Reception to find out why it's so important to continue celebrating African-Americans in our country, and around the world. 

"I celebrate being black every single day. Every accomplishment I make is an honor of my ancestry, my parents, my walk, and my journey given to me in life," said Ledisi. "I think it's very important to celebrate my culture because we're in everything. We're in the makeup of everyone's lives whether they know it or not."

So this February, and all year long, let's celebrate the innumerable ways African-Americans enrich our culture.

"I love being black, I love being beautiful and I love my culture," she added. "We have to keep forwarding that."

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Residente

Residente

Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

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Residente On The Process Of Recording His GRAMMY-Winning Album

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The GRAMMY winner details the meticulous process he used to create his self-titled award-winning solo album
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Feb 1, 2018 - 12:30 pm

He's earned three previous career GRAMMYs as a member of Calle 13 — and a record-setting 24 Latin GRAMMYs — but Residente earned his first solo GRAMMY win at the 60th GRAMMY Awards.

Residente's 2018 GRAMMYs One-On-One Interview

The Puerto Rican rapper earned a GRAMMY nomination for his 2017 self-titled debut solo album. With 13 tracks, including "Guerra," "Apocalíptico," "El Futuro Es Nuestro," and "Una Leyenda China," the album was inspired by a DNA test that showed Residente's heritage spanned 10 different countries. He set out to musically discover his heritage in the most authentic way.

"It took me two years to make the album," Residente told Ted Stryker backstage at the 60th GRAMMYs. "I traveled [to] 11 countries to make music. I went to Ghana and Siberia and Serbia and … China, Puerto Rico. … I needed voices from Africa and I went to Northern Ghana … to get those voices instead of making a sample or recording in New York."

The meticulous work resulted in an album, a Netflix documentary and a book of the same title to chronicle Residente's journey of self-discovery. And, the work paid off in the form of a GRAMMY win for Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album, whtop-sellingcated to other artists like himself out there in pursuit of true art.

Watch: Residente Wins Best Latin Urban Album

"It's sad to see how the music industry is becoming numbers," said Residente. "That has to change. I'm dedicating this to people who make real music because they really love it and they don't care about YouTube views, followers, Spotify spins, top-selling records, Top 20 on the radio. This is for all these people that make art and they love it."

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler

Photo: Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage.com

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Steven Tyler's Janie's Fund Event Raises $2.4 Million For Abuse Victims

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The GRAMMY-winning frontman of Aerosmith earned millions for his charity to benefit young women who have been victims of abuse
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jan 31, 2018 - 2:01 pm

Steven Tyler founded Janie's Fund — named after Aerosmith's 1989 hit "Janie's Got a Gun" — in 2015 with partner organization Youth Villages to benefit young women who have been victims of abuse. This year he held the charity's inaugural gala ball at Red Studios in Hollywood, Calif., and what a successful evening it was.

The event's main attraction was a performance by Tyler with his country band Loving Mary, who rocked through classic hits such as "Sweet Emotion," "Dream On" and "Walk This Way." Alice Cooper, Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer and Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt also made appearances. The event also included watching the 60th GRAMMY Awards live.

With 500 guests assembled, Tyler raised $2.4 million, nearly doubling the $2.5 million total the charity has raised up until the gala. All the money raised will go toward supporting and protecting female victims of sexual abuse and trauma.

"The whole reason I'm in this is because I know what happens to a girl if she's sexually abused at 14, sent out on the street to sell crack at 15, her mother has her hook at 16, she's bringing johns home at 17 because she looks older," Tyler told Forbes. "At 18, she's left off at a bus station in Oklahoma, doesn't know where she is or what's going on. She's broken. Now, she, for the rest of her life, has a problem with sex, has a problem with men coming on to her. There are men in America that murder people, they get caught with a gun in their hand they get seven f***ing years! She gets 70 years — 70 years of her life has been ruined and that f***ing kills me. That kills me."

For more information on the Janie's Fund, visit the organization's website.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"