(The following is featured in the List Issue of GRAMMY magazine. For more lists, read the full issue here.)

By Paul Grein

Their One & Only
Four artists won Record Of The Year for their one and only single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. USA For Africa's "We Are The World" (1985) was the only single released by that all-star collective. Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto's "The Girl From Ipanema" (1964) was Gilberto's only chart hit. That was also the fate of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" (1988) and Shawn Colvin's "Sunny Came Home" (1997).

(Not Quite) Album Of The Year
U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind is the only album to spawn two Record Of The Year winners: "Beautiful Day," the 2000 champ, and "Walk On," the 2001 winner. The album was nominated for Album Of The Year in 2001, but the award went to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

Host With The Most
Kenny Rogers played a winning hand on Feb. 27, 1980. He hosted the 22nd Annual GRAMMY Awards and won a GRAMMY for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male for "The Gambler." He remains the only person to host and win the same night.

Our Man In Hollywood
You probably know that Henry Mancini's The Music From Peter Gunn (1958) was the first Album Of The Year winner. But you may not know that it is the only instrumental album to win Album Of The Year.

No Outside Help Needed
Toto's "Rosanna" (1982), Paul Simon's "Graceland" (1987) and "Somebody That I used To Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra (2012) are the only Record Of The Year winners that were written and produced by the artists, without any billed collaborators.

There Are No Words
Two instrumentals have won Record Of The Year — Percy Faith And His Orchestra's shimmering "The Theme From A Summer Place" (1960) and Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass' propulsive "A Taste Of Honey" (1965). But did you know that an instrumental once won for Song Of The Year? Ernest Gold's "Theme From Exodus" took the award in 1960. Current rules are that songs have to have both music and lyrics to qualify.

The Long & Short Of It
You could play the shortest recording to win Record Of The Year three times in the time it would take to play the longest. The shortest winner, Henry Mancini's melancholy "Days Of Wine And Roses" (1963), clocks in at 2:05. The longest, USA For Africa's "We Are The World" (1985), runs 6:22.

Will They Run Out Of GRAMMYs?
Bon Iver (2011) are the largest ensemble to win a GRAMMY for Best New Artist. The eight-member group tops two six-member groups, Men At Work (1982) and Arrested Development (1992), and three quintets, Bruce Hornsby And The Range (1986), Maroon 5 (2004) and Zac Brown Band (2009).

(Paul Grein, a veteran music journalist based in Los Angeles, writes the weekly Chart Watch column for Yahoo.com.)

While in a studio, Andrew Watt bounces off the walls. Just ask Mick Jagger, who once had to gently tell the 33-year-old, "Look, I can deal with this, but when you meet Ronnie and Keith, you have to dial it down a little bit."

Or ask Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard. "He really got the best out of [drummer] Matt [Cameron] just by being excited — literally jumping up and down and pumping his fist and running around," he tells GRAMMY.com.

As Watt's hot streak has burned on, reams have rightly been written about his ability to take a legacy act, reconnect them with their essence, and put a battery in their back. His efficacy can be seen at Music's Biggest Night: Ozzy Osbourne's Patient Number 9 won Best Rock Album at the 2023 GRAMMYs. At the last ceremony, the Rolling Stones were nominated for Best Rock Song, for Hackney Diamonds' opener "Angry."

On Pearl Jam's return to form, Dark Matter, due out April 19. Who was behind the desk? Take a wild guess.

"You want to see them live more than you want to listen to their albums, and they have the ability to look at each other and play and follow each other. I don't like my rock music any other way, as a listener," Watt tells GRAMMY.com. "All my favorite records are made like that — of people speeding up, slowing down, playing longer than they should."

As such, Watt had a lightbulb moment: to not record any demos, and have them write together in the room. "They're all playing different stuff, and it makes up what Pearl Jam is, and singer Eddie [Vedder] rides it like a wave."

If you're more of a pop listener, there's tons of Watt for you — he's worked with Justin Bieber ("Hit the Ground" from Purpose), Lana Del Rey ("Doin' Time" from Norman F—ing Rockwell) and much more. Read on for a breakdown of big name rockers who have worked with Andrew Watt.

Pearl Jam / Eddie Vedder

Watt didn't just produce Dark Matter; he also helmed Vedder's well-received third solo album, Earthling, from 2022. Watt plays guitar in Vedder's live backing band, known as the Earthlings — which also includes Josh Klinghoffer, who replaced John Frusciante in the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a stint.

