Today (April 3), MTV announced its initial artist lineup for its newly debuted, quarantine-friendly version of its celebrated "MTV Unplugged" series: "MTV Unplugged At Home." The series will feature at-home performances from GRAMMY winners FINNEAS, Alessia Cara, Shaggy and Melissa Etheridge, as well as Monsta X, CNCO, Jewel and Bazzi. They join previously announced artists Wyclef Jean, Yungblud, himself a digital concert rock star, and JoJo. Additional artists will be announced at a later date.

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Much like its namesake, "MTV Unplugged At Home" will feature stripped-down and acoustic performances from quarantined artists directly from their homes. The series will be streamed regularly across MTV's YouTube, Instagram and Twitter channels.

Read: Nirvana Manager Danny Goldberg Talks 25 Years of 'MTV Unplugged In New York'

"Reimagining the beloved music series as a multi-platform digital experience, the new mini-concert series will feature stripped-down, acoustic sets from artists performing their greatest hits, enabling music enthusiasts to find comfort in their new realities alongside fellow fans," a statement regarding the show said, according to Rolling Stone. "In addition to the roster of global artists, MTV's international channels will feature performances by local acts in their respective countries around the world."

"MTV Unplugged At Home" coincides with MTV's #AloneTogether global social media campaign, which aims to educate young fans and followers about social distancing in an attempt to control and reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since early March, the global music industry has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a worldwide shutdown of the festival and concert business. Major festivals and events to have canceled or postponed their 2020 installments include Governors Ball, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Coachella and Stagecoach, Ultra Music Festival, SXSW, Lollapalooza Argentina and many more around the world.

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Billie Eilish has announced her third studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT out May 17. 

Fresh off a sweeping set of award wins for Song Of The Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media at the 2024 GRAMMYs and Best Original Song at the Oscars for her hit single, "What Was I Made For?" from the Barbie soundtrack, Eilish is swapping Barbie pink for submerged shades of blue. 

Her new album, another collaboration with brother Finneas, comes almost three years after her sophomore effort, 2021's Happier Than Ever.

Ahead of the official press announcement and Instagram post on Monday, Eilish unleashed a viral ad campaign teasing the release. Billboards featuring the nine-time GRAMMY winner's "blohsh" symbol (a genderless human stick figure) with what fans guessed were cryptic lyrics, appeared in blue font on a black background across major cities, including Los Angeles and New York City's Times Square. Then, Eilish changed her social media icons to a shade of blue and treated Instagram followers to some more mystifying visual content via a set of story posts that included her millions of fans being added to Close Friends on the app. 

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That strategy paid off, exploding the number of followers Eilish counts on the platform to over 120 million (up from 110 million on Friday) in the span of just three days. One fan summed up the collective rush to join the inner circle with a comment that's racked up over 10,000 likes: "Not a big deal but I’m on her close friends."

As she dives into deeper artistic waters with her third album, Billie Eilish continues to push the boundaries of music and environmental activism, blending her unique sound with a strong commitment to sustainability. Read on for everything GRAMMY.com has unearthed about Eilish's upcoming release. 

There Won't Be Any Pre-Released Singles

Fans hoping for an early taste of what's to come will have to wait almost a full month to quench their thirst for any new music. 

Eilish confirmed via Instagram that the album will drop in full, without any pre-released singles. “So crazy to be writing this right now i’m nervyyyyy & exciteddd," Eilish wrote. Continuing, "Not doing singles i wanna give it to you all at once. Finneas and i truly could not be more proud of this album and we absolutely can’t wait for you to hear it. Love you love you love you.”

The Track List is ‘Spirited Away’

On April 18, Eilish posted the full tracklist for Hit Me Hard And Soft on her Instagram in a post that lists 10 tracks including one named "CHIHIRO," a title borrowed from the Japanese animated film Spirited Away.

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Eilish teased a 15-second snippet of the track in a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music which included Eilish softly singing, “Today, maybe tomorrow/ Open the door for me/ I know you said before/ You can’t cope with it no more.”

In the same interview with Apple Music, Eilish noted that she and brother Finneas created the album as if no one would ever hear it. "We kind of made the album that if somebody had said, ‘I want you to make an album and no one is going to hear it. You don’t have to worry about anyone’s ears or opinions or anything at all. It’s in your contract to make an album but no one can hear it,’ Eilish told Lowe. "We pretty much made that album. We made that album without much thought of other people.” Watch the full interview below.

