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GRAMMYs

Oscar Görres

 

Photo courtesy of Oscar Görres

News
Oscar Görres On How He Crafts Your Fave Pop Hits what-do-britney-spears-katy-perry-troye-sivan-taylor-swift-all-have-common-oscar-gorres-interview

What Do Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Troye Sivan & Taylor Swift All Have In Common? Oscar Görres

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The Swedish producer, songwriter and Max Martin protégé opens up in his first-ever interview about helping craft hits for your favorite pop stars
Brennan Carley
GRAMMYs
Aug 29, 2020 - 6:40 am

It’s late afternoon in Stockholm, but the songwriter and producer Oscar Görres is as animated as a fresh cup of coffee. Gesticulating to get his points across and making faces more colorful than the rust-colored studio walls that surround him, the 34-year-old Swedish star is flanked on all sides by guitars, keyboards, synthesizers and a couch—the very same couch that’s been graced by the likes of Troye Sivan, Allie X, Sabrina Carpenter and more artists looking to inject their songs with Görres’ trademark blend of magnetic pop magic and left-of-center touches. Though he’s worked professionally behind the scenes for 15 years now, Görres has spent much of the last six years steadily making notches in his pop music belt, including credits with Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Maroon 5, P!nk, and later this month, Katy Perry on her just-released sixth studio album, Smile.

Chalk up some of Görres’ recent career glow-up to a cosign from the godfather of modern pop, Max Martin, who (with Shellback) scouted the young producer and songwriter early in his career and invited him to join a collective known as Wolf Cousins, whose members also include Tove Lo, Peter Svensson (of The Cardigans fame), and Ali Payami. It’s almost too easy to quantify the success of Wolf Cousins' nine songwriters and producers properly. But listing some of their recent hits comes closest to giving you a sense of their combined clout: The Weeknd's "Can’t Feel My Face"; Ariana Grande’s "Love Me Harder"; Taylor Swift’s "Shake It Off"; Demi Lovato’s "Confident"; Selena Gomez’s "Hands to Myself"; Sam Smith’s "How Do You Sleep?"; Normani’s "Motivation"; and 5 Seconds of Summer’s "Wildflower"—they did those, just to name a few. In pop music, there’s the minor leagues, and there’s the big leagues. Then there’s Wolf Cousins.

In addition to Wolf Cousins’ bulletproof track record, Görres has carved out one of the most successful and singular lanes of any member of Max Martin’s lineage. This week, he continues his fruitful partnership with Troye Sivan on the Australian artist’s In A Dream EP, which follows the massive success of their Bloom collaborations "My My My!" and "Plum." And earlier this spring, Görres helped pop disruptor Allie X take us to Cape God with a 12-track album that plumbed new depths for both parties.

"As soon as I had made one song with Oscar, I knew he was very special," Allie tells GRAMMY.com. "I felt that, for the first time, I had a producer who was taking what was special about me as an artist and really translating it into something. He brings a kindness, a knowledge of how to play every instrument prolifically, a sensitivity, a coolness and a confidence that was instrumental in me—for once!—taking a back seat in production. He is certainly one of the best."

"Oscar is the kindest, purest soul, and the control he takes in creative ideas and direction are like very few I’ve ever worked with," Sabrina Carpenter adds. "He makes me laugh—that’s half of what makes us working together feel like we’re not working at all. He trusted my vision, which is all I could ever ask for."

Here, over the course of an hours-long Zoom earlier this week, Gorres talks (in his first interview ever) about his humble beginnings, his goals for making music with and for other artists, writing for legends and studying under Max Martin’s tutelage.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity

How did you first get interested in music?

I grew up in a very musical home. My dad is a musician. I started to play instruments very young with my dad. He even took me out on the streets of Stockholm to perform when I was 5 or 6 years old.

I was signed to Warner Chappell [as a songwriter] when I was 19. That was because me and my friend did songs in my parents’ basement. I didn’t know if I was any good—I wanted a reality check! My girlfriend at the time knew someone who knew someone working at Warner Chappell, so I was lucky enough to have a meeting there and get to play some of our songs. I was signed off of that. Tthey saw something in me that they wanted to develop.

Simultaneously, I went to the Royal College of Music to study jazz piano, so I was still on the "I'm gonna be a musician" path. But there was something about creating, writing and recording music—producing music—that felt right. It’s something that lasts. Sweden is a small market for pop music, so you can imagine the jazz scene here. [Laughs.] It’s not like New York. And jazz as a genre is small as is. I wanted the music I worked on to be heard and experienced by more people.

When you signed with Warner Chappell, was the next step being put into sessions to figure out how you operated?

It was a little bit like that! Working with people and being good in those situations is something you need to practice. They put me together with songwriters on their roster. I think I jumped on and produced a song that was released in Germany first—small steps. Then I worked with Swedish artists. It was a few years of building up my skills, and learning the craft—learning to be a better producer and writer.

Did you have a song or a session where things, after years of building those skills, really clicked into place?

One of the clearest moments I can think of is: I started this idea eight years ago—not that long ago, weirdly enough—which felt good. I was almost embarrassed. It was a little funky. It had jazzy chords. I sent the idea to Shellback. At the moment, Wolf Cousins weren’t even formed, but we knew of each other, even though we’d never worked together. I sent it to him and he was just amazed. Two hours later, he had a melody on top of it. All of a sudden, a world opened up. Later, we recorded that song with Maroon 5 as "Feelings." It’s one of those moments where I was like, "Ok, this is something. Maybe I can do this."

Of course, the moment where I was signed was also the biggest, "This is something of worth" moment. You need to believe in yourself to create things. When you spend a lot of time on them, you don’t know if they’re even anything of use. Then someone tells you, "This is of use. We want to invest in you!" That’s amazing. I feel like I still don’t know what I’m doing. [Laughs.] But that’s also a healthy feeling. You don’t want to buy into your own mythology.  