The Rolling Stones

Dark Matter was a comeback for Pearl Jam, but Hackney Diamonds was really a comeback for the Stones. While it had a hater or two, the overwhelming consensus was that it was the Stones' best album in decades — maybe even since 1978's Some Girls.

"I hope what makes it fresh and modern comes down to the way it's mixed, with focus on low end and making sure the drums are big," Watt, who wore a different Stones shirt every day in the studio, has said about Hackney Diamonds. "But the record is recorded like a Stones album."

Where there are modern rock flourishes on Hackney Diamonds, "There's no click tracks. There's no gridding. There's no computer editing," he continued. "This s— is performed live and it speeds up and slows down. It's made to the f—ing heartbeat connection of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Steve Jordan.

"And Charlie," Watt added, tipping a hat to Watts, who played on Hackney Diamonds but died before it came out. "When Charlie's on it."

Iggy Pop

Ever since he first picked up a mic and removed his shirt, the snapping junkyard dog of the Stooges has stayed relevant — as far as indie, alternative and punk music has been concerned.

But aside from bright spots like 2016's Josh Homme-produced Post Pop Depression, his late-career output has felt occasionally indulgent and enervated. The 11 songs on 2023's eclectic Watt-produced Every Loser, on the other hand, slap you in the face in 11 different ways.

"We would jam and make tracks and send them to Iggy, and he would like 'em and write to them or wouldn't like them and we'd do something else," Watt told Billboard. "It was very low pressure. We just kept making music until we felt like we had an album." (And as with Pearl Jam and Vedder's Earthlings band, Watt has rocked out onstage with Pop.

Ozzy Osbourne

You dropped your crown, O Prince of Darkness. When he hooked up with Watt, the original Black Sabbath frontman hadn't released any solo music since 2010's Scream; in 2017, Sabbath finally said goodbye after 49 years and 10 (!) singers.

On 2020's Ordinary Man and 2022's Patient Number 9, Watt reenergized Ozzy; even when he sounds his age, Ozz sounds resolute, defiant, spitting in the face of the Reaper. (A bittersweet aside: the late Taylor Hawkins appears on Patient Number 9, which was written and recorded in just four days.)

Maroon 5

Yeah, yeah, they're more of a pop-rock band, but they have guitars, bass and drums. (And if you're the type of rock fan who's neutral or hostile to the 5, you shouldn't be; Songs About Jane slaps.)

At any rate, Watt co-produced "Can't Leave You Alone," featuring Juice WRLD, from 2021's Jordi. Critics disparaged the album, but showed Watt's facility straddling the pop and rock worlds.

5 Seconds of Summer

When it comes to Andrew Watt, the Sydney pop-rockers — slightly more on the rock end than Maroon 5 and their ilk — are repeat customers. He produced a number of tracks for 5 Seconds of Summer, which spanned 2018's Youngblood, 2020's Calm and 2022's 5SOS5.

Regarding the former: Watt has cited Youngblood as one of the defining recording experiences of his life.

"I had started working with 5 Seconds of Summer, and a lot of people looked at them as a boy band, but they're not," Watt told Guitar Player. "They're all incredible musicians. They can all play every instrument. They love rock music. They can harmonize like skyrockets in flight. They just were making the wrong kind of music."

So Watt showed 5 Seconds of Summer a number of mainstays of the rock era, like Tears for Fears and the Police. The rest, as they say, is history.

Elton John

A year after Britney Spears was unshackled from her highly controversial conservatorship, it was time for a victory lap with the God of Glitter. What resulted was a curious little bauble, which became a megahit: "Hold Me Closer," a spin on "Tiny Dancer," "The One" and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" that briefly launched Spears back into the stratosphere.

"Britney came in and she knew what she wanted to do," Watt recalled to The L.A. Times. "We sped up the song a little bit and she sang the verses in her falsetto, which harkens back to 'Toxic.' She was having a blast."

Blink-182

Watt has also worked with pop/punk heroes Blink-182 — but not after Tom DeLonge made his grand return. He produced "I Really Wish I Hated You" from 2019's Nine, back when Matt Skiba was in the band.

Where in the rock world will this tender-aged superproducer strike next? Watt knows.

Songbook: The Rolling Stones' Seven-Decade Journey To Hackney Diamonds

Henry Mancini had a gift for melodies of an ethereal, almost supernatural beauty.  