It's Her Most Daring Work To Date

The album is set to debut in a year poised to feature some of the most significant releases from major musicians, each exploring and redefining genre boundaries, trends, and soundscapes.

"HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is a diverse yet cohesive collection of songs, ideally listened to in its entirety from beginning to end," a press release accompanying the announcement stated.  "The album does exactly as the title suggests: hits you hard and soft both lyrically and sonically while bending genres and defying trends along the way." 

The Cover Art Is Haunting

The cover art is elusive and mysterious, featuring a dark and moody image of Eilish that matches statements about her plunging to new depths as an artist. Dressed head-to-toe in dark colors, she is depicted sinking into the depths of a body of water, beneath a stark white door floating at the surface.

The cover art tracks against the statements in the press release that note, "HIT ME HARD AND SOFT journeys through a vast and expansive audio landscape, immersing listeners into a full spectrum of emotions." 

The Release Is Focused On Sustainability

Eilish is hoping to turn the power of her fans into a force for good — her latest album hopes to set a new standard for eco-conscious music production with sustainability baked into the production of CD, cassette, and vinyl releases. 

In an interview with Billboard Eilish said, "The fact that I have a far bigger audience and platform than I’ve ever had in my life means I can reach that many more people, and that’s such a huge responsibility and privilege to have." She continued, “If I don’t use that privilege to do some good in the world, then what’s the point?"

According to a new sustainability page on her website, fans can anticipate eight distinct vinyl variants, each unified in track-listing but varied in their sustainable creation. Available through her website and major retailers, the standard black vinyl is crafted entirely from recycled materials. The other seven vibrant variants use ECO-MIX, which repurposes leftover vinyl pieces, or BioVinyl, reducing carbon emissions by 90 percent with ingredients like used cooking oil. The packaging itself is also focused on environmental responsibility, featuring certified recycled content and plant-based ink. 

On building more sustainable processes into her album release as a major artist, Eilish told Billboard, “I can’t just ignore what I know and go about my business and career and not do something. That’s just not how I was raised, or how I want to live my life."

Watch Billie Eilish & FINNEAS’ 2024 GRAMMYs Red Carpet Interview

At the 2024 Oscars, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS performed a devastating version of "What Was I Made For?" [From The Motion Picture *Barbie*], which won the Oscar for Original Song at the 2024 Academy Awards. Watch the performance above.

At the 2024 GRAMMYs earlier this year, Eilish and FINNEAS won Song Of The Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media for the Barbie song.

During their performance, Eilish and FINNEAS delivered the acclaimed song with intimacy and drama, assisted by sumptuous strings. Where one might expect aggressive amounts of pink — as per the Barbie aesthetic — only muted, tasteful lights cast that hue on the brother-and-sister collaborators, clad in monochromatic garb.

Likewise, the GRAMMY-winning pair simply delivered the song straight, without any fireworks. Clearly, they felt this endlessly affecting tune — which had already gathered two GRAMMYs — worked a la carte, during the biggest night in Hollywood.

The brief yet affecting performance marked yet another time that the GRAMMYs and the Oscars have crossed over — as music and movies have always been entwined and inseparable.

Eilish has won nine GRAMMYs and been nominated for 25. As for FINNEAS, he's won 10 GRAMMYs and been nominated for 17.

When Eilish won Song Of The Year at the 2024 GRAMMYs for "What Was I Made For?," she beat out Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Jon Batiste, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, SZA, and Olivia Rodrigo.

"Damn, dude! I'm shocked out of my balls!" Eilish said during her GRAMMYs acceptance speech. "Everybody in this category, that was a crazy list of incredible people."

Keep checking this space for more updates on the 2024 Oscars — including GRAMMY winners and nominees who are featured during the big night!

2024 GRAMMYs: Billie Eilish Wins GRAMMY For Song Of The Year For "What Was I Made For?" From The Barbie Soundtrack

Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

Looking for more GRAMMYs news? The 2024 GRAMMY nominations are here!

He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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By most measures, 1992 was a massive year for  Nirvana. The Seattle grunge pioneers achieved international fame when their major label debut, Nevermind, topped the charts and was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 34th GRAMMY Awards. 

But the band (and lead singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain in particular) quickly became overwhelmed by their unexpected success. Nirvana retreated for most of the year, only playing about a month’s worth of shows and delaying work on a follow up album. 

So there was much ground to make up in 1993.

But Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl rose to the challenge. There were a few bumps along the way — such as a kerfuffle when it was reported that Nirvana bowed to record company pressure to remix tracks on their new album, thus making them "sellouts" (the band insisted they alone decided what changes needed to be made) — but '93 ended up being one of Nirvana’s most productive years.