When you had that Maroon 5 cut and started working with Shellback, is that what started opening doors to markets like America?

Having your songs released in the U.S., the biggest market… that’s always been my dream. The first time I went to L.A., I went there just to feel the energy. Ever since that first time, I felt something special—walking on Sunset, all the clichés. It’s the city of dreams, and broken dreams. "Feelings" and "I Wish" by Cher Lloyd were the two songs that felt like "This is gonna be a door-opener."

All of a sudden, you have something of worth that you can get a work visa off of. I think you need the help of someone that can give you a hand and help you take those steps. It’s so hard when you’re not that well-connected and you don’t have the infrastructure. You need to know people. It’s not like back in the days when you could write a song in your basement and you send it to someone. Those things can happen, but now it’s more relationship-driven.

In Wolf Cousins, we were all scouted mainly from Warner Chappell and from some smaller publishing companies. Max and Shellback had this idea, and had their eyes on us for a couple of years. When they felt like it was time—"Ok, now we can try to pull this off!"—they formed this group of people. I think that song was my ticket in. I haven’t asked!

I have to imagine you were a fan of Max’s before meeting him.

It’s almost surreal. Even though he’s from Sweden, people don’t recognize him on the street here, really. You build this story, this legend of this man, where everything he touches becomes gold. But when I first met him, it was years before. He helped me with a song, because he just wanted to be nice because I worked with someone, Alexander Kronlund, on a track. Max swung by the studio and wanted to help. That was… super scary. But that’s more from my side, because he’s a very normal man—with great taste in music! [Laughs.]

I don’t know if I’m worthy. He is so much about the music, to put in the work, to leave no stone unturned. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. You work hard, and it takes time. His passion for music was the most striking thing about him. To me, he is a warm, loving person that cares—a music nerd, essentially. Everything that you imagine, that you thought might be so scary, "Oh, how am I worthy"—all of a sudden you jump into this process where it’s all about the music, and there are no egos! He’ll say, "Maybe we should do this—what do you think?" [Feigns shock.] "What do… I think? Uhhhh..."

With Max, you switch focus to what you’re trying to achieve and what you’re trying to do. All of the other things fade away. But when you say it like that, it’s still surreal to actually be a part of this with him. Working with the people I literally saved articles about from Swedish newspapers—"Oh, Rami [Yacoub] programmed the drums for this Number One record with Britney Spears"—like, I still have that piece of paper cutout from the article! It’s very, very cool. Now they are my friends and my extended family.

But I guess it’s always like that: you build up ideas about people with great power and great knowledge and great success and achievements. Then you realize, they’re normal people that are just very passionate about something.

What other lessons have you taken away from working with Max?

He is very good at creating a safe environment in the room, so people become the best versions of themselves, so you can make all the mistakes, so you can try the crazy ideas and stumble over the happy accidents that can become the core of the song. That’s a very helpful lesson—you can use the accumulated energy in the room, in a way, to let people shine. Create a great environment. Write things. Make all the mistakes. And, maybe later, fix things! Then you can rework things and work on the arrangements. If you just stop the flow to fix things in the moment, the energy falters.

Max is great with people. He makes you feel great. The first time I was in a room with him, he made me feel like I could do something. There were no differences between us, essentially. He asked for my opinions. The thing with him that I think is so cool is that he has great taste. A lot of people talk about how our team has formulas, or steps to follow when we make songs. I don’t know who said that or came up with those things, because there are no structures or magic tricks. That’s totally made up. In his case, I think he follows his gut feeling.

As a young producer/songwriter, you’re very close to things. He is really good—which comes with experience—at taking a step back and seeing the whole thing. He paints with a bigger brush. "What’s the drama here? If this part is very crowded, maybe we need something to balance it here. The energy needs to come down. If you listen to this 20 times, you'll realize we need to work on this passage here."

He’s good at pulling back and looking at a song from a mile away.

Yeah! He’s very versatile, but watching him, I was like, "Oh, this is how the pros work." You can switch focus. You can be granular: "What’s wrong with the bass line? What’s wrong with the kick drum?" Then you can zoom back and say, "Ok, how does this feel? What’s the function of this part? How do we make this part as strong and as clear as possible?"

He also stresses the importance of vocals. That’s one of the big things he’s taught me: work hard on the vocals. Sit there. Do a lot of takes. Let the lead vocal flow naturally. Spend time on that. There are no shortcuts to that. You need to work hard on it. Back in the day, it was just a matter of doing more takes, more takes, more takes. Now we have tools so you can easily comp and make the best version of a vocal take. But essentially what you hear in a song, you hear the vocals, you hear a kick drum, and some music. If you don’t get that right, the rest of it doesn’t matter.

What intentions do you approach sessions with? How do you go in and leave with the best possible work?

I always have an idea of what it could be. "What if this artist did this? What do I wanna hear this artist do?" Most of the time, as a producer in the room, you’re responsible for getting the energy going. Everything comes from deep conversation. In terms of getting a vibe going, you as a producer need to bring something that sparks something else. I never come unprepared, but I like to start everything from scratch. Maybe that’s the benefit of playing instruments—you play something and it’s more like creating on the spot.

One thing I wanna be good at is tuning into the room. Like, "Oh, people are reacting to this!" You can feel when you’re doing something, playing certain chords, when people feel like it’s special—without even saying anything. You do it a lot of times, you have a lot of sessions, and you become good at feeling that energy and what people are reacting to.

With that said, it’s hard. You want to follow the energy, but you also have to steer it, but you don’t want to box anyone in. It doesn’t feel right to say that I help people do their thing and I’m not part of it, because I am, of course. Sometimes I do more than steering. Like when we did “Easy” on Troye’s EP, that morning I had that [sings the verse melody] on my synth. Troye came into the room, heard it, and that started something.

