Johnny Mandel at 1966 GRAMMYs

Johnny Mandel at 1966 GRAMMYs

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Johnny Mandel, GRAMMY-Winning Film Composer Of 'M*A*S*H' Theme, Is Dead At 94

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The late composer and arranger also wrote for major jazz bands and pop artists, as well as other memorable film scores and themes, including "The Shadow of Your Smile" and "Emily"
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jun 30, 2020 - 1:08 pm

GRAMMY- and Oscar-winning composer Johnny Mandel died on Monday at his home in Ojai, Calif. at the age of 94, the New York Times reports. He composed and arranged music for jazz bands and pop singers like Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett, but is most remembered by his classic movie scores and themes.

Two of his most celebrated works include "Suicide Is Painless," the theme song for the 1970 film M*A*S*H and its long-running TV series spin-off, and "The Shadow of Your Smile," the oft-covered GRAMMY-winning theme song for the 1965 film The Sandpiper. He also scored both films, winning a second GRAMMY for latter score, as well as nomination for the former.

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Born in New York City in 1925, a young Mandel got his start in music playing trumpet in the Catskills while many musicians were overseas for World War II. Soon after, he joined jazz bands in the City, before focusing exclusively on arranging and composing in 1954, according to the Times. Four years later, he moved to Southern California and began his career writing music for Hollywood.

Shortly after, he received his first three GRAMMY nominations in 1959 at the 1st GRAMMY Awards, for his debut film score, 1958's noir I Want To Live!

His next three GRAMMY nominations—and first two wins—came at the 1966 GRAMMY Awards, for "The Shadow of Your Smile," which won Song Of The Year, and The Sandpiper's score, which won Best Original Score. The theme also earned him an Oscar for Best Original Song.

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A romantic number, "The Shadow of Your Smile" has been covered by countless artists, including Bennett (Manel arranged his version as well) Stevie Wonder, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass Band, Sinatra and his daughter Nancy Sinatra. Mandel said the song was inspired by the scenic Northern California coast: "I saw that gorgeous panorama, shooting from Big Sur out on to the ocean. How do you write that? I figured, you write it with a solo voice ... I'd try to translate that into what it looked like."

Following the two GRAMMYs he won in 1966, Mandel earned three more career GRAMMYs, in 1982, 1992 and 1993. The 1992 GRAMMY Awards win, for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s), came from his arrangement on Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable," based on her father Nat King Cole's hit of the same name. Thanks to overdubbing, the powerful track features her father's vocals alongside hers.

Other films he scored include The Americanization of Emily (1964), Point Blank (1965), Freaky Friday (1977) and Caddyshack (1980).

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Ennio Morricone in 2012

Ennio Morricone in 2012

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Legendary GRAMMY-Winning Film Composer Ennio Morricone Has Died At 91

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The prolific Italian composer scored over 500 films and TV shows, and launched his celebrated career with otherworldly, spacious soundtracks for Sergio Leone's 1960s spaghetti westerns
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jul 6, 2020 - 3:06 pm

Ennio Morricone, the prolific Italian composer responsible for the scores to over 500 films—including many of Sergio Leone's beloved spaghetti westerns of the '60s—has died at age 91. According to the New York Times, he died on Monday, July 6, at a hospital in his hometown of Rome, after being admitted there last week after a fall.

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The GRAMMY winner's iconic soundtracks were filled with literal bells and whistles and other eclectic sounds that transported moviegoers to the Wild West and beyond. Morricone created a powerful partnership with Italian director, scoring the Dollars trilogy (1964-66), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)—all starring Clint Eastwood—Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and more of his films.

While there are far too many to list, his other notable scores include Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1988), Brian De Palma's Untouchables (1987) and Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (2015), the latter of which earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe, plus a GRAMMY nomination. The Untouchables score earned him a GRAMMY win at the 1988 GRAMMYs. He was also honored with the Recording Academy's Special Merit Award in 2014 and received seven career GRAMMY nominations.