His prolific discography — albums of jazzy orchestral pop, dozens of film and television soundtracks — established him as a cultural icon and transformed the role that melody and song played in the art of movie narrative. Once you encounter a Henry Mancini tune, it’s almost impossible not to start humming it.

A composer, arranger, conductor and pianist of tireless discipline, Mancini won a staggering 20 GRAMMY Awards and was nominated 72 times. All of his wins — including the first-ever golden gramophone for Album Of The Year at the inaugural 1959 GRAMMYs — will be on display at the GRAMMY Museum to honor his centennial birthday, April 16. 

To mark what would be his centennial birthday, Mancini's children will travel to Abruzzo, Italy — where Mancini’s parents migrated from. And on June 23, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra will present a program of his music with a gallery of guest stars including singer Monica Mancini, the maestro’s daughter. Out June 21, The Henry Mancini 100th Sessions – Henry Has Company will feature a new recording of "Peter Gunn" conducted by Quincy Jones and featuring John Williams, Herbie Hancock and Arturo Sandoval.

Although Mancini died in 1994 at age 70, his compositions remain timeless and ever-relevant. Read on for 10 essential Henry Mancini compositions to cherish and rediscover.  

"Peter Gunn" (1958)

In 1958, Mancini was looking for work and used his old Universal studio pass to enter the lot and visit the barber shop. It was outside the store that he met writer/director Blake Edwards and got the chance to write the music for a new television show about private detective Peter Gunn. 

Seeped in West Coast Jazz, Mancini’s main theme sounds brash and exciting to this day – its propulsive beat and wailing brass section evoking an aura of cool suspense. The "Peter Gunn" assignment cemented his reputation as a cutting-edge composer, and the accompanying album (The Music From Peter Gunn) won GRAMMYs in the Album Of The Year and Best Arrangement categories.

"Mr. Lucky" (1959)

Half of the "Peter Gunn" fan mail was addressed to Mancini. As a result, CBS offered Blake Edwards a second television show, as long as the composer was part of the package. Edwards created "Mr. Lucky," a stylish series about the owner of a floating casino off the California coast. 

1959 was an exhausting year for Mancini, as he was scoring two shows at the same time on a weekly basis. Still, his music flowed with elegance and ease. The "Mr. Lucky" ambiance allowed him to explore Latin rhythms, and the strings on his wonderful main theme shimmer with a hint of yearning. It won GRAMMY Awards in 1960 for Best Arrangement and Best Performance by an Orchestra.

"Lujon" (1961)

As part of his contract with RCA Victor, Mancini was committed to recording a number of albums featuring original compositions in the same velvety jazz-pop idiom from his television work. "Lujon" is the standout track from Mr. Lucky Goes Latin, a collection of Latin-themed miniatures that luxuriate in a mood of plush languor.

 Inspired by the complex harmonics of French composer Maurice Ravel, "Lujon" steers safely away from lounge exotica thanks to the refined qualities of the melody and arrangement.

"Moon River" (1961)

Performed on a harmonica, the main melody of "Moon River" is nostalgic to the bone, but also life affirming. A majestic string section makes the music swoon, like gliding on air. And the harmonies in the vocal chorus add gravitas — a touch of humanity. 

It took Mancini half an hour to write "Moon River," but the Breakfast at Tiffany’s anthem made him a global superstar. Among the many artists who covered the song, pop crooner Andy Williams turned it into his personal anthem. Mancini won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and GRAMMY Awards for Record Of The Year, Song Record Of The Year and Best Arrangement. The album soundtrack earned two additional gramophones.

Theme from Hatari! (1962)

After two failed attempts with different composers, legendary director Howard Hawks invited Mancini to write the score for Hatari! — the wildly episodic but oddly endearing safari film he had shot in Tanganyika with John Wayne. Mancini jumped at the opportunity, and Hawks gave him a few boxes from the trip that contained African percussive instruments, a thumb piano and a tape of Masai tribal chants. Two chords from that chant, together with a slightly detuned upright piano formed the basis for the movie’s main theme. 

Mancini’s sparse arrangement and melancholy melody conspired to create one of the most gorgeous themes in the history of film.