Thirty years ago, Nirvana released an acclaimed third album (In Utero), an indie single ("Oh, The Guilt"), and created one of their most haunting videos ("Heart-Shaped Box"). And throughout their first U.S. tour since 1991, the band proved again and again what a powerful live act they were — whether playing a former movie house or a mega stadium — showing that a noisy band could still pack a punch by going acoustic. 

In honor of the 30th anniversary of In Utero (and a forthcoming reissue), GRAMMY.com revisits 11 of Nirvana’s most memorable moments from 1993.

Nirvana Affirm Their Indie Cred With "Oh, The Guilt"

Nirvana recorded three songs during their sole studio session in 1992. "Curmudgeon" ended up as the B-side of "Lithium," "Return of the Rat" appeared on a Greg Sage compilation, and "Oh, The Guilt" finally turned up as part of a split single with Jesus Lizard on Touch and Go Records. 

Back in 1988, Cobain had sent several copies of Nirvana’s first demo to the Chicago-based Touch and Go. Following the major label success of Nevermind, Nirvana clearly wanted to make the effort to keep in touch with their indie roots. 

"Nirvana became like the Beatles of the ’90s, but they still wanted to do it," Jesus Lizard’s David Yow told Seattle music magazine The Rocket. "And we had to figure out, well, do we want to do this and look like we’re riding on Nirvana’s coattails, or we could just do it and not worry about it, which is what we ended up doing." 

Released on Feb. 22, the grinding "Oh, The Guilt" set the stage for the rawer sound of Nirvana’s next album.

The Band Played "One Of The Best Shows Of Their Lives" At The Cow Palace

Nirvana had played only five major U.S. concerts in 1992, so there was much anticipation for this concert in Daly City, just south of San Francisco. Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic organized the show, a benefit for the Tresnjevka Womens’ Group, a Zagreb-based organization aiding Bosnian War rape survivors and refugees. 

"The Cow Palace show was high-stakes," says Michael Azerrad, author of Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana (due to be reissued next month in an expanded edition), who was at the show. "Some of the people who worked with Nirvana were a little dubious about the material the band had recently recorded for  In Utero.  Kurt, Krist and Dave knew they had something to prove. But they hadn’t played live in a couple of months — and now they had to get up in front of an audience and play one of the best shows of their lives. And they did just that." 

At the April 9 show, the band came roaring out of the gate with "Rape Me," and went on to deliver a fiery 23-song set, debuting a number of songs from In Utero, and encoring with a noise jam that ended with the obligatory instrument destruction. In Azerrad’s view, "The Cow Palace show was truly a triumph."

Fans Got A Taste Of Pre-Fame Nirvana In 1991: The Year Punk Broke

When David Markey packed up his Super-8 camera to follow various indie bands on a European tour in 1991, he had no idea he’d be capturing Nirvana on the verge of becoming the biggest band in the world. In Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana Cobain recalled this as the period when "there’s so much excitement in the air you can just taste it," and it’s riveting to see the band without the baggage of worldwide fame dragging them down. 

Markey's documentary, 1991: The Year Punk Broke, was released on home video in April 1993. "Smells Like Teen Spirit," not yet released as a single, sounds fresh and invigorating; older numbers like "School" and "Negative Creep" are sizzling. 

"That tour was easily the most fun I've ever had on any tour, anywhere, anytime," says Markey. "And that feeling was shared by everyone who was on it, I promise. Forget the fact that Nirvana and Sonic Youth were on fire at every stop along the way. Same with the other bands: Dinosaur Jr. Babes In Toyland. Gumball. And of course the Ramones. 

"I remember nothing but smiles and laughter," he continues. "The fact that I was tasked with documenting it with nine hours of Super-8 film cartridges shoved into a giant suitcase seemed like an afterthought. It wasn’t just a job. It was everything."

The "Sliver" Video Offers A Glimpse Into Cobain's World

In December 1992, DGC, the same label that put out Nevermind,  released Incesticide, a collection of Nirvana’s non-album tracks. The video for "Sliver"  was belatedly released to promote it in May 1993, but what’s more interesting is the glimpse it gives into Cobain’s private world.

