The Songs Of Conscience, Sounds Of Freedom exhibit opened Jan. 15 at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles and is an inspiring must-see for music lovers of all ages. Covering over 250 years of American musical activism, the exhibit showcases songwriters and performers, including many under-sung heroes, who pushed culture and social justice forward through music.

Songs Of Conscience, Sounds Of Freedom was the debut exhibition at the then-brand new GRAMMY Museum in 2008. The 2022 edition offers a new section celebrating LGBTQIA+ and Black Lives Matter anthems, along with an expanded exploration into The Sounds of Los Angeles, an in-depth look at the city's musical activism from the '60s to today.

The current exhibit features a plethora of exciting memorabilia including handwritten lyrics, guitars and concert posters. There are a sizable number of video performances on view in the Clive Davis Theater, including eight moving GRAMMY performances of socially poignant songs. While perusing the exhibit, you'll hear a raucous playlist of songs featured in the exhibit, from H.E.R. and N.W.A to Bob Dylan.

Read on to get a taste of what you'll learn at this important, timely exhibit:

Socially Conscious Anthems Began Before The Country’s Founding

Before the United States of America was established in 1776, American songwriters wrote and sang songs against British colonial rule. Using traditional drinking, folk and military marching melodies, these songs flipped known lyrics for political statements. Everyday townspeople also took to the pen in this anti-British musical fervor, writing and printing their own lyrics — known as "broadsides" — and selling them on street corners. The earliest song cited at the exhibit, teacher Peter St. John's "American Taxation," protested the 1765 Stamp Act and was sung to the tune of the English marching song "The British Grenadiers."

Anti-War And Abolitionist Music Had Far-Reaching Influence

After the American Revolution, music protesting the Civil War, as well as anti-slavery songs by abolitionist composers, were popular throughout the country. A vital part of American musical history are the spirituals sung by enslaved peoples, which were coded with messages of freedom and liberation. These songs became the roots of many blues songs, which later influenced R&B and rock ‘n’ roll.

The well-known song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is a Black spiritual often credited to Wallace Willis, a freed slave born in Mississippi. First recorded by the Fisk University (a Nashville HBCU) Jubilee Quartet in 1909, the song inspired Black choral ensembles across the country and internationally to perform renditions of spirituals. The enduring power of these spirituals would be utilized a century later during the Civil Rights Movement by gospel artists like Mahalia Jackson.

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Odetta Was The Queen Of American Folk Music

Odetta — a Black woman born in Birmingham, Ala. in 1930 — inspired countless fellow folk singers, including Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, as well as Janis Joplin and Tracy Chapman. She was known as the "voice of the Civil Rights movement," and, as Martin Luther King, Jr. called her, the "queen Of American folk music." She performed at countless Civil Rights events, including the March on Washington in 1963.

When the momentum of the Civil Rights movement slowed following King’s assasination, the spotlight also shifted away from Odetta. Yet she never stopped performing and using her music to fight oppression and effect change. Odetta remained active until her passing in 2008 and her guitar, "Baby," (as well as its unicorn stickered case) is on display in the exhibit.

A Supergroup Stood Up Against Apartheid Through Song

In 1985, E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt gathered together a stellar cast of rock, rap, country and pop musicians to record "Sun City" as Artists United Against Apartheid. On display are Melle Mel’s hand-written lyrics from his "Sun City" verse and Van Zandt's electric guitar, next to a visually captivating music video.

The catchy, synthy song called out the injustice of South Africa’s apartheid government and was a vow by the artists — which also included Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Run-D.M.C., Pat Benatar and Peter Gabriel — to not perform at the Sun City luxury resort in South Africa, which was luring in global superstars with high fees despite the cultural boycott.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights three years later, some of these same artists took part in multi-continent tours to encourage continued support for human rights.

The Father Of Chicano Rap, Frost, Was Signed To Eazy-E's Ruthless Records

When we think of major movements in L.A.'s musical history, the '80s and '90s West Coast rap of N.W.A, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac and others immediately comes to mind. Yet, just miles away from the powerful street lyricists of South Central, were a group of Latino rappers in East L.A. creating Chicano anthems.

Frost (formerly Kid Frost, born Arturo Molina Jr.) is known as the father of Chicano rap, creating punchy bars in Spanish and English. His first solo single, 1984's "Rough Cut," was produced by N.W.A's DJ Yella, and he'd later become the first Latino artist to sign with Ruthless Records.