"Days of Wine and Roses" (1962)

Throughout the decades, Mancini provided musical accompaniment to Blake Edwards’ filmography, which switched from slapstick comedy to stark melodrama. There is a perverse beauty to the theme of Days of Wine and Roses — a movie about a couple of lifelong alcoholics — as the lush choral arrangement seems to glorify the innocence of better times. 

It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song — Mancini’s second Oscar in a row — and three GRAMMYs: Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Background Arrangement.

"The Pink Panther Theme" (1963)

Directed by Edwards and starring Peter Sellers as part of an ensemble cast, the original Pink Panther was a frothy caper comedy that had none of the manic touches of comedic genius that Sellers would exhibit in subsequent entries of the franchise. It was Mancini’s ineffable main theme that carried the movie through.

Jazzy and mischievous, Mancini wrote the melody with the light-as-a-feather playing of tenor saxophonist Plas Johnson in mind. It won GRAMMYs in three categories: Best Instrumental Arrangement, Best Instrumental Compositions (Other Than Jazz), and Best Instrumental Performance – Non-Jazz.

Charade (1963)

Mancini’s gift for cosmopolitan tunes and jazzy arrangements found the perfect vehicle in the score for Stanley Donen’s Charade — a droll Hitchcockian thriller shot in Paris and starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. 

The main theme is a waltz in A minor, and opens with pulsating percussion. When the central melody appears, it evokes a melancholy reflection and a certain thirst for the kind of globetrotting adventure that the film delivers in spades. It was Johnny Mercer’s favorite Mancini melody, and he wrote exquisite lyrics for it. 

The best version probably belongs to jazz singer Johnny Hartman, who released it as the opening track of his 1964 album I Just Dropped By To Say Hello.

Two For The Road (1967)

Friends and family remember Mancini as a humble craftsman who ignored the trappings of fame and focused on the discipline of work. In 1967, after Audrey Hepburn cabled to ask him about writing the music for the Stanley Donen film Two For The Road, Mancini agreed, but was taken aback when the director rejected his initial theme. Leaving his ego aside, he returned to the drawing board and delivered a lovely new melody – and a spiraling piano pattern seeped in old fashioned tenderness.

"Theme from The Molly Maguires" (1970)

Even though Mancini enjoyed most accolades during the ‘60s, his protean level of inspiration never wavered. In 1970, he was brought in to rescue the soundtrack of Martin Ritt’s gritty secret societies drama The Molly Maguires, about Irish-American miners rebelling against their mistreatment in 19th century Pennsylvania. 

The main theme makes time stand still: a sparse arrangement that begins with a solitary harp, until a recorder ushers in a haunting, Irish-inspired melody. The score reflected a more restrained Mancini, but was still intensely emotional.

Jeff Goldblum's Musical Influences: How Frank Sinatra, "Moon River" & More Jazz Greats Inspired The Actor-Turned-Musician

It’s a special feeling, knowing you’re still getting better, 20 years into doing whatever it is you’re good at. “I identify my career as a bit of a slow burn,” says Katie Crutchfield, chatting from her home in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Tigers Blood, Waxahatchee’s sixth LP, arrives March 22 on Anti- Records. It sounds earthy and time-tested, hugging the border of alt-country and indie-folk. Pedal steel and banjos are just as welcome as electric guitar. Lucinda Williams, Townes van Zandt, and Gillian Welch are its musical north stars. Lyrics evoke late-night banter with old, trusted friends, the small handful of people in this world you could say anything to. 

Crutchfield has been writing songs for 20 years and, even as a teen, was perhaps the most respected voice in her Alabama punk scene. By the early 2010s, the same could be said of her place in DIY-minded rock, nationwide. Released March 27, 2020, Waxahatchee’s Saint Cloud, will be remembered as her breakthrough, though it certainly did not feel that way initially. For Crutchfield, the album still brings to mind bushels of COVID masks and days upon days spent indoors.

"There were phases of grief," Crutchfield says. "I was grieving the [canceled] tour, the normal experience of putting out a record. My therapist suggested I have a funeral for it." She says all this with a chuckle — one that comes easier after the success Saint Cloud eventually earned: a No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers albums chart, significant radio play for the first time in her career, a spot at Newport Folk Festival once pandemic restrictions eased. “In hindsight, I know that record provided solace for a lot of people.”

Like Saint Cloud, Tigers Blood was produced by Brad Cook, an alt-rock standby whose production and co-writing work with Bon Iver earned him nominations for Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year at the 2020 GRAMMYs. "[Brad and I] developed this language and life philosophy as collaborators that I am not finished with," Crutchfield says.