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Tarantino, like many other directors and musicians, was inspired by the Roman director's majestic soundscapes. Before The Hateful Eight, Tarantino used his music in Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds.

The power of his compositions was felt outside of the films he scored and even and the movie industry. According to Rolling Stone, "JAY-Z, Metallica, Radiohead, the Ramones, Muse, Gnarls Barkley and many others claim[ed] his music as either sample or influence or both. He was also the rare composer to inspire listeners to buy soundtracks, selling over 70 million records over the course of his career."

As the New York Times explains, one of these inspirations came from his hit "The Ecstasy of Gold," the theme song for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Metallica has used it as opening music during their concerts and the Ramones used it to close theirs. The GRAMMY-winning classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma recorded a rendition of it on his 2004 album dedicated to the composer, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone.

Morricone also worked on TV scores as a classical composer, and as studio arranger and composer at RCA. He wrote music for Joan Baez, Paul Anka, Pet Shop Boys, k.d. lang, Andrea Bocelli, Sting and more.

Born in Rome on Nov. 10, 1928, he lived there his whole life. Despite his Hollywood fame, he only first traveled to the United States in 2007 at 78 years old and never learned English. 

"He sometimes scored 20 or more films a year, often working only from a script before screening the rushes. Directors marveled at his range—tarantellas, psychedelic screeches, swelling love themes, tense passages of high drama, stately evocations of the 18th century or eerie dissonances of the 20th—and at the ingenuity of his silences: He was wary of too much music, of overloading an audience with emotions," the Times states.

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Good Splits Debuts Free Music Royalty Calculator

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The free artist-centric tool was launched in beta in 2019 and is now available accepting sign ups for new users on a rolling basis
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Aug 25, 2020 - 1:15 pm

Last week, on Aug. 19, Good Splits officially launched their free music royalty calculator for artists, after a 2019 beta round. The new tool was created by Nashville-based music manager Jordan Mattison, who founded Good Folk Management, and New York-based digital agency Coalesce.

"The music industry has a terrible history of serving the artist last. Good Splits was built to help artists do their royalty accounting in a super accessible way—and I hope it's one step toward a more equitable music business," Mattison recently told Billboard. "Not only does it save time, it actually helps more artists get paid what they're owed, which in turn actually lets them plan for the future—something musicians feel is often out of their reach."

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Good Splits' target users are independent artists or, as their website states, "working musicians who don't have access to fancy accounting teams." With the artist in mind, the team created "a new, simple tool that would allow musicians to bid farewell to their unwieldy spreadsheets, calculate payments faster, and provide more reliability and transparency to their collaborators."

"We saw a problem in the music business and knew that some smart strategy, simple tech and savvy design could help fill the gap in a real, tangible way," Tucker Margulies of Coalesce said to Billboard. "It shouldn't take crazy technology to be able to know how much a song has made or how much you owe a collaborator."

Good Splits was designed to work with all major aggregators and distributors, including self-distributor models like Tunecore or serviced-distributors like AWAL. The only data the user needs to provide is a CSV file from whichever music service they use, along with the splits. The tool will offer "a clean, easy-to-understand earnings breakdown by song, album and collaborator" to help users make payouts simpler and more transparent.

Good Splits is accepting new users for the free service on a rolling basis—visit their website for more info and to sign up.

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GRAMMYs

Kristolyn Lloyd at 2018 GRAMMYs

 

Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images

 
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The 63rd GRAMMY Awards: Looking Ahead To The 2021 GRAMMY Awards Show

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Need something to look forward to? Here's what you'll want to know about the 2021 GRAMMYs, including nominations, timelines, rule changes, possible formats, voting and more...
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Aug 19, 2020 - 9:37 am

Updated March 7, 2021.

Given how this year has gone, perhaps you're ready to fast-forward to 2021 (we're almost there!). Beyond it no longer being 2020, next year has some other big things going for it, including Music's Biggest Night, a.k.a. the 2021 GRAMMYs. Airing Sunday, March 14, 2021, on CBS, the 63rd GRAMMY Awards recognize excellence in music released in late 2019 and 2020. Hopefully, you're as excited about the show as we are! 

To help make sure you stay in the loop, read on to learn more important dates and details about GRAMMY nominations (they were announced on Nov. 24), the Recording Academy member voting process and everything else 2021 GRAMMY Awards show!

It's Here! 2021 GRAMMYs: Complete Nominees List

When Is It?

On Sunday, March 14, 2021, the 63rd GRAMMY Awards will be happening. The health and safety of the artists, guests, crew and staff is always front of mind during every GRAMMYs, so, logistically, things will be a little different this year.

62nd GRAMMY Awards Wrap Up Show

How To Watch The 2021 GRAMMY Awards Show

Ahead of Music's Biggest Night, GRAMMY.com has put together a useful guide about the different ways you can watch the show and experience the 2021 GRAMMY season in full. Check out our official Watch The 2021 GRAMMYs Live page and read below for more details.

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Who Is Nominated?!

One of the biggest days in music outside of the show itself is the nominations announcement, when hundreds of artists learn they're in the running for a golden gramophone. For the upcoming 63rd GRAMMY Awards, the nominees were announced on Nov. 24. You can peruse the complete 2021 nominees list here and rewatch the star-studded nominations annoucement livestream here. You can also find out who are the most-nominated artists this year here.

GRAMMY nominations are always a very celebratory day for those nominated. It is truly a moment when all the love, long hours and hard work that was put into the music feels worth it. Celebrate with the 2021 nominees in this joyful reactions roundup. 

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Who Is Performing?!

Performers for the 2021 GRAMMY Awards show include Bad Bunny, Black Pumas, Cardi B, BTS, Brandi Carlile, DaBaby, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Mickey Guyton, Haim, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Lil Baby, Dua Lipa, Chris Martin, John Mayer, Megan Thee Stallion, Maren Morris, Post Malone, Roddy Ricch, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift.

To view a list of current nominations per artist, please visit our GRAMMY Awards performer and presenter page here.

What About The Premiere Ceremony?

Preceding the 2021 GRAMMY Awards show, the 63rd GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony will take place Sunday, March 14, at noon PT, and will be streamed live internationally via GRAMMY.com.

Hosted by current three-time GRAMMY nominee Jhené Aiko, the Premiere Ceremony will feature a number of performances by current GRAMMY nominees, including: Nigerian singer, songwriter and rapper Burna Boy, jazz band Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science, blues musician Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, classical pianist Igor Levit, Latin electropop musician Lido Pimienta, singer, songwriter and performance artist Poppy, and singer, songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright. 

Learn more about the 63rd GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony.

What Releases Are Eligible?

The Product Eligibility Period for the 63rd GRAMMY Awards is Sept. 1, 2019—Aug. 31, 2020.

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What Will The Show Look Like?

Just ahead of the nominees announcement on Nov. 24, the Recording Academy revealed GRAMMY-nominated South African comedian Trevor Noah will host the 2021 GRAMMYs.

While the format of next year's GRAMMY Awards has not been announced, Harvey Mason jr., the Recording Academy Interim President/CEO, offered some insight on what to expect at the 2021 show back in June during an interview with Variety. "We are simultaneously developing three plans for what the show would look like: One is the traditional show with the full crowd, two is a limited crowd, and three is no crowd, and there's creative around all three of those ideas: how and where we would film it. But none of them involve changing or postponing the date," said Mason. 

"I've spent a lot of time talking to artists, managers and labels and getting a feel for how the pandemic is affecting the release of music—and as I'm sure you've noticed, the amount of music released has actually increased during the pandemic, so we would not want to delay our date with so much great music coming out," he continued.

"But I also think it's important and helpful to have shows like this, when there's been so much uncertainty and unrest—to have something you know is coming around every year and to know there's a time when we all sit down together and watch great entertainment and art… We're trying to build the next evolution of the Academy, and the show will go hand-in-hand with that. Whether it's with a crowd or not, we're going to try to take things to the next level," Mason added.