In 1990, Frost dropped his debut album, Hispanic Causing Panic, which included the hit single "La Raza." That essential song is cited as one the first Latin hip-hop songs to go mainstream and sampled El Chicano's 1970 track "Viva Tirado," directly nodding to the earlier Chicano rock movement. Always one for building bridges, Frost created the Latin Alliance in 1989, a collective featuring Latino rappers and producers from East L.A., Cuba, New York, Puerto Rico and beyond.

Los Angeles Has Always Been A Hotbed For Political Music

The public image of L.A. is often limited to its miles of beaches, palm tree-lined streets, crowded highways and the neon glitz of Hollywood. But the reality of life in the City of Angels is often far from a beachy V.I.P. daydream, and many L.A.-based artists have offered a glimpse of that reality.

Just as we saw the connection between South Central and eastside rappers, and the Chicano rock and rap movements, the exhibit details contemporary, ongoing activism by artists of color. These artists address systemic oppression in their neighborhoods and beyond, writing songs that reflect upon historic moments such as the 1965 Watts Rebellion and the Los Angeles Uprising in 1992.

“If you look at our community's history, there have been so many historical events that have sparked and inspired the formation of socially conscious music. So that’s why we really wanted to add the Sounds Of L.A. section in,” Nicholas Vega, GRAMMY Museum’s Curator and Director of Exhibitions, told GRAMMY.com.

Exemplifying this intersection are the Compton Cowboys, who run one of the few remaining Black-owned ranches in America. The debut single from cowboy Randy Savvy, "COLORBLIND," was mixed by Compton legend Dr. Dre and released in 2020.  Addressing violence and trauma in Savvy’s community, “COLORBLIND’ became an anthem during Black Lives Matter protests — which the cowboys attended on horseback.

“We look at specific events — everything from the Watts Riots/Uprising to the Chicano Movement to the 1992 Riots/Uprising — but we also look at these ongoing issues that for decades have plagued our city; gang violence, police brutality, economic disparity and poverty,” Vega continued. “So it was the perfect fit to bring this exhibition back here to L.A. and really highlight the music and the artistry.”

Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom runs until May 8 at the GRAMMY Museum. Other special exhibits currently on display are Para Siempre: Marco Antonio Solís through spring 2022), Dave Matthews Band: Inside And Out (until Jan. 31) and Nat King Cole (closing soon). Visit grammymuseum.org to purchase advance tickets to visit the GRAMMY Museum and learn about their COVID-19 safety protocol measures.

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A select group of fans and die-hards got up close and personal with Yoshiki when he popped into the GRAMMY Museum for an intimate chat and performance. 

A multi-hyphenate in the truest sense of the world, Yoshiki has spent the past few decades balancing his work as a musician, songwriter, composer, producer, fashion designer and winemaker, producing a diverse and robust body of work. As the leader and co-founder of X Japan, he helped inspire the rock scene's striking visual kei movement, something that wasn’t always easy — in the early '80s,  it was hard for him to even get a cab in Tokyo with his big, blonde, spiked hair.

He’s since gone on to found another musical supergroup, The Last Rockstars, and he’s become a big name in the classical world, producing several studio albums and collaborating with everyone from George Martin to Bono to Sarah Brightman. He has penned music for TV and film, written a concerto for the Japanese emperor, and even launched his own celebrated line of kimonos, Yoshikimono.

Yoshiki has lived a truly fascinating whirlwind of a life for the past few decades, and he was happy to open up about much of it in this week’s conversation. Here are five things we learned at the GRAMMY Museum event "The Drop: Yoshiki." 

He Has A Long History With & Bold Future In Classical Music

Yoshiki sat down with Jasen Emmons, the Museum’s Chief Curator, for an hour-long discussion about the star’s career in the music industry, which he says was first nurtured when he was given a piano at age 4. He took to the instrument pretty much instantly, choosing to play in his darkened bedroom because he liked the vibe. His music-loving parents kept giving him instruments — one each year for his birthday — leading him to take up everything from the trumpet (which he quit after seeing a picture of himself playing) to the drums. 

He’s become wildly famous for both his percussion and piano skills, and this fall, will embark on a four-city tour of classical venues. On his Requiem tour, which begins in October, Yoshiki will become the first Japanese artist ever to headline Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, and the Tokyo Garden Theater.  