Tigers Blood separates itself with one new, notable collaborator: singer/songwriter MJ Lenderman. Through his storytelling solo albums and cathartic guitarwork in the North Carolina band Wednesday, Lenderman, 25, is already a Gen Z indie rock icon. His contributions to Tigers Blood are subtle, but affecting: hazy backing vocals on the title track and "Right Back to It," artistry on his six-string that left Crutchfield in awe: "There are so many moments on [Tigers Blood] where I’m like, That’s the hookiest guitar part or solo. I never would have put it there without him."

Speaking with GRAMMY.com, Crutchfield looked back on how she arrived at Tigers Blood and the many stops along the way: showcasing her high school band for the guy who signed Nirvana, learning to re-embrace her Southern-ness, staying the course when you know, deep down, it’s the right thing to do. 

For artists today, I feel there’s this pressure to be constantly reinventing yourself. Is this something you’ve noticed?

Contemporarily – maybe this is a thing in pop – there’s a real pressure to reinvent yourself on every record as you move through your career. I’ve certainly done that. And I’ve certainly felt that. Brad [Cook] and I had a conversation about this very thing: What is the next thing going to be? Should we pivot to a new style?

It really brought us to my heroes. None of them ever reinvented themselves. A lot of them worked with the same people. Tom Petty, for example, played with a lot of the same musicians for his entire career. 

The confident choice is to retain some self-awareness about why people liked the last record, and to hang onto that. Then, to depend solely on the songs. Do whatever we can to elevate the songs. 

How did Tigers Blood come together, compared to the last LP?

It came together quickly and a lot of it was on tour. I had a lot of writer’s block working on Saint Cloud. The narrative of that record was that I had just gotten sober. I was experiencing a lot of anxiety. A friend told me, “When you get sober, you’re not gonna recognize yourself.” That was really true. I was like a raw nerve. I kind of had to take a long time off from touring, to catch my breath and figure out what my life was going to look like. Throughout that 18-month period of time off, I slowly wrote [Saint Cloud]. 

I started writing the melodies for Tigers Blood right after we made Saint Cloud, and continued to for several years, as I worked on other projects like the [2022] Plains record [in collaboration with singer-songwriter Jess Williamson]. In the peak pandemic months I was stowing away melodies, like, I’ll come back to this. I finished all the Tigers Blood songs in about a six-month period, a lot of which was on the road. When I say I finished a song, it means I wrote all the lyrics.  

*Releasing an album like Saint Cloud, I imagine you might be worried it would just be labeled as “the sober record.” Looking back at how well it was received, it feels like much more than that.*

I hope this doesn’t land wrong on music writers, but in a way it’s sort of easier for me when there’s a narrative. I think it’s sort of easier for everyone. Tigers Blood doesn’t have a clean-cut, neat little narrative. There’s a lot of things going on. 

I was writing about a lot of different things on Saint Cloud, too, but [sobriety] was the headline, and it made life easier to have a headline. I always knew there was more going on than just sobriety. I don’t write lyrics in a way that’s very on-the-nose. Someone could maybe listen to that album and have no idea it’s about sobriety. There’s a couple love songs on that record: “The Eye” and “Can’t Do Much.” And “Lilacs” is about being in a bad mood. It’s not really about being sober. 

If you don’t mind me asking, what made you want to get sober?

Everybody’s story is different. Mine isn’t particularly salacious. Over a decade, I had noticed that, for me, drinking had a weight to it that it didn’t have for everyone I knew…

I got sober when I was 29. I was getting a little bit older and my physical health was starting to catch up to me, and certainly my mental health [as well]. Some alarm bells were going off: I actually think the biggest issue in my life is drinking and if I cut that out, I’m curious if everything will balance out. And it really did. 

In June, it’ll be six years since I quit. I definitely feel like a way different person now, but I don’t even remember how I felt six years ago. I can’t really remember myself as a drinker. A lot has changed in my life. I live in a different city. I have a lot of different people around me. 

You’ve lived all over and it’s so intertwined with your music. Could you give me the whole story? 

I grew up in Birmingham. When I was 19 or 20, I moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama – my sister Allison was going to college there and our band P.S. Eliot existed there for a short time. Then she moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee and I moved back to Birmingham for a few years. Then we both moved to New York when we were 22. I’d made the first Waxahatchee record right before that and she had just started her band, Swearin’. 