Let’s talk about that creative collaboration with Troye. He’s someone you’ve returned to work with on his new In A Dream EP. How did you two first meet, and why do you keep returning to that relationship?

Troye and I met as a booked session. He came to Sweden for a week or two in 2017, and was meant to work with a lot of people. The first day was nice, and the second day was a good session, but sometimes you need the release of, "Oh, we’ve got something." That came on day three. Day two was close, so he canceled his session the next day. We weren’t supposed to have the third day, but we had it and that’s when "My My My!" was written. He’s just a wonderful person to be around. He has that impact on people. Creatively, he’s very open. He’s very receptive. He always comes to the studio inspired by something: "There was this movie, or this novel, or this coffee shop where the vibe was cool!"

Somehow, he finds an angle. He’s very good at verbalizing and putting his feelings into words. That’s very inspiring to me—an artist who has visions and ideas and brings things to the table. It’s not like you’re meeting him and he’s like, "Ok, what’re we going to do today?" He’s not like any other artist to me. That’s why we keep coming back to each other, because we have a lot of fun together. We find common ground, where I get to be free and he gets to be free and we can create something together.

For his new EP, he came here last year, and I don’t think he was ready for a new album. He didn’t have a plan for "a new big record!" Maybe that’s a sign of the times, too, that artists just want to make music and put it out as a quicker process. This project captured something that he’s been going through since last summer. We just started working.

The first song that felt like we were on to something was "Take Yourself Home." That’s one really cool thing as a songwriter and producer, to create these relationships with artists. You get to develop something together. You feel like you have your thing going. He knows that when we’re working, we have something special.

Plus I imagine there’s something fulfilling for both of you in the ability to return to a collaboration time and time again, because you each know how the other works, and the walls have already come down. It’s probably easy to get back into the swing of making art again much more quickly.

It’s less of the speed dating you have to do in this industry—which can be amazing. But I love that, too, when you just jump into something. Oftentimes that’s when you stumble upon an idea that becomes something. And since it’s the first time you meet, you’re doing a little extra. You want to be the best version of yourself. That versus all the things you were saying about being comfortable with someone… having that trust that I can have a bad day and it’s ok, we’ll come back tomorrow and do another song, a better song? That’s special.

Have you found that one-day magic with anyone recently?

One song in a day that turned out really fun and great was working with Sabrina Carpenter. We did a song called "Bad Time." We just jumped on it. As a producer from Sweden working with an American artist, you think, “Can I be here? What can I do? What can I contribute?” But you go in with that energy like, “OK, I’ve got one day. I have to do my best. I have to give it my all.” It’s that feeling! It becomes like sports. You have a limited time.

I was so hyped that day. It was all done in a day, I think. I worked so hard on that. I remember sending it to her and she was like, [shocked voice] "…. Did you do this already?" That was a really nice experience. Of course not every session goes like that. Maybe when you’ve proven yourself a little bit, in the industry, when you’ve gotten your name out and people want to work with you again, you can get more time. That’s always preferable—to make the mistakes and also to explore the more obscure stuff. To push boundaries a little bit. "This is your sound—but can it be this, too?" Maybe you don’t want to waste taking a wild chance, a leap of faith, when you just have one day. Maybe you end up doing more safe stuff when you have limited time.

One artist you did have the time with is Allie X, whose album Cape God you produced. How did that partnership come about?

We met by accident. I was working with Troye on Bloom in Los Angeles in 2017. I heard a song at the gym on my Discover Weekly playlist, and I said, "Oh, I like this, what is it?” It was Allie X’s "Paper Love." I mentioned that to Troye and he said, "Oh, that’s a friend of mine! I should bring her to the studio. Maybe she could come tomorrow." She came the day after and that was the day we wrote "Plum" [for Troye]. That was our first connection. I knew very little of her artist project and what her songs were like.

When she came to Sweden, we were supposed to work a week, kind of randomly. It was just writing—me, Allie, and James Ghaleb, who’s a friend of mine. No one knew if we were writing for her, or to pitch, or for someone else. And Allie is hilarious. She can go crazy and jump around the room and throw cushions and make weird noises, and she can be super deep in conversations. She’s super intelligent.

We had a guitar and we started jamming. She said something like, "I have a line: 'I want to be near fresh laundry / It’s been too many years of not folding.'" Me and James were like, "…right." But we found something! "Fresh Laundry" was the first song we did. It was a crazy week. We worked almost around the clock in six days. We ended up with "Fresh Laundry," "Rings a Bell" and "Regulars." We had a week in L.A. too, and after that, she asked me to do the whole thing.

Working with Allie has been very liberating, because she is so in favor of me being creative and trying weird, obscure stuff. She’s willing to stretch things and push a little bit, musically. I come from jazz, with chords and chord progressions and modulations between keys and songs. I felt that this was a way for me to stimulate that side of myself. Sometimes you can feel boxed in. Some pop artists just want to do their thing—and that’s great. Some artists are more open. There’s always a balance between that and what the music needs. I felt, working with Allie, there was more space to evolve these things musically.

My job is to make the music sound like their world. Sometimes they think they know what they want it to sound like. All of a sudden, you stumble over something they didn’t see coming. Then that becomes the core of it. Allie had no idea that the Cape God sound was going to be that. It’s something that happened when our worlds collided. I think in those cases, that’s the producer’s biggest role. You help the artist to create their vision, sonically.

You worked with Britney Spears on "Hard to Forget Ya" on Glory. Hers is one of the most iconic, singular voices in modern pop—you can’t ever unhear it. How do you even begin to produce those vocals?