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More recently, on Sept. 30, he spoke to Variety again and added that no matter what, the show will be executed fully live, with no pre-recorded segments.

"We're looking at Staples [Center] with a limited audience, although that seems increasingly unlikely; Staples with live performances and no audience; or something a little more virtual, with some elements from different locations," Mason said. "We're still waiting to hear back from our partners at the network and the venue and our medical experts, because obviously we want this to be safe for everyone ...

"Obviously, this is a very unique year. We've been looking at all of the [2020 awards] shows really closely and I've been talking with some of the people who put them together—the creative and also the business side. I think there have been some great examples of how to present music and awards at these shows, and I think there's some other things that we're gonna do pretty differently. The civic and social unrest deserves to be addressed, and we always encourage artists to voice their opinions, so I expect we'll see messages both from the artists' side and the Academy side."

Behind The Board: Harvey Mason Jr.

We can't wait for all the magical GRAMMY moments, epic performances and moving speeches—it's exactly what we need to start 2021 off on an inspirational note. While you'll have to wait to closer to the show to find out who the performers and presenters are (which are always announced in multiple waves), what's certain is things will be off the chain.

Read: The Recording Academy Announces Changes For 63rd Annual GRAMMYs, Releases Rules And Guidelines

What's New For 2021?

There are quite a few exciting changes going into effect with the 63rd GRAMMY Awards! Following Ken Ehrlich's celebrated 40-year run as the show's executive producer, Emmy Award-winning producer Ben Winston is taking over the reins. The highly experienced TV/film writer/director/producer has worked on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," co-creating Corden's beloved "Carpool Karaoke" show with the comedian himself.

James Corden Subway Carpool Karaoke | 2018 GRAMMYs

Additionally, several major changes to the voting guidelines and rules, the latter which affects five award categories, go into effect this year. These updates, announced in June, reflect the Recording Academy's ongoing commitment to evolve with the musical landscape and to ensure that the nomination process and rules are more transparent and fair. More details on the changes can be found in the above link, but, the rule/category updates are highlighted below.

  • Best Urban Contemporary Album has been renamed Best Progressive R&B Album to include a more accurate definition to describe the merit or characteristics of music compositions or performances within the genre of R&B.
  • Best Rap/Sung Performance has been renamed Best Melodic Rap Performance to represent the growing hybrid performance trends within the rap genre.
  • Latin Pop Album has been renamed Best Latin Pop Or Urban Album AND Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album has been renamed Best Latin Rock Or Alternative Album to represent the current state and prominent representation in the Latin urban genres.
  • There is no longer a specified maximum number of releases prohibiting artists from entering the Best New Artist category. The screening committees will determinine whether the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence prior to the eligibility year, with such a determination would result in disqualification.

Another exciting category update occured in November, when Best World Music Album changed to the more inclusive Best Global Music Album. While this might appear subtle to those not familiar with the baggage the term "world music" carries, it represents an important honoring of its past and movement towards a more inclusive, adaptive future.

The new name was decided after extensive conversations with artists, ethnomusicologists and linguists from around the world, who decided it was time to rename it with "a more relevant, modern, and inclusive term," an email sent to Recording Academy members explained. "The change symbolizes a departure from the connotations of colonialism, folk and 'non-American' that the former term embodied while adapting to current listening trends and cultural evolution among the diverse communities it may represent."

Related: Travel Around The World With The Best Global Music Album Nominees | 2021 GRAMMYs

Key Voting Dates

As the only peer-recognized music award, the GRAMMY is the music industry’s highest honor. This means GRAMMY nominations and winners are determined by the music professionals who are voting members of the Recording Academy. 