I tell you her story, too, because they’re so intertwined. We lived in New York for about 18 months. At the time, [Allison], her boyfriend, and my boyfriend were all in Swearin’. They [decided to] move to Philadelphia and I was kind of sad — I really wanted to stay in New York — but that was my family, so I was like, “I guess I’ll go with you guys, because I’d be alone here.” So I was in Philly for a few years, then I made my [2015] record Ivy Tripp while I was on Long Island for about a year. Then I moved back to Philly for three years, moved back to Birmingham briefly, and then to Kansas City, where I’ve been ever since. 

You started playing in bands with your sister Allison when you were teenagers, 20 years ago. How has that shaped your relationship with her? 

When she was in my band, it was tricky. Because we’re siblings, it’s crazy how boundaryless that relationship can be in a working setting. It was a little chaotic at times. But ultimately, really great. I’ve always kind of made my songs for myself, and Allison. That’s always been my prime audience: if we really like it, I usually trust the rest of the world might like it, too. 

Now she’s such an important part of the people around me, guiding me. We’re in the best place we’ve ever been, even though she’s not in the room when I’m making the records.

From the outside, the trajectory of your career – to bigger stages, bigger record labels, etc. — seems like it’s gone at a nice, measured pace. Does it feel that way to you? 

Yeah. I’m really grateful for the pace my career has gone at. I’ve seen things blow up overnight for some of my peers. As exciting as I’m sure that can be, I think it would be pretty disorienting. There have been moments in my life where if that had happened, I think I would have been completely swallowed up by it. I’m happy at this point in my life. For the most part, every door that opens up in my career, I’m ready to walk though it.

Are there any doors you’ve chosen not to go through over the years? 

When I was in high school, my band performed at this showcase for Gary Gersh, who [famously signed Nirvana], this big time music biz guy. It was us and this other band in Birmingham, who were the two most popular younger indie rock bands in town. I don’t know if they got his attention, but we didn’t. 

I look back on that, and that’s probably for the best. If I had gotten this hotshot L.A. manager when I was 16, my life could look really different. I could have maybe signed on for things that wouldn’t be reflective of the values I’ve developed. My songwriting voice had not really developed yet. It’s probably good I took the slow route. 

If you’d been offered that management deal, what do you think you would have said? 

We were pretty punk rock already. I can see us saying, “We don’t really want to do this.” Allison and I had pretty developed tastes for 16-year olds. 

Collaborating with MJ Lenderman on this album – how did that come up?

I heard his music at South By Southwest. [My partner] Kevin [Morby] was playing South By, he was busy, and I was killing time. My sister Allison does A&R at Anti- [Records] now and my producer Brad Cook, they both texted me at the same time: “We’re gonna go see this guy, MJ Lenderman from North Carolina. Come meet us, you’re gonna love this.” I heard his voice outside the venue [and thought] “This is exactly what I like.” There were 12 people onstage, they had a pedal steel player. Everything I love. 

Then, Brad and I were trying to figure out what we could do [for my next album] that would be different from Saint Cloud. So I threw it out to Brad: “Maybe we could get [MJ] in the mix.”… Brad invited him to the first session. The three of us had a blast. [MJ] played drums for a lot of it, and obviously guitar. When we tracked “Right Back to It,” that was a big turning point. Brad and I were like, “This is a great anchor for what this record should be.” And when [MJ] sang backup on it, it was all over. We had to have him be a big part of the record. 

What grabs you about MJ Lenderman’s playing? 

[MJ] is really into a lot of music I love, but wasn’t engaging with much at the time. Specifically Southern alternative rock from the ‘80s and ‘90s: Drive-By Truckers, Sparklehorse. Jason Molina is a big influence on him. And it really invigorated my love of R.E.M. It knocked out the cobwebs for me. 

I knew he was a great guitar player, but I didn’t totally understand just how special and creative a guitar player he was until we were in a room together.

And MJ’s band, Wednesday – their 2023 album Rat Saw God already feels like a classic. What do you think of that album? 

I spent a lot of time with it. It was one of my favorite records of last year. 

I try not to go too hard with this to [Wednesday], but my sister Allison and I connect with what they’re doing because it reminds us so much of ourselves 10 years ago. Wednesday and MJ, they’re these intertwining creative forces. They’re young, they’re Southern. I think both Wednesday and MJ are making some pretty classic records that teenagers are gonna find for years to come. 