Tell me about it. When I started making music, one of my main goals was to have a Britney Spears song. That was like the last boss in the video game. [Laughs.] The song was actually written during the first songwriting camp in Las Vegas for Warner Chappell. Justin Tranter, Julia Michaels, Mattman & Robin were all in the room next to us. Two of the songs—my song and "Do You Wanna Come Over?"—were written on the same day. Karen Kwak [the executive producer of Glory] was coming over the day after to listen to both of the demos. It was such a fast process.

For some reason, I had that rhythm [sings the melody of the song’s chorus] when I woke up that day. I brought that into the room. Both Chi and Blu, from [songwriting and production duo] Nova Wav, and Ian Kirkpatrick and Edward Drewett were all there. I knew Karen was coming over so I said, "Can we do something for Britney? Just for fun? She’s an icon, she’s amazing, let’s just do it." So we did.

Working on that song, there were a lot of things to fix. The foundation was great and felt really Britney, like something she could do. It felt great. But I took it home to Sweden and worked on it, and Ian worked on it too and sent me files. The Nova girls were out in the countryside and they sent me voice notes. It was a puzzle making that song, but we got it to work, so I sent it to Karen again. Then we didn’t hear anything. All of sudden, we heard: "Britney wants to record it. She loves it."

I couldn’t be there to record her. I was devastated. It was in a hurry too. I think it was one of the last songs she recorded for Glory. But I got the vocals in. One of the things I remember so strongly is her voice has this frequency, that tone that defined my teens. I couldn’t work on it for the first half hour, because I was literally shaking. I was shaking! I feel embarrassed to say this, but I was like, "It’s her. It’s her. It’s HER!" Working on that song and on the vocals… [shakes his head in disbelief]

I had to go back and ask her to re-sing some parts, and I sang a couple of ad libs and said, "Can you do that?" She did and then I felt like, "I can’t believe Britney Spears is singing my words and ad libs back to me." The younger version of myself and myself as a grownup were just over the moon and up in the clouds.

You also netted a song with Taylor Swift on Reputation, "So It Goes…" Did that connection come through Max?

I’d just become a father. I was not in the room when the melody and the lyrics were written. Max and Shellback did half of the album with her in L.A., and I had done this [instrumental] track—which is weird too, because I don’t do tracks. No one really does tracks on our team now. But I’d started that idea. Shellback was looking through things on his computer, listened to that track, and Taylor reacted to it. "Oh, what’s that? That’s special. I haven’t done anything like that. Can we do that?"

So they were vibing and doing melodies, and Taylor had the lyrics. She wrote everything quickly. I woke up—this is the funny part of the story—and someone is FaceTiming me at 6:30 in the morning. I’ve just had a child. I was up all night and my eyes were bloodshot and my hair was crazy. I saw it was Shellback and I ignored the call, put my phone away, and jumped into the shower. My girlfriend is like, "Can you answer your phone? Someone’s calling you constantly, it’s Johan [Shellback]! Can you just take it?" I got out of the shower with a towel wrapped around me and I texted Shellback like, "Ok, it’s 6:30 a.m., I am so tired, I’ve been up all night, and I just got out of the shower. Can I call you back later?" He said, "No. Call me. Now." [Laughs.]

I called him back and saw this girl on his couch. She goes, "Hi! It’s Taylor! How are you?" And I’m presenting myself [in a towel] after a shower… it was a very unpleasant picture for her. She goes, "We just heard the track. We had the melody. The lyrics are like this. I can read you the lyrics! I had this idea. What do you think about that?" And I was like, "…yes!" It was a very strange songwriting session for me, but I’m very thankful for that. It’s the one FaceTime call I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

You've also produced two songs on Katy Perry's new record, Smile—"Teary Eyes" and "Not the End of the World." How did you get those cuts?

JKash [Jacob Kasher] brought me onto this project. This was in April. Everything was shut down and I couldn’t travel. He said, "We have this song, ‘Teary Eyes,’ maybe you could help with the production? We’d like something extra." I don’t remember what it sounded like or what I was supposed to do, but I was sent all the files and then I basically did my thing, together with the other producer, Andrew Goldstein, finding the balance and the final sound. Once we had that done, and it turned out really good, we did the same with the other song. In those cases, it’s more like enhancing things. All the parts are there. All the chords are there. The melody’s there! It’s the exciting part—and a little bit the scary part—of being a producer. It’s not like you go to school and you have this diploma or certificate that says, "Now you’re a producer. Go out into the world and produce!" Everybody has their own ways and learns it by just doing. How do you make your song sound great? It doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as you end up with a great product.

What you do in those cases is, you get files and then you do it the way you wanna do it. It’s hard to collaborate because there are no rules! I was happy to play a small part on those.

You mentioned that landing a Britney song was one of your goals. Do you have other similar career achievements you’re dreaming of?

When it comes to fascination with vocalists, those tones that resonate in the body, I definitely want to have a Rihanna record. [Laughs.] I love the music she’s been doing lately. It’s so amazing. Bruno Mars is one of those too, someone who wows me. He’s doing his thing. It’s so fantastic to watch him in his element, and I think we’d have a fun day jamming in the studio.

To me, success is being able to do this at all. The next song you’re doing and working on, the feeling it gives you when it hits you right, when you get it to sound right or when you nail it—"Oh, there it is!"—and you can blast it and it feels good in your body… that’s success to me. Every time that happens, it’s success. If I can get to feel that, hopefully someone else in the world can feel that way too.

I’m still pinching myself, like, “Wow, I can do this. I can support my family by making music.” How cool is that? If I can do this in five years, that is true success. I’m 34 now. I’ve actually been in this industry for 15 years, but I haven’t been on this level for 15 years. Things take time. A lot of people fall off along the way. It’s not a fair industry at all. So I’m very humbled and very thankful and grateful that I can be doing this… but a Rihanna record would be nice. [Laughs.]