His Upcoming Classical Tour Is Inspired By His Late Mother

The name "Requiem," Yoshiki said, comes from a piece he wrote for his mother, who passed away in 2022. When she died, he told Emmons, he couldn’t stop crying for three or four days. Yoshiki went to seek the help of a doctor, who told him he just had to embrace his grief. 

He turned to composing, and as he told the room, "my tears turned into melody," and the solemn concerto slowly emerged. It’s still unfinished — there’s no strings arrangement yet, he says — but it’s one of the pieces he’ll be performing on tour later this year. 

Yoshiki Works A Lot, But At His Own Pace

Speaking of tours: Yoshiki also gave fans in attendance some hints about future tours, saying he’s working to bring the Last Rockstars back to the states sometime in the future, noting that they’re working on a new record but poking fun at his work load and perfectionism by joking, "Everything I’m involved in takes time." 

That includes "Angel," the new single from X Japan due to be released July 28. At the show, he performed an abbreviated classical arrangement of the song with Orchid Quartet and the singer Beverly. It’s an arrangement he’ll also most likely be performing on his classical shows, though Yoshiki says the X Japan version of the track will be much more rock-focused, with ample drums and guitar.

Yoshiki said that he wrote "Angel" some time ago, and that he composes music pretty much constantly. "Melodies fall into me even now," he said, noting that the frequency with which he hears music is "pretty much endless." 

When he composes a song, he added, it’s just about transposing the vision in his head. Actually laying it down in a studio gets more complicated, Yoshiki said, in part because he views recording as a "compromising process" that never quite sounds like he envisions in his mind. 

He Thinks Rock And Classical Music Have A Lot In Common 

As far as Yoshiki is concerned, any good melody can become both a rock track and a classical cut. He cited the example of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 2, which he says has a second movement that he thinks sounds like Celine Dion — or, as he joked, does Celine Dion sound like Rachmaninoff? He thinks it can go either way, showing Emmons and the audience what he meant by playing a few bars of some of his more rock-oriented tracks on his piano. 

Yoshiki Has Given His Entire Body And Soul To Performing

Though he looks to be about 30 years old, Yoshiki is actually well into his fifties and years of feverish performance have taken a toll on his body. That’s clear in We Are X, a movie about the history of X Japan, where viewers can see Yoshiki getting frequent cortisone injections into his neck and back. He told Emmons he thinks he’s had hundreds at this point, as well as two neck surgeries. (He might even have a third one, he said.) 

That’s because, as he explained, he likes to play "every single show as if this was my last stage," and always tries "to give 1,000 percent." Yoshiki says he doesn’t always realize the pain he’s in until after he’s left the stage, though he does seem to think it’s all worth it, since as he told the audience, "I was given this life. I just want to go all the way." 

Of course, Yoshiki was also full of jokes at the event, telling silly stories about his first time getting acupuncture, when he was so new to the process that he worried about whether he’d be able to take a bath after the procedure, lest water seep in though all the holes left in his body. He poked fun at his last-minute whims, including flying Beverly over from the Philippines just for the show. He also told a story about eating Fugu, or blowfish, every single day for the three months he was just in Japan, in part because that’s what his staff kept ordering for him. 

Amidst wrapping up the show with performances of "Miracle," "Red Swan," and "Endless Rain," Yoshiki stopped for a moment to call out to his friends in the audience, including Lollapalooza co-founder Marc Geiger and Joelle Benioff, the mother of Yoshiki’s good friend, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. (The latter was actually sitting in the seat that Yoshiki had sponsored in the Clive Davis Theater, which is pretty cool.) 

Yoshiki wrapped up the evening by addressing the audience in a way that seemed both soft and sincere, saying, "because of you, I’m still here creating music" and adding, "I hope the music I create can help you, too." 

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Today, the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum have announced a total of 212 music teachers as quarterfinalists for the 2024 Music Educator Award, which recognizes current educators — kindergarten through college across public and private schools — who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The quarterfinalists, who hail from 197 cities, were selected from more than 2,000 initial submitted nominations. In addition to the quarterfinalists, 123 legacy applicants from 2023 will also be eligible to win the Music Educator Award this year.

Semi-finalists for the 2024 Music Educator Award will be announced this September. The ultimate recipient will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2024.

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A joint partnership and presentation between the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, the Music Educator Award is open to current U.S. music teachers, and anyone can nominate a teacher — students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators. Teachers are also able to nominate themselves, and nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application.