Do you think there’s something unique about indie rock musicians who grew up in the South, around country music? 

I grew up in the South and I’ve been on a journey with it. When I was younger, I lived in the Northeast and that was a big part of my identity — I really rejected country music. I did not think it was cool. Once I was able to come back around on that, not even wholeheartedly embracing being Southern, but accepting it as a part of my story, [the South] lent itself as a great backdrop for my songs. 

Jeff Tweedy & Cheryl Pawelski Sit Down For "Up Close & Personal" Chat: 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,' Writing One Song & More

After the club-storming Renaissance, its Act II begins with an unexpected sound: a burble of banjo, later joined by flowing viola. Welcome to "TEXAS HOLD ‘EM," one of two advance singles from Beyoncé’s forthcoming album, along with "16 CARRIAGES."

Beyoncé’s recently announced Act II promises to be an immersion into country music — which is both a fresh aesthetic and one deeply rooted to her Texan upbringing. The 32-time GRAMMY Winner has spoken about the "overlooked history of the American Black cowboy" and nodded to the culture with a Western getup at the 2024 GRAMMYs.

All of this is a completely natural fit for Rhiannon Giddens, who played said fiddle and viola on "TEXAS HOLD ‘EM."

"The beginning is a solo riff on my minstrel banjo — and my only hope is that it might lead a few more intrepid folks into the exciting history of the banjo," Giddens explained on Instagram. "I used to say many times as soon as Beyoncé puts the banjo on a track my job is done.

"Well, I didn’t expect the banjo to be mine," she continued. "And I know darn well my job isn’t done, but today is a pretty good day."

The "job" defines Giddens. Sure, she may be completely new to certain contingents of the Beyhive, but the two-time GRAMMY winner and 10-time nominee’s been on the scene for almost two decades.

Since making her mark with the Carolina Chocolate Drops in the mid-aughts, Giddens has forged a singular legacy. She’s not only a purveyor of traditional musics, but as an investigator of the racial and cultural cross-currents that forged our modern-day understanding — and misunderstanding — of Americana.

At the 2024 GRAMMYs, Giddons was nominated for two golden gramophones — for Best Americana Album (You’re the One) and Best American Roots Performance ("You Louisiana Man"). You’re the One was her first album of all-original material; in that regard, these noms show that a new, exciting chapter for Giddens is just beginning.

Here are five things to know about the artist who just played "TEXAS HOLD ‘EM" with Queen Bee.

Her Interrogation Of Black Music History Is Indispensable

Giddens has worked in a diverse array of fields, including opera, documentary, ballet, podcasting, and more. Her mission? To explore "difficult and unknown chapters of American history" through musical lenses, like the evolution of the banjo from Africa to Appalachia.

"In order to understand the history of the banjo, and the history of bluegrass music, we need to move beyond the narrative we've inherited," she’s stated. Elsewhere, she noted, "People seem ready for a more in-depth idea of folk music, culture and history.

Which extends beyond merely other people’s stories — but to her own.

…And It Led Directly To You’re The One

Speaking to GRAMMY.com about her GRAMMY-nominated first album of original material, Giddens was quick to note that "autobiography" doesn’t hit the mark.

"It doesn't express how I feel… they're still songs, and it's still a performance," Giddens said. "I'd say I'm drawing a little bit more from my experience, but I had to draw from my experience to write other people's stories.

"There's emotions that I feel that I then translate into these other stories," she added, "so I don't think this record is completely different from that."

She’s Made Killer Appearances With Paul Simon

Paul Simon’s ended his touring years, but he does make sporadic appearances, including at 2022’s "Homeward Bound: A GRAMMY Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon."

There, they performed a version of his epochal "American Tune," where he changed the words in nuanced ways as relates to the American origin story — and he enlisted Giddens to sing it with him.

"He didn't have to do nothing but sit back and collect his checks," Giddens told GRAMMY.com. "He made a statement with that song, and I don't want to take that away from him. I didn't change those words; he changed those words."

Where will Giddens go from her star turn with Bey? Wherever it might be, we’ll feel — and learn — something profound, one banjo strum at a time.

On You’re The One, Rhiannon Giddens’ Craft Finds A Natural Outgrowth: Songwriting