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Mary J. Blige to Katy Perry: 57th GRAMMY nominee facts

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Dig deeper with 57 fun facts about this year's class of GRAMMY nominees, including Iggy Azalea, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Pharrell Williams, and more
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

By now you've seen the full list of 57th GRAMMY nominees. But with 83 categories, it's a lot of information to absorb. We've dissected the list to bring you factoids about this year's nominees that are sure to make you the star attraction at your group GRAMMY viewing party. So dig in with our list of 57 Fun Facts About The 57th GRAMMY Nominees and mark your calendar for Music's Biggest Night on Sunday, Feb. 8 from 8–11:30 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. 

Sam Smith is nominated for each of the "Big Four" awards — Album, Record and Song Of The Year and Best New Artist. At 22, he's the second youngest artist ever to achieve that feat. Mariah Carey was just 20 when she was nominated for all four awards 24 years ago.

Female artists account for four of the five Record Of The Year nominees. It's the first time in 16 years — and only the fourth time in GRAMMY history — that women have dominated the category to that degree.

"Fancy" by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX is just the second all-female collaboration to receive a Record Of The Year nomination. The first was "The Boy Is Mine," the 1998 smash by Brandy and Monica.

"Shake It Off" is Taylor Swift's third single to receive a Record Of The Year nomination. The sassy smash follows "You Belong with Me" (2009) and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (2012).

Sia's "Chandelier" is the year's only work to be nominated for both Record Of The Year and Best Music Video.

Pharrell Williams is competing with himself for Album Of The Year. He's nominated for his own album, Girl, and as a co-producer for both Beyoncé's Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran's X.

Beck is nominated for Album Of The Year for Morning Phase. He's the first artist to be nominated in this category in each decade from the 1990s through the 2010s. He was previously nominated for Odelay (1996) and Midnite Vultures (2000).

Beyoncé is nominated for Album Of The Year for the second time, for Beyoncé. She was nominated five years ago for I Am… Sasha Fierce. Beyoncé has amassed 53 GRAMMY nominations, more than any other female artist.

Ed Sheeran's sophomore album, X, has the shortest title of any Album Of The Year finalist in GRAMMY history. The old record was held jointly by James Taylor's JT, Peter Gabriel's So and Adele's 21.

Another album titled X, by Chris Brown, is nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Brown won the 2011 award for Best R&B Album for F.A.M.E.

Hozier, a Song Of The Year finalist for "Take Me To Church," was born in Bray County, Wicklow, Ireland. Other Irish songwriters that have been nominated for this top GRAMMY include Gilbert O'Sullivan and U2.

Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass," which is nominated both for Record and Song Of The Year, is not the first GRAMMY-nominated song to celebrate a woman's "bass." Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" won for Best Rap Solo Performance for 1992.

Brandy Clark, who is nominated for Best New Artist and Best Country Album, received her first GRAMMY nomination a year ago for Best Country Song. She was a co-writer (with Shane McAnally & Kacey Musgraves) of Miranda Lambert's hit "Mama's Broken Heart."

Haim, comprising sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim, are the first sister trio to receive a Best New Artist nomination.

Two all-female collaborations — "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX and "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj — are competing for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Either would become the first all-female collabo to win in the Pop Field since "Lady Marmalade," the 2001 smash by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, and Pink.

Tony Bennett is vying for his 12th award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. He's nominated for Cheek To Cheek, a collaboration with Lady Gaga. Bennett is by far the most frequent winner in the category. Michael Bublé is second with four wins.

With Cheek To Cheek, Lady Gaga is vying to take best album honors in a third genre. She previously won for Best Electronic/Dance Album for The Fame (2009) and Best Pop Vocal Album for The Fame Monster (2010).

Johnny Mathis, nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Sending You A Little Christmas, received his first GRAMMY nomination in 1960, the third year of the awards. His classic rendition of "Misty" was nominated for Best Vocal Performance, Male — Single Or Track.

Miley Cyrus received her first GRAMMY nomination for Bangerz, which is a finalist for Best Pop Vocal Album. Her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, received a 1992 nomination for Best New Artist.

Coldplay, who are nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album for Ghost Stories, have previously won for Best Alternative Music Album (twice) and Best Rock Album (once).

Katy Perry is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. This brings Perry's career total of nominations to 13. She is looking for her first win.

Deadmau5 is nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for the third time in the past four years. The Canadian musician is nominated for his seventh studio album, While (1

Mary J. Blige is nominated for Best Dance Recording as the featured artist on Disclosure's "F For You." The versatile singer has won nine GRAMMYs in four distinct genres: R&B, rap, pop, and gospel.

Slipknot, nominees for Best Metal Performance for "The Negative One," won the 2005 award in this category with "Before I Forget."

Two tracks from a tribute album to the late Ronnie James Dio are nominated for Best Metal Performance. They are Anthrax's "Neon Knights" and Tenacious D's "The Last In Line." Dio died in 2010.

The Black Keys, nominated for Best Rock Album for Turn Blue, won in that category two years ago with El Camino. Their album before that, Brothers, won the 2010 award for Best Alternative Music Album.

U2's 13th studio album, Songs Of Innocence, is nominated for Best Rock Album. All five of the band's studio albums since 1994, when this category was introduced, have been nominated for this award. U2 have amassed 46 GRAMMY nominations, more than any other group.

Jack White, nominated for Best Alternative Music Album for his second solo album, Lazaretto, won three times in this category with the White Stripes. If he wins again this year, he'll become the first four-time winner in the category's history.

St. Vincent is vying to become just the second female solo artist to win for Best Alternative Music Album. Sinéad O'Connor won the first-ever award in the category for her 1990 album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who rose to fame on "The Cosby Show," is nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance as a featured artist on Robert Glasper Experiment's "Jesus Children." (The track also features Lalah Hathaway.)