  • Sept. 1, 2019—Aug. 31, 2020: Product Eligibility Period
  • Sept. 30—Oct. 12, 2020: First-Round Voting—eligible members vote to determine the 2021 nominees!
  • Nov. 24: Nominations Announcement!
  • Dec. 7, 2020—Jan. 4, 202: Final-Round Voting—this round determines the GRAMMY winners!
  • Sunday, March 14, 2021: 63rd GRAMMY Awards & Premiere Ceremony

Your Academy: Welcoming The 2020 New Member Class

Find more at the GRAMMY Awards FAQ page here, including on the voting process.

To make sure you don't miss a beat on anything GRAMMY Awards related, make sure to follow us on our social channels (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) and subscribe to our newsletter (sign up below) and YouTube channel.

2021 GRAMMYs: Complete Nominees List

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Annie Ross in 2015

Annie Ross in 2015

Photo: Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images

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GRAMMY-Winning Jazz Singer & Actor Annie Ross Has Died At 89

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The singer rose to fame as one-third of the innovative jazz vocal act Lambert, Hendricks and Ross
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jul 22, 2020 - 2:22 pm

British jazz singer and actor Annie Ross died yesterday, July 22, in her Manhattan home, the New York Times reports, just shy of her 90th birthday. The GRAMMY-winning vocal maestro was born Annabelle Macauley Allan Short on July 25, 1930 in Mitcham, England.

Born to theatrical parents, Ross spent much of her life in music, film or theater, with some of her most celebrated work from her time in the GRAMMY-winning jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.

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As the Times explains, Ross first left England to live in Los Angeles with an aunt, singer/actor Ella Logan, making her film debut at just eight years old. She later studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and then moved to London where she adopted her stage name. But it was her next home, Paris, where she would discover her love of jazz.

In Paris, Ross performed and recorded with a handful of American jazz musicians, including drummer Kenny Clarke, with whom she dated and had her only child, Kenny Clarke Jr., who survives her. She is also survived by her partner Dave Usher.

Ross first recorded the coy number she wrote, "Twisted," in 1952 on the iconic New York jazz label Prestige Records, snagging a minor hit with it. In 1957, she joined fellow jazz vocalists Jon Hendricks and Dave Lambert to record the GRAMMY-nominated album Sing A Song Of Basie. Featuring lyrics from Hendricks and their three mailable vocals overdubbed to jubilant music from Count Basie's big band, the album was a hit and the trio was officially formed. They would be credited as popularizing this style of jazz, called vocalese, where singers improvise over popular jazz instrumentals.

The trio would earn two more GRAMMY nominations during their prolific four years together, with one resulting in a win. Following their first nomination, for Best Performance By A Vocal Group Or Chorus at the 1st GRAMMY Awards, they received another nod two years later at the 1961 GRAMMYs, for Best Jazz Performance Solo Or Small Group for their album The Hottest New Group In Jazz, which featured a popular rendition of "Twisted."

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Their golden gramophone would come just one year later, and the 4th GRAMMY Awards, winning Best Performance By A Vocal Group for High Flying, the trio's final studio album with Ross. In 1962, at the height of their fame, Ross left the group to overcome a heroin addiction. As the Times put it:

"For four years, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross were a worldwide sensation, and Ms. Ross became a model for a new breed of jazz singers who could sing rapid-fire, tongue-twisting words with precision and clarity. But despite the group's success, she quit in 1962. At the time, her departure was attributed to poor health. In later years she acknowledged that it had been fueled partly by friction with Mr. Hendricks, but mostly by her increasing dependence on heroin.

'Yeah, I had a hangup,' she told The New York Times in 1993. 'A little bit here, a little bit there, and that was it. It was the culture of the time—the long hours, having to produce every night, needing stimulation. I guess you're young and fearless and think you're going to live forever.'"

She spent her later career returning to acting, sharing her time in London's theater, British television and American films including Superman III in 1983 and Short Cuts in 1993, the latter in which she played an aging jazz singer.

That role led to over a decade of regularly sharing her voice and grace in a cabaret act at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan, until it shuttered in 2017. Her last album came in just 2014, a tribute to the great Billie Holiday, entitled To Lady With Love.

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