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        61st GRAMMY Awards
        News
        "Motown 60: A GRAMMY Celebration" Announced motown-60-grammy-celebration-set-film-feb-12-los-angeles

        "Motown 60: A GRAMMY Celebration" Set To Film On Feb. 12 In Los Angeles

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        An all-star lineup of performers will be announced during GRAMMY Week
        Nate Hertweck
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 1, 2019 - 7:14 am

        Just two days after Music's Biggest Night, the 61st GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 10, the Recording Academy, AEG Ehrlich Ventures and CBS will celebrate on of music's most historic record labels Motown Records by presenting "Motown 60: A GRAMMY Celebration." The live concert taping will be held Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. PT at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The special will air Apr. 21 on CBS. Presale concert tickets go on sale Friday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. PT (use code MOTOWN60), and general tickets go on sale Saturday, Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. PT and are available for purchase at AXS.com.

        Paying tribute to an iconic sound that changed America, an all-star lineup of artists participating in the celebration will be announced during GRAMMY Week, which begins Feb. 4.

        "Motown 60: A GRAMMY Celebration" is produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures, LLC. Ehrlich is executive producer, Ron Basile and Chantel Sausedo are producers, and David Wild is the writer/producer.

        Motown Museum Celebrates 60 Years With Special Exhibit

        sufjan_stevens_020919.jpg

        Sufjan Stevens

        News
        Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Sufjan Stevens meet-first-time-grammy-nominee-sufjan-stevens-making-mystery-love

        Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Sufjan Stevens & Making "Mystery Of Love"

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        A primer on the folk musician, his first-ever GRAMMY nomination and what it was like working with director Luca Guadagnino on the 'Call Me By Your Name' soundtrack
        Nina Corcoran
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 9, 2019 - 12:47 pm

        Notoriously reclusive and yet unflinchingly candid, Sufjan Stevens has always been a bit of a music industry enigma. The 43-year-old singer-songwriter is now known for his whispering folk music and explorations into electronica, but his career began back in 1995 when he started writing music while attending college. A few years later, he created the independent record label Asthmatic Kitty with a group of friends in Michigan and released his debut solo album. Things only sped up from there.

        "Like many of the GRAMMY nominees who came before him, Stevens has an extensive body of work that he’s been crafting over two decades. He rolled out eight solo albums, 13 EPs, three compilation albums, two mixtapes, one collaborative album, one live album, a few scores, and over a dozen standalone singles. Despite this, his first-ever GRAMMY nomination comes as a surprise—not because many believe it’s long-overdue, but because it's for his first-ever commission for a feature film.

        While plenty of Stevens' songs have soundtracked films before—perhaps most notably was the use of his 2005 hit "Chicago" in "Little Miss Sunshine"—and he’s technically written classical compositions for independent films like "ROUND-UP" and "THE BQE," the work he penned for "Call Me By Your Name" was an unlikely first in his career. That's why Stevens' nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media with "Mystery of Love," one of two original songs he wrote and recorded specifically for "Call Me By Your Name," is so thrilling.

        Starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, "Call Me By Your Name" presents a gay coming-of-age story between two men with a tough age divide standing between them. The film is earnest and ripe, and "Mystery of Love" mirrors the film’s complex emotions eloquently. Stevens whisper-sings calmly over the soft plucking of acoustic guitar and warm piano notes, making "Mystery of Love" a familiar Sufjan Stevens song in that it’s a forlorn love song. But over a scene of the two characters hiking outdoors, the song feels enormous, illuminating both the natural beauty around them the unsaid emotions that pool behind their eyes.

        Director Luca Guadagnino knew it may be tough to convince Stevens to contribute given he notoriously rejects film commission offers. So when Guadagnino reached out in 2016 before even shooting the film, he did so carefully. Initially, he asked Stevens to contribute a few songs, provide a voiceover for one of the characters, and appear in the movie as a bard. Stevens turned down the majority of the offering, telling Guadagnino, “I’ll write you some songs, but that’s all I think you need from me.” It turns out he was right—and Guadagnino admitted as much to him.

        "I've always been resistant to work in film,” Stevens told Deadline. "But Luca is an exception, because he's one of those rare directors who uses music and sound so fiercely and with such mastery that you cannot imagine the films without the music."

        According to the film’s music supervisor, Robin Urdang—who is nominated alongside Guadagnino for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the "Call Me By Your Name" soundtrack—the process was simple. A conference call with Stevens took place to discuss the details of what music they were looking for and what the film was about. He read the book by André Aciman and then the script by James Ivory. Then, only a few weeks later, two demos of songs that Guadagnino loved were delivered to her inbox. "Mystery of Love" had been written.

        "The first time I heard it, I thought it was emotive, introspective, and just very simple in a beautiful way. It was pure,” says Urdang. "When I saw it in the scene, I just melted and, needless to say, got teary-eyed. I don’t think any other songwriter or song would have been as compelling and perfect as this song. Both of his songs, 'Mystery of Love’ and ‘Visions of Gideon,’ were like putting in the last two pieces of a gorgeous puzzle. I’m not sure how else to describe it.”