Each year, one recipient is selected from 10 finalists and recognized for their remarkable impact on students' lives. The 10th annual honoree will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 66th GRAMMY Awards, as well as a range of GRAMMY Week events. The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and the schools of all 10 finalists will receive matching grants. Fifteen semi-finalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.

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The matching grants provided to the schools are made possible by the generosity and support of the GRAMMY Museum’s Education Champion Ford Motor Company Fund. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.

Learn more about the Music Educator Award.

See the full list of the 2024 Music Educator Award quarterfinalists and legacy applicants below:

2024 MUSIC EDUCATOR AWARD QUARTERFINALISTS

2024 MUSIC EDUCATOR AWARD LEGACY APPLICANTS

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Since its founding in 1969, the Songwriters Hall of Fame has been celebrating the great songwriters and composers of our time. In 2010, it found a physical home at Downtown Los Angeles' GRAMMY Museum.

Now, the GRAMMY Museum is adding to that legacy with a special expanded exhibit, which dives deep into the history of songwriting and recorded music in the United States — as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame and its inductees' role in it. Whether you're a songwriter or musician who loves the creative process, a history nerd, or simply a music lover, this exhibit is for you.

When you enter The Power Of Song, you'll hear the voices of legendary Songwriter Hall of Fame inductees and GRAMMY winners — including Nile Rodgers, Carole King, Diane Warren, Smokey Robinson and Jimmy Jam — discussing their creative process and some of the biggest songs they've written. Take a seat on the couch to absorb all their wisdom in the deeply informative and inspiring original short film.

Turn to the right, and you'll find a timeline across the entire wall, explaining the origins and key points around songwriting and recorded music in the U.S. On the other wall, pop on the headphones provided to enjoy a video of memorable Hall of Fame ceremony performances. One interactive video interface near the entrance allows you to hear "song highlights," and another allows you to explore the entire Songwriters Hall of Fame database.

The exhibit is filled with a treasure trove of handwritten song lyrics from Taylor Swift, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Petty and many more, as well as iconic artifacts, including Daft Punk's helmets, a classy Nile Rodgers GRAMMY look, and guitars from Bill Withers, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp and Toby Keith.

Below, take a look at five things we learned from The Power Of Song: A Songwriters Hall Of Fame Exhibit, which will be at the GRAMMY Museum from April 26 through Sept. 4.

Daft Punk Rerecorded "Get Lucky" To Fit Nile Rodgers' Funky Guitar

Legendary funk pioneer and superproducer Nile Rodgers is the current Chairman of the SHOF and has an active presence at the exhibit. One case features the disco-esque lime green Dior tuxedo Rodgers wore to the 2023 GRAMMY Awards, along with the shiny metallic helmets of French dance duo Daft Punk, who collaborated with Rodgers on their GRAMMY-winning 2013 album, Random Access Memories.

Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and Rodgers had forged a friendship and been wanting to collab for years prior to 2013's Record Of The Year-winning smash "Get Lucky." When they finally connected and Bangalter and de Homem-Christo played the CHIC founder the demo for "Get Lucky," he asked to hear it again with everything muted except the drum track, so he could create the perfect guitar lick for it.

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo decided to essentially re-record the whole song to fit Rodgers' guitar, which joyously drives the track — and carried it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, Daft Punk's first Top 5 hit.

Photo: Rebecca Sapp

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Set Up Their Studio The "Wrong" Way Because Of Prince

In the exhibit film, Jimmy Jam tells several stories about working with — and learning from — Prince. He recalls how he and Terry Lewis watched Prince work and record everything "in the red," so they set up their Minneapolis studio to follow his lead. A sound engineer told them it was too loud, but that ended up being the sound that artists like Janet Jackson and Usher came to them for. It was a "happy mistake," as Jam put it, that helped their legendary careers as a powerhouse production duo take off.

Prince's dogmatic, tireless work ethic also rubbed off on the powerhouse pair. One rehearsal, the Purple One kept pressing Jam to do more, which resulted in him playing two instruments, singing and hitting the choreography from behind his keyboard. "He saw that I could do more than I thought I could; he saw me better than I saw myself," he reflected.

"God Bless America" Composer Irving Berlin Didn't Read Music

In his 50 year-career, Irving Berlin wrote over 1000 songs, many of which defined American popular music for the better part of the 20th century. Along with penning "God Bless America," "White Christmas," "Puttin' on the Ritz," and "There's No Business Like Show Business" (among many other classics), he wrote 17 full Broadway musical scores and contributed songs to six more plays.

Berlin also wrote scores for early Hollywood musicals starring the likes of Ginger Rodgers, Fred Astaire, Marilyn Monroe, and Bing Crosby. He made a lasting, indelible mark on music, theater, film and American culture writ large.

Rather astonishingly, the widely celebrated American Tin Pan Alley-era composer was self-taught and didn't read sheet music. His family immigrated to New York from Imperial Russia when he was 5 years old, and when he was just 13, his father died, so he busked on the streets and worked as a singing waiter to help his family out.

In 1907, at 19, he had his first song published, and just four years later penned his first international hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band." Berlin had a natural musicality and played music by ear in the key of F-sharp, with the help of his trusted upright transposing piano, a rare instrument that had a mechanism allowing him to shift into different keys. His "trick piano," as he called it, where many of his unforgettable songs first came to life, is on display at the exhibit.

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Smokey Robinson Didn't Expect "My Girl" To Become A Timeless Hit

Smokey Robinson was an important part of Motown's hit-making factory as a singer, songwriter and producer. In the exhibit film, he discusses "My Girl," one of his classic tunes, which he wrote and produced for the Temptations in 1965.

"I had no idea it would become what it would become," he said.

He says that people often ask him why he didn't record the unforgettable song with his group the Miracles instead of "giving it away" to the Temptations, but he never regretted his decision. Instead, he's honored to have created music that stands the test of time and means so much to so many people.

Robinson joked that the Temptations' then-lead singer David Ruffin's gruff voice scared girls into going out with him. Really, he loved Ruffin's voice, and thought he'd sound great singing a sweet love song like "My Girl." Safe to say he was right.

After World War II, Pop Music Changed Forever

Prior to World War II, American music operated as a singular mainstream market, and New York's Tin Pan Alley songwriters competed to make the next pop or Broadway hit. In a post-World War II America, especially when the early Baby Boomer generation became teenagers and young adults in the '60s and '70s, tastes changed and new styles of pop and pop songwriting emerged. As rock shook up popular culture, Tin Pan Alley gave way to a new era of young songwriters, many who worked out of just two buildings in midtown Manhattan, 1619 Broadway (the Brill Building) and 1650 Broadway.

In this richly creative and collaborative environment, powerhouse songwriting duos began to emerge and reshape pop music, challenging and balancing each other — and creating a ton of hits in the process. The hit-making duos of this diversified pop era included Burt Bacharach and Hal David (Dionne Warrick's "That's What Friends Are For"), Carole King and Gerry Goffin (Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion"), Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'") and Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and the Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me," both in collaboration with Phil Spector). In fact, there are far too many classics penned by these four prolific songwriter duos to list here.

While there are still songwriters that pen big hit after hit for pop stars (Max Martin is still at it, as is his protege Oscar Görres), the dynamics in the industry have continued to shift with singers taking on more creative power themselves. Today's pop stars — including Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift — have found success co-writing with their own trusted teams of songwriters and producers. But as this new exhibit shows, it doesn't matter who is behind the pen — the power of song is mighty.

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The 2023 GRAMMYs may have come and gone — but you can now take home a one-of-a-kind piece of Music's Biggest Night for a good case!

This GRAMMY Museum's new online auction via Charitybuzz features items signed by artists, including guitars signed backstage at the 2023 GRAMMYs by Bad Bunny, Sheryl Crow, Dr. Dre, Mick Fleetwood, Lizzo, Bonnie Raitt, Smokey Robinson, and Harry Styles.

Plus, the auction contains more guitars and items signed by 21 Savage, Joe Bonamassa, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, Miley Cyrus, Luis Fonsi, Jonas Brothers, Steve Lacy, LL Cool J, Shawn Mendes, Miguel, Kacey Musgraves, Kim Petras, Lionel Richie, Nile Rodgers, Slash, Sam Smith, Chris Stapleton, Susan Tedeschi, and Meghan Trainor.

The GRAMMY Museum's online auction via Charitybuzz is live now and will run through Thursday, April 13.

GRAMMY Museum Presents Spectacular 'The Power Of Song: A Songwriters Hall Of Fame Exhibit' Paying Tribute To American Icons