Love, Marriage & Divorce by Toni Braxton and Babyface is nominated for Best R&B Album. It's vying to become the second collaboration to win in that category. Wake Up! by John Legend and the Roots took the 2010 award.

Robert Glasper Experiment are vying for Best R&B Album for Black Radio 2. Their initial Black Radio won the 2012 award in this category.

Two tracks from Lecrae's seventh studio album, Anomaly, were nominated in very different categories. "All I Need Is You" is a finalist for Best Rap Performance. "Messengers," featuring For King & Country, is nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song.

With The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem is vying to win Best Rap Album for the sixth time. Eminem's five previous wins make him the category leader. Kanye West is second with four wins.

Schoolboy Q was featured on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' The Heist, which was last year's winner for Best Rap Album. This year, the Los Angeles rapper is nominated in that category with his own album, Oxymoron.

Childish Gambino, nominated for Best Rap Album for Because The Internet, is the musical persona of actor Donald Glover, best known for his role on the TV series "Community."

Neil Patrick Harris received his first-ever GRAMMY nomination this year. The actor and frequent awards show host is nominated for Best Musical Theater Album for Hedwig And The Angry Inch.

Keith Urban, nominated for Best Country Solo Performance for "Cop Car," amassed four GRAMMYs for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in a six-year span (2005 through 2010).

"Meanwhile Back At Mama's" by Tim McGraw featuring Faith Hill is nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. It's their sixth nomination for vocal performance as a team.

The Band Perry are vying to become the third artist to win a GRAMMY for a recording of "Gentle On My Mind." John Hartford (the song's composer) and Glen Campbell both won 1967 GRAMMYs for recordings of the song.

Paul Epworth is vying for his second award in the category of Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical. He won three years ago, chiefly for his work on Adele's 21. This year, his projects included Paul McCartney, Foster The People and FKA Twigs.

Swedish hit-maker Max Martin is nominated for Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical for the first time. In addition, he's nominated for both Record and Song Of The Year for his work on Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off."

Current nominees Beck and Jack White are among the artists who will perform at the 2015 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute gala honoring Bob Dylan on Feb. 6.

Aloe Blacc received his first career nomination for Best R&B Album for Lift Your Spirit. Blacc is among the artists who will perform at Lean On Me: A Celebration Of Music And Philanthropy, the 17th Annual GRAMMY Foundation Legacy Concert taking place Feb 5.

Taylor Swift is the lone nominee who is the subject of a current exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum. Featuring personal photographs, handwritten lyrics, tour costumes, and more, The Taylor Swift Experience is on display through May 10.

Iggy Azalea is nominated for Best Rap Album for The New Classic. Should she win, Azalea would become the first female solo artist to take home the award.

Tom Petty's nod for Best Rock Album for Hypnotic Eye with the Heartbreakers is his 18th career nomination. Petty won his first GRAMMY for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for 1989 for Traveling Wilburys Volume One. The Traveling Wilburys featured Petty and, among others, George Harrison, who is one of this year's Special Merit Awards recipients.

Paramore's Hayley Williams and Taylor York are up for Best Rock Song for the group's "Ain't It Fun." This marks the second time the two musicians have received a nomination in a songwriting category. They were previously nominated for "Decode," which was a 2009 finalist for Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.

English rock group Bastille are among this year's nominees for Best New Artist. They are vying to become the first English collective to take home the honor since Sade won the award for 1985.

Former President Jimmy Carter is nominated for Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling) for A Call To Action. If he takes the award, Carter will become the third former or future president with two GRAMMY wins, joining Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Carter is scheduled to present the award to Bob Dylan at the 2015 Person of the Year gala.

Gloria Gaynor's We Will Survive: True Stories Of Encouragement, Inspiration, And The Power Of Song is also nominated for Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling). At 35 years, Gaynor has the longest gap between nominations of any current nominee. Her last nominations were for 1979, including a win for Best Disco Recording for "I Will Survive."

Ziggy Marley and Anoushka Shankar are nominated for Best Reggae Album and Best World Music Album, respectively. Both artists' fathers — Bob Marley and Ravi Shankar — are GRAMMY winners and Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipients.

Kendrick Lamar's "I" is the lone song with a one-letter title to be nominated this year. It's up for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.

"The Monster" by Eminem featuring Rihanna is among the nominees for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The two stars received a 2010 nomination in this category for "Love The Way You Lie."

"Weird Al" Yankovic and Louis C.K. each received nominations for Best Comedy Album. Each has previously won in the category: Yankovic for Poodle Hat (2003); Louis C.K. for Hilarious (2011).

With six GRAMMY wins, Carrie Underwood has the most GRAMMYs by an "American Idol" alumnus. She's up for two more this year: Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

What do Arcade Fire, Tony Bennett, Glen Campbell, Alison Krauss, Barbra Streisand, Taylor Swift, and U2 have in common? Besides all being current nominees, they've all released albums that have won Album Of The Year honors.

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Pharrell Williams

Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

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Beyoncé, Sam Smith, Pharrell Williams Top 57th GRAMMY Nominations

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Beyoncé, Smith and Williams earn six nods each; other top nominees include Iggy Azalea, Beck, Eric Church, Jay Z, Miranda Lambert, Sia, and Jack White
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 22, 2014 - 9:37 am

Nominations for the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards were announced today by The Recording Academy and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by The Academy's voting members.

This year, Beyoncé, Sam Smith and Pharrell Williams top nominations, garnering six each. Iggy Azalea, Beck, Eric Church, recording engineer Tom Coyne, Drake, Gordon Goodwin, Jay Z, Miranda Lambert, Sia, Usher, and Jack White earn four nominations each.