        Sufjan Stevens performing "The Mystery Of Love" at the 2018 Academy Awards
        Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

        "We were in my living room [the first time we heard it]. It was me, Walter, Armie and Timothée. And I remember it was blissfulness and emotion,” Guadagnino told Billboard. “We were doing a movie that was a piece of life, of our lives, intertwined. And then we heard this music, and the depths of our commitment to the movie, I think, grew significantly more. And we became enveloped into this magic. We kept listening to the songs for like an afternoon.”

        Stevens told The Wrap wanted his contributions to feel “aesthetically and emotionally like independent works that could live on their own.” Penning the songs while on tour behind his album Carrie & Lowell helped. The distance kept him willfully ignorant of the film's inner workings while keeping him burrowed in reflections about love and loss onstage. That’s why “Mystery of Love” manages to juggle both.

        "Luca designed this project around a more general aesthetic affiliation with me and my music, and what it means to him,” Stevens told the Los Angeles Times. “He wasn’t just thinking about specific content, he was thinking about all of my songs. When I saw a first screening, he said, ‘I just want you to know that a lot of this project is an homage to your work and to you.’ I don't know, maybe he says things like that to everybody. But it struck me that there was an essence to my repertoire that was inspiring or influencing him. I don’t think I'm his muse — Lord knows it’s Tilda Swinton.”

        "Since the film’s release, Stevens' music got swept up in a whirlwind of praise. In January of 2018, "Mystery of Love" debuted at number 47 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart, marking his first and only appearance on the chart. Suddenly, the song was nominated for an Oscar. He performed it live at the Academy Awards with St. Vincent, Moses Sumney, Chris Thile and others backing him up. The following day, the song’s on-demand audio streams increased by 60 percent. A musician known for leading a private life off-record was suddenly appearing everywhere: Deadline, Vanity Fair, Variety. Sufjan Stevens had entered a new level of fame despite already being an indie rock staple for years.

        "I’m just so moved that the film's love story spoke to so many people and I’m super happy for Sufjan's involvement,” adds Urdang. “Without it, [this movie] would not have been the same."

        Watch the 61st GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10 on CBS.

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        Drake

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        Drake Gives A Poignant GRAMMYs Speech drake-offers-perspective-best-rap-song-acceptance-speech-we-play-opinion-based-sport

        Drake Offers Perspective In Best Rap Song Acceptance Speech: "We Play In An Opinion-Based Sport"

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        The Toronto rapper took home the Best Rap Song Grammy for "God's Plan" at the 61st GRAMMY Awards
        Bonnie Stiernberg 
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 10, 2019 - 7:30 pm

        Drake took home the Best Rap Song Grammy for "God's Plan" tonight, and he used his acceptance speech to offer fans and his fellow nominees a little perspective on the meaning of awards.

        "We play in an opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport,” he said, adding, "The point is, you’ve already won if you have people who are singing your songs word for word, if you’re a hero in your hometown. Look, if there’s people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain and snow, spending money to buy tickets to your shows, you don’t need this right here. You already won."

        2019 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Nominees And Winners List
         

        Dolly Parton, Katy Perry and Kacey Musgraves

        Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

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        Stars Honor Dolly Parton At The 2019 GRAMMYs kacey-musgraves-miley-cyrus-maren-morris-and-more-pay-tribute-dolly-parton

        Kacey Musgraves, Miley Cyrus, Maren Morris And More Pay Tribute to Dolly Parton

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        The Backwoods Barbie teamed up with a number of singers for a medley of career-spanning songs at the 61st GRAMMY Awards
        Bonnie Stiernberg
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 10, 2019 - 6:39 pm

        The GRAMMY tribute to MusiCares Person Of The Year and all-around legend Dolly Parton was a star-studded affair, featuring performances from the likes of Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Little Big Town and more, but the real star of the segment was the Backwoods Barbie herself.

        Dolly Parton Medley: GRAMMY Performance

        Parton stunned with some excellent vocals, kicking things off with Kacey Musgraves and Perry on "Here You Come Again" before duetting with her goddaughter Cyrus on "Jolene."

        Cyrus and Parton were joined by Maren Morris for some gorgeous three-part harmony on "After the Gold Rush," which she recorded with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris on their classic Trio II album.

        Little Big Town appeared for new track "Red Shoes" from the Dumplin' soundtrack before Parton brought it home with a "9 to 5" finale.

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        Camila Cabello

        Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

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        Camila Cabello Heats Up "Havana" At The GRAMMYs camila-cabello-young-thug-j-balvin-ricky-martin-arturo-sandoval-open-2019-grammys

        Camila Cabello, Young Thug, J Balvin, Ricky Martin, Arturo Sandoval Open The 2019 GRAMMYs With "Havana"

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        The 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards are officially underway, and Camila Cabello kicked off the night's festivities with an infectious performance of "Havana" with some help from a few famous friends
        Bonnie Stiernberg
        GRAMMYs
        Feb 10, 2019 - 5:31 pm

        The 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards are officially underway, and Camila Cabello kicked off the night's festivities with an infectious performance of "Havana" with some help from a few famous friends.

        The singer was joined by Young Thug, J Balvin, Ricky Martin and the legendary trumpeter Arturo Sandoval on a vibrant set that allowed viewers to peer inside brightly colored apartment units a la Rear Window.

        Martin in particular comes full circle with the performance, appearing on the GRAMMY stage 20 years after his iconic 1999 GRAMMY performance of "The Cup of Life."

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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.