Originally released as a single on Sub Pop Records, the song is a childhood reminiscence that showed Nirvana charting a new course into more pop-driven territory. The band members look like giddy teenagers practicing in their parent’s garage, and the location is, indeed, Cobain’s own garage. It’s a room filled with ephemera: a wind-up toy of a monkey playing the cymbals, a can of Prairie Belt sausages, a copy of Better Homes and Gardens with the words "Indie punx still sucks" scrawled on the mailing label. It’s no surprise to see a poster of Mudhoney on the wall — but Mikhail Gorbachev as well? As a bonus, Cobain’s daughter Frances Bean Cobain pops up repeatedly throughout the proceedings.

Nirvana Go Bigger, And Acoustic, At The Roseland Ballroom

Nirvana was a last-minute addition to the roster of acts performing during the New Music Seminar, a summer convention for music industry professionals in New York City. The July 23 performance served as a dry run for Nirvana’s Unplugged performance later in the year. 

The band also experimented with filling out their sound by adding a second guitarist (John Duncan as a temporary fill in). They performed most of the songs from In Utero, sounding a good deal tougher live than on record. Then, to the audience’s surprise, the band sat down and brought on cellist Lori Goldston for a short acoustic set. The set is initially hampered by a poor sound mix (Novoselic can be heard calling out "More cello!") and disinterest on the part of some loudly talking audience members. 

Listening now, it’s an impressive moment, as the band works to make their performance more than simply a standard run through of the hits. As Everett True wrote in his review of the show for Melody Maker, "Cobain is, in his way, a master manipulator, a brilliant strategist who understands that noise alone is not drama and that good hooks always draw blood."

Nirvana Raised Money For The Mia Zapata Investigative Fund

Theater in Seattle raised money to help solve the murder of Gits’ singer Mia Zapata, who had been killed the previous month, with TAD headlining. Nirvana was added to the bill to boost sales.

While the crowds turned up, according to guitar tech Earnie Bailey, they nearly missed out. The show was running overtime, meaning a full changeover of gear between TAD’s and Nirvana’s sets would mean Nirvana could only play one or two songs. Instead, the TAD crew allowed Nirvana to use their gear, and Nirvana went on to have great fun with their set, throwing in covers of Led Zeppelin’s "No Quarter," and, more unexpectedly Terry Jacks’ weeper "Seasons in the Sun." 

The show has never been released in any form, so there was great excitement when a 20-minute excerpt appeared on YouTube this past August. It was Nirvana’s last show as a trio.

Cobain & Co. Release Their Third Album, In Utero 

Nirvana’s long-awaited third album was first released in the U.S. on vinyl on Sept. 14; the CD version, the dominant audio format at the time, followed on Sept. 21, and debuted on Billboard’s Top Albums chart at No. 1. 

In Utero  stands as Cobain’s most personal work, his response to the turbulent events of 1992: the sudden rush of fame, substance abuse, parenthood, and the demonization of his wife. In contrast to the commercial sheen of Nevermind, In Utero  has a harsh, confrontational sound; songs like "Scentless Apprentice," and "tourette’s" are frightening in their intensity. And even if you don’t take lines like "What is wrong with me?" ("Radio Friendly Unit Shifter") and "Look on the bright side is suicide" ("Milk It") as foreshadowing, they’re nonetheless indicative of the pervasive sense of unease that permeates the record. 

From the opening salvo of "Serve the Servants" that caustically rejects fame ("Teenage angst has paid off well/Now I’m bored and old") to the plea for transcendence in the closing "All Apologies," In Utero is an album of emotional pain that rivals John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. A 30th anniversary release of In Utero is set for October 2023.

"Heart-Shaped Box" Single And Video Are Released

Released in September, "Heart-Shaped Box" shares the same sonic dynamics as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (quiet verse, loud chorus), but is tempered by an underlying melancholy, along with striking imagery ("meat-eating orchids," "umbilical noose"). The song’s video was equally compelling — and spooky. The main set is a creepy forest where fetuses dangle from the trees and an elderly man in a Santa Claus hat climbs on a cross to be crucified. 

In the director’s cut of the video, the last verse shows Cobain lying asleep in a field as mist slowly rises around him, an image that became even more haunting to look at after his death (in the initial cut, Cobain is shown singing the final verse). The hospital sequences echo the album’s themes of illness and decay. Cobain later told MTV, "That video has come closer to what I’ve seen in my mind, what I’ve envisioned, than any other video."

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This was the first opportunity for most fans to see how In Utero’s songs translated to live performance. First up is "Heart-Shaped Box," more powerful than on record, Cobain’s vocals transitioning easily between the subdued verses and the raging chorus. 

"Rape Me" debuted on the 1991 tour; Cobain subsequently added a bridge attacking media hypocