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        News
        global-concert-business-healthy-2009

        Global Concert Business Healthy In 2009

        Facebook Twitter Email
        GRAMMYs
        Dec 2, 2014 - 3:22 pm

        Global Concert Business Healthy In 2009
        The global concert industry totaled a record $4.4 billion in revenue, an 11.7 increase over 2008, and 73 million in attendance, a year-over-year 12.6 percent increase, according to figures from Billboard Boxscore from Dec. 6, 2008, to Nov. 21, 2009. In North America concert revenue reached $2.8 billion in 2009, down 2 percent, and 50 million in attendance, down 1.7 percent, based on 9 percent fewer shows. Live Nation reported a 25 percent increase in gross revenue to $2.5 billion and a 19 percent increase in attendance to 41 million, while AEG Live reported $888 million in gross revenue, a 12 percent decline, and 14.5 million in attendance, a 12 percent drop. (12/11)

        Billboard Names Swift, West Artists Of Year
        Billboard magazine named Taylor Swift and Kanye West as its top female and top male artists of the year, respectively. Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and Britney Spears placed second through fifth in the female category, while T.I., Flo Rida, Jason Mraz, and Ne-Yo rounded out the top five in the male category. Swift was also named Billboard's 2009 overall artist of the year. (12/11)

        Music Dominates Top 10 Most-Watched Videos In 2009
        The top 10 list of most-watched Internet videos in 2009 consisted of all music videos except for the No. 1 video, the trailer to Twilight Saga: New Moon, according to a report by independent measuring firm Visible Measures. Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" was the No. 2 most-watched video with 333.2 million views. Rounding out the top five were Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" (317.7 million views), Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat" (313.8 million views) and a Susan Boyle performance from "Britain's Got Talent" (313.2 million views). (12/11)

        Elvis Presley 75th Anniversary Events Planned For 2010
        A variety of nationwide events will take place in 2010 celebrating the 75th anniversary birthday celebration of Elvis Presley, including a cake-cutting ceremony at his Graceland home in Memphis, Tenn., on Jan. 8, 2010, the date of what would have been his 75th birthday. Other events will include a special exhibit at Graceland featuring Presley's costumes and "Viva Elvis," a Cirque du Soleil tribute to his life and music opening Dec. 18 in Las Vegas. The GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live will premiere Elvis At 21: Photographs By Alfred Wertheimer, a new Smithsonian traveling exhibition, on Jan. 8. (12/11)
         

        Brandi Carlile

        Brandi Carlile

        Photo: David Crotty/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

        News
        Brandi Carlile Opens Up On Big GRAMMY Wins brandi-carlile-women-getting-more-involved-building-blocks-infrastructure-our-business

        Brandi Carlile: Women "Getting More Involved In The Building Blocks Of The Infrastructure Of Our Business"

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        Following in the footsteps of the women she used to stay up late to watch perform on the GRAMMYs, the inspirational singer/songwriter talks about what this landmark year for women means to her
        Nate Hertweck
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 15, 2019 - 11:49 am

        Brandi Carlile had quite a night at the 61st GRAMMY Awards, winning in three of her categories: Best Americana Album for By The Way, I Love You and Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for "The Joke."

        Brandi Carlile: 2019 GRAMMYs Backstage Interview

        During an interview backstage in the TV/Radio room, Carlile reflected on what the night meant not only for her career, but her genre, the gay community, and especially for women in music this year.

        "It wasn't strictly a vocalist year. We talked a lot about producers. Linda Perry didn't win but she did an amazing job this year, and I hope that she wins next year. We got our first mastering engineer [Emily Lazar] that won this year," Carlile said to a room full of reporters. "I'm producing records, and am really heartened by women who are getting more involved in the building locks of the infrastructure of our business."

        Carlile also saw her performance of "The Joke" during the GRAMMY telecast as a full-circle moment, recalling some of her early inspirational GRAMMY moments.

        Brandi Carlile "The Joke": GRAMMY Performance

        "I was allowed to stay up late at night as a young child to watch Whitney and Celine and Aretha hit the notes on the GRAMMYs, and to think that some gay kid somewhere in some small town got to stay up late tonight to see me hit the notes is something that I'll never forget," she added.

        Carlile also talked about what the Americana genre means to her, how "The Joke" grew from a challenge by producer Dave Cobb and more. 