"This year's nominees are a reflection of the music community's diversity and range of talent, and a testament to The Academy's voting process," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "The Recording Academy is pleased to celebrate this talented crop of artists, nominated to receive music's greatest honor for their contributions to their respective genres. The tone for Music's Biggest Night has undoubtedly been set, and we look forward to producing one of the most exciting telecasts in GRAMMY history."  

The nominations were revealed on a rolling basis throughout the day, starting with four categories on "CBS This Morning," followed by a series of video announcements posted by a variety of artists and celebrities on Twitter. The day culminated with the unveiling of Album Of The Year nominations on the one-hour entertainment special "A Very GRAMMY Christmas," which featured performances of holiday classics and current pop songs.

Following are the nominations in the General Field categories:

Album Of The Year:
Morning Phase — Beck
Beyoncé — Beyoncé
X — Ed Sheeran
In The Lonely Hour — Sam Smith
Girl — Pharrell Williams

Record Of The Year:
"Fancy" — Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
"Chandelier" — Sia
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — Sam Smith
"Shake It Off" — Taylor Swift
"All About That Bass" — Meghan Trainor 

Song Of The Year:
"All About That Bass" — Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor)
"Chandelier" — Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia)
"Shake It Off" — Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith)
"Take Me To Church" — Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier)

Best New Artist:
Iggy Azalea
Bastille
Brandy Clark
Haim
Sam Smith

Following is a sampling of nominations in the GRAMMY Awards' other 29 Fields:

For Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, the nominees are "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX; "A Sky Full Of Stars" by Coldplay; "Say Something" by A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera; "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj; and "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J.

The nominees for Best Dance Recording are "Never Say Never" by Basement Jaxx; "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne; "F For You" by Disclosure Featuring Mary J. Blige; "I Got U" by Duke Dumont Featuring Jax Jones; and "Faded" by Zhu.

The Best Rock Performance nominees are "Gimme Something Good" by Ryan Adams; "Do I Wanna Know?" by Arctic Monkeys; "Blue Moon" by Beck; "Fever" by the Black Keys; and "Lazaretto" by Jack White.

For Best Alternative Music Album, the nominees are This Is All Yours by Alt-J; Reflektor by Arcade Fire; Melophobia by Cage The Elephant; St. Vincent by St. Vincent; and Lazaretto by Jack White.

The nominees for Best Rap Performance are "3005" by Childish Gambino; "0 To 100/The Catch Up" by Drake; "Rap God" by Eminem; "I" by Kendrick Lamar; and "All I Need Is You" by Lecrae.

For Best Rap Album, the nominees are The New Classic by Iggy Azalea; Because The Internet by Childish Gambino; Nobody's Smiling by Common; The Marshall Mathers LP2 by Eminem; Oxymoron by Schoolboy Q; and Blacc Hollywood by Wiz Khalifa.

The Best Urban Contemporary Album nominees are Sail Out by Jhené Aiko; Beyoncé by Beyoncé; X  by Chris Brown; Mali Is…by Mali Music; and Girl by Pharrell Williams.

The nominees for Best Country Duo/Group Performance are "Gentle On My Mind" by the Band Perry; "Somethin' Bad" by Miranda Lambert With Carrie Underwood; "Day Drinking" by  Little Big Town; "Meanwhile Back At Mama's" by Tim McGraw Featuring Faith Hill; and "Raise 'Em Up" by Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church.

The Best Country Album nominees are Riser by Dierks Bentley; The Outsiders by Eric Church; 12 Stories by Brandy Clark; Platinum by Miranda Lambert; and The Way I'm Livin' by Lee Ann Womack.

This year's Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical nominations go to Paul Epworth, John Hill, Jay Joyce, Greg Kurstin, and Max Martin.

This year's GRAMMY Awards process registered more than 20,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2013 – Sept. 30, 2014). GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting will be mailed on Dec. 17 to The Recording Academy's voting members. Ballots are due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by Jan. 16, 2015, when they will be tabulated and the results kept secret until the 57th GRAMMY Awards telecast.

The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held Feb. 8, 2015, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). For updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook. 

GRAMMYs

Lady Gaga

Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

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The Week In Music: Twitter's Top Tweeters

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Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry are among social media's finest
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

When it comes to measuring the popularity of a musician or artist, there are many factors to consider, including such traditional yardsticks as album and ticket sales. But when measuring popularity in the digital world, one of the many factors to consider is Twitter followers. Twitaholic has compiled a list of the top tweeters based on followers, with musicians occupying seven of the top 10 spots. So who is your favorite 140 characters-or-less character? TWIM favorite Lady Gaga is the Twitter queen, with 15.3 million followers, followed by fellow TWIM favorite Justin Bieber (14 million) and Katy Perry (11.6 million). Though not a musician but still worth mentioning as he's the Commander in Chief (and also a GRAMMY winner), President Barack Obama rang in at fifth place with 10.9 million followers. Other artists making the top 10 were Britney Spears (10.7 million), 2011 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Shakira (9.8 million), Rihanna (9.2 million), and Taylor Swift (8.8 million). You can also follow Lady Gaga on Nov. 30 as she's set to perform at "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!"

When thinking of sexy bedroom songs, what comes to mind? Perhaps Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing," Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love" or Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby." The list could go on for days. But what about unsexy songs that turn you off? According to a survey of participants on music-based dating website Tastebuds.fm, there are a few artists who might be winning on the charts, but you wouldn't want to see in a potential mate's music collection. Coming in as the No. 10 musical turnoff is Britney Spears (apparently her slave offers weren't enough). Lil Wayne made the list at No. 9, Katy Perry came in at No. 8 (we guess she's not everyone's teenage dream), Creed were voted in at No. 7, and U2 were voted as the unsexy No. 6 (though we thought "With Or Without You" was pretty romantic). Making the top five were Coldplay, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and, topping the list, Nickelback. Next time you're trying to impress that special someone, you may want to think twice before putting on "Photograph." Of course, all these acts are happy being unsexy all the way to the bank.