        61st GRAMMY Awards
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        Kacey Musgraves
        Kacey Musgraves
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        H.E.R._012319.jpg
        H.E.R.
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        Amy Winehouse Best New Artist winner for 2007 | Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

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        John Billings
        John Billings
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        Lady Gaga
        Lady Gaga
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        2019 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Nominees And Winners List

        The Temptations

        Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

        News
        The Temptations' 'Cloud Nine' At 50 cloud-nine-50-otis-williams-reflects-temptations-experimental-era

        'Cloud Nine' At 50: Otis Williams Reflects On The Temptations' "Experimental" Era

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        The 77-year-old frontman and only original surviving member of the legendary Motown group recalls recording the band's ninth album and taking influence from funk kings Sly and the Family Stone
        Tamara Palmer
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 15, 2019 - 11:13 am

        "Time flies when you’re having fun!" says Otis Williams.

        The frontman and only original surviving member of The Temptations is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the legendary Motown group's ninth album, Cloud Nine, on Feb. 17. 

        The album's title track earned the group — and Motown — their first GRAMMY Award, for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group, Vocal or Instrumental.

        "It was a surprise,"" Williams recalls of the win. "Cloud Nine was a departure from the songs that we had been recording before, because the previous hit was 'Please Return Your Love to Me,' which is a beautiful ballad. So to come from ‘Please Return Your Love’ to psychedelic soul was a quantum leap."

        Williams credits that "quantum leap" from balladry to psychedelic soul to being inspired in part by Sly and the Family Stone.

        "The Temps were in New York City at the time,” he explains, "and Kenny Gamble of Gamble and Huff — he and I were good friends — we were talking one day in the hotel room and we heard Sly and the Family Stone with 'Dance to the Music.' And when they did that little breakdown and started doing that [hums breakdown], I said, ‘Wow, that’s pretty slick!'

        "I went back to Detroit and I asked Norman Whitfield, who was our producer at the time, if he had heard Sly and the Family Stone and he said, ‘No, I haven’t heard.’ I said, ‘Well they have a sound I like, we should probably try that,’ because we were going from David Ruffin to Dennis Edwards. So we went out of town and came back to Detroit and Norman had recorded 'Cloud Nine,' and the rest is history."

        With the lyrics, "Depressed and downhearted, I took to Cloud Nine/I'm doin' fine, up here on Cloud Nine," "Cloud Nine" the song has always invited comparisons to getting high, but Williams says it came from a sober place.

        "It came about through Norman Whitfield and Barry Strong," he explains. "Cloud nine is a saying that’s been around for eons. Those guys, they didn't get high, they were just writing from what they felt and it turned out to be a great song. But cloud nine is something that’s been around a long time. And I guess that’s how it really came about, they just got together and decided to call the song ‘Cloud Nine’ and when they presented it to us we went into the studio and did the best we could do with it. But there’s no real origin other than the expression has been around a long time and they just turned it into a song of expression. You can think however you want to think about ‘Cloud Nine’ and getting high, but Norman Whitfield and Barry Strong didn’t do drugs.”

        "Cloud Nine" grabbed the GRAMMY, but it was another song from the album that would truly impact the course of the group's career. While most of the 10 songs on Cloud Nine hover around the three-minute mark, "Runaway Child, Running Wild" came barreling out the gate at just over nine-and-a-half minutes.

        "Back then, we and Norman were very experimental,” says Williams. "It wasn’t known for songs to be over three or four minutes to get any real air time, so there were times that Norman would have to shorten the songs so we could get some air time. But in the evening, when it was after six or seven, and disc jockeys had the freedom to play longer songs, thats’ what happened. But we were just very experimental and Norman got in the groove and he decided to ride the groove out with all those different inflections and the tracks that made the Cloud Nine album and the subsequent album very entertaining. Prior to Cloud Nine, our songs were to the point, three minutes, maybe three and a half minutes and that’s it. But in 1968 the format of radio started changing, they had ‘the Quiet Storm,’ where they could play beautiful music a lot longer, love songs a lot longer. It was a different change of airplay and the way radio was being received."

        Half a century later, the group is as active as ever. Motown/UMe reissued Cloud Nine on color vinyl in October, and The Temptations are touring around the country for most of the year. Previews for the group’s musical, "Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations" begin February 28 on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre, and the show opens on March 21.

        "I first saw it in the very embryonic stage when they were getting together in New York City and I just saw a small portion of it,” Williams says of the musical. "During the intermission, someone came up to me and said, ‘Mr. Williams, how do you feel looking at yourself up on that stage?’ I said, ‘I can’t even put it into words, it’s so interesting to see what we’ve gone through.’ She said, ‘I did not know that you all went through those kind of changes. I said, ‘Oh yes,’ and she said, ‘You have a hit on your hands. I’m going to tell you this, it’s going to be just as big as Hamilton, if not bigger.’ I said, ‘Well if we do anything close to what Hamilton did I will be happy as a cat covered up in caca,’ and she busted out laughing. So it looks like it’s going to go through the roof as far as being accepted and being appreciated because of the music.

        “But, I must say, it is not only the music,” he continues. "Naturally, 'Can’t Get Next to You' and the 'Just My Imagination' and 'Ain't Too Proud to Beg' — yeah, the people want to hear those songs, but I find as I look at it and I look at it with objectivity, that the story is touching. Getting shot at on the bus down South, walking into a restaurant with a group of us and getting told, 'We don't serve n****** and we said, ‘Well we don’t eat them' and we had to turn around, walk out and find a place to eat. All that’s being portrayed in the play, so it’s the story as well as the music so it's the best of both worlds. Please check it out because it’s turning out to be something really special."

        It's been 60 years since the birth of Motown and the lessons taught there have lasted artists a lifetime.

        "Most of the Motown artists had to go to school to learn to be in show business,” he said. "Not for the hit record only, but being able to work and command big dollars whether we ever got another hit record or not. We tried to establish ourselves as performers to help the great music that we made. Like I always tell people, there will never ever, ever, ever — and I try not to use the word never because you never know in life — but i think I’m safe in using it. There will never ever, ever be another Motown Records, no company will ever be like Motown.

        "I just love what we do,” he asserted. "Each year is a blessing to be able to be around 59 years later. You could have tipped me over with a feather before I would have believed that we would be around 59 years later."

        Jay Rock

        Jay Rock

        Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images 

        News
        Jay Rock: "This Is A Real Big Redemption For Me" jay-rock-real-big-redemption-me

        Jay Rock: "This Is A Real Big Redemption For Me"

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        The GRAMMY-winning rapper shares the powerful backstory behind his first win at the 2019 GRAMMYs
        Ana Yglesias
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 15, 2019 - 11:06 am

        Los Angeles rapper Jay Rock had a great 2018; he worked with longtime friend and label-mate Kendrick Lamar on a big single from Black Panther: The Album and released his third studio album, Redemption, which also included the hit song.

        The track, "King's Dead," also features Future and James Blake and garnered two GRAMMY nods. It won Best Rap Performance at the 61st GRAMMY Awards, Rock's first-ever win.

        In an exclusive backstage interview with Rock after his big win, he shares the organic nature of the collab and reveals the deeper significance of his first time at the GRAMMYs.

        Jay Rock One-On-One Interview | 2019 GRAMMYs

        "Big shouts out to Kendrick Lamar…We were working next door together and I just so happened to walk in while he was working on the Black Panther Soundtrack," Rock said. "I'm still speechless right now, I'm just overjoyed and excited."

        Rock and Lamar have been working together since the early 2000s with Top Dawg Entertainment, the label they are both signed to. Rock explains that he was planning on attending the 58th GRAMMY Awards with Lamar, but didn't due to a bad motorcycle accident he was in the day of the show. That year Lamar earned 11 nominations and took home five wins—the most of any artist that night. Now, three years later, Rock had his big moment as they both earned a win.

        "This is a real big redemption for me. Three years ago I was supposed to be at the GRAMMYs with the homey, with Kendrick and the TDE fam, unfortunately I got into that real bad bike accident. Now three years later I won a GRAMMY. It's crazy man, it's just so unreal."

        Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake Tie Anderson .Paak To Win Best Rap Performance | 2019 GRAMMYs

        Harvey Mason Jr. 

        News
        Behind The Board: Harvey Mason Jr. behind-board-harvey-mason-jr-role-meaning-being-producer

        Behind The Board: Harvey Mason Jr. On The Role, Meaning Of Being A Producer

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        The GRAMMY-nominated producer has worked with Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and more
        Jennifer Velez
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 15, 2019 - 11:04 am

        GRAMMY-nominated producer Harvey Mason Jr.'s first professional production gig involved a Motown artist named Impromptu and $2,500. 

        "I thought that was the greatest thing ever," Mason Jr. recalls about getting paid for his first professional experience in the latest episode of Behind The Board. 

        Behind The Board: Harvey Mason Jr.

        Mason Jr. comes from a line of music makers. "I grew up going to the studio with my dad and sleeping right under the console that looked just like this," he says sitting in the producer's chair in a studio. "It's definitely influenced and impacted my career 'to this day."

        Mason Jr. has worked with Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and more. 

        "As a producer your job is to ensure that the artist gives the best performance," he says. "So the mindset is 'What can I bring to the session?', not what are they going to bring, what can I bring to the session that heightens the quality of what we make. That makes that artist or that singer, that performer do something they've never done or at least better than what they have done before."

        Watch the rest of the interview above for more insight on Mason Jr.'s thought process when making music, what he believes producers should bring to the table and more. 

        Behind The Board: Boi-1da On His Beginnings And Working With Drake

         

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        Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.