In more sexy (or unsexy) Bieber news, could the young popstar be the father to a baby, baby, baby, oh? According to a report, a woman named Mariah Yeater is claiming she met the teenage heartthrob backstage at a concert in Los Angeles last October, and that now Bieber is the father of her 3-month-old baby boy. The young stud reportedly asked the woman to go "somewhere private" and, well, you can put two and two together and figure out what allegedly happened next. But Bieber's camp has been quick to deny these claims, saying, "While we haven't yet seen the lawsuit, it's sad that someone would fabricate malicious, defamatory, and demonstrably false claims. We will vigorously pursue all available legal remedies to defend and protect Justin against these allegations." And on Nov. 2 Bieber tweeted, "all the rumors…the gossip…Im gonna focus on the positives…the music." While the lawyers will certainly get to the bottom of this, it looks like they may be the least of Yeater's fears as Justin's beliebers are coming out in droves to set the record straight. One fan tweeted, "Mariah Yeater, u're going down. Bieber's lawyers will knock u down. Beliebers will tear u apart and u will end up with ur baby in jail."

At any given time around the world, there are groups who, for valid reasons or not, draw the ire of authorities. For example, insurgents in Afghanistan continue to disrupt U.S. efforts in the region while Occupy Oakland protestors are getting tear-gassed by local police. According to the FBI, there's another dissident group to add to the list: fans of make-up metal band Insane Clown Posse. Known as Juggalos, the fans have been classified as a gang in the FBI's 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment for exhibiting gang-like behavior and criminal activity in more than 20 states, though they are only formally a gang in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, and Utah. According to Billboard.biz, The fans are best known for their Gathering of the Juggalos, an annual four-day festival of concerts, wrestling matches, autograph sessions and artist seminars that takes place every August at Cave-In Rock, Ill. It seems honorary Juggalo Charlie Sheen made an appearance at the most recent gathering, where he was both cheered and pelted with garbage while on stage, though rock stars from Mars apparently didn't make the FBI gang list this year.

Throughout November, those who have the capability of growing a mustache in a month's time are foregoing the laborious ritual of shaving as part of the Movember movement, a project raising awareness for men's health issues, specifically prostate cancer. Alternative rock group Cake are getting in on the cause with their mustache-growing contest, which invites fans to submit photos of their 'staches via the band's page on the Movember website. The submissions will be judged in three categories: The Largest, The Most Nostalgic and The Most Dangerous. One grand prize winner will be chosen from each category and will receive two concert tickets to see the band perform in Atlanta on New Year's Eve, including airfare and hotel accommodations, admission to a private soundcheck, a meet-and-greet with the band, and an onstage introduction. The contest ends Dec. 3 and the hairy winners will be announced on Dec. 6. "It's time for the mustache to become a force for positive change," commented frontman John McCrea. We're hoping this will inspire Cake to write a new song and call it "Short Beard/Long Mustache."

Rihanna's "We Found Love" featuring Calvin Harris is tops on the Billboard Hot 100 and iTunes singles chart.

Any news we've missed? Comment below.

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GRAMMYs

Britney Spears

Photo: Jesse Grant/WireImage.com

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FYI/TMI: Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga Among Top Money Makers; "Hall And Oates"' Man-Eating Altercation

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Forbes releases list of top-earning females in music; two men sharing the names Hall and Oates involved in biting altercation
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(In an effort to keep you fully informed, and fully entertained, below we present today's FYI and TMI — news you need and news that's, well, sometimes needless….)

FYI …

Spears Is Forbes' Top-Earning Woman In Music
Forbes magazine has revealed its list of the top-earning women in music in 2012 with GRAMMY winner Britney Spears ranking No. 1 with $58 million in earnings. Taylor Swift placed No. 2 with $57 million, followed by Rihanna ($53 million), Lady Gaga ($52 million) and Katy Perry ($45 million). Figures were determined by income before taxes and other fees earned between May 2011 and May 2012, including album, concert ticket and merchandise sales and other endorsements and business ventures.

Warner Reports Narrower Loss, Increased Revenue
Warner Music Group reported a loss of $18 million for its fiscal fourth quarter ending Sept. 30, a smaller drop than the $103 million reported for the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue reached $731 million, up 2 percent compared to the year-ago period, and digital revenue grew 15 percent to $241 million. Total revenue for 2012 reached $2.78 billion, down slightly from the $2.87 billion reported in 2011, while WMG's annual loss narrowed from $205 million to $112 million.   

Report: Music Among Dominating Social Conversation Topics
According to a new report from Pew Research Center, 67 percent of people across 21 countries said they were likely to discuss music and movies via social media platforms, with 63 percent of respondents residing in the United States. Overall, 50 percent of U.S. respondents said they use social media. The report is based on surveys held between March 17 and April 20 and covers usage of social media services such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Tumblr.

TMI …

Altercation Reported Involving Hall And Oates
Could it be that the dynamic GRAMMY-nominated duo Hall And Oates were prophesying when they released "Maneater" in 1982? The duo, except not really the duo, were involved in a man-eating altercation on Dec. 9 in Norwalk, Ohio. A man named Roger Oates has been jailed after allegedly biting the eyebrow off his neighbor, Scott Hall. The altercation was reportedly the result of an angry Oates, who was miffed that Hall would not testify on his behalf in court over an underage alcohol consumption issue. As of this report, Oates is currently being held in custody. As for the real Hall And Oates, they had nothing to do with the incident, and are likely hiding their private eyes from the media.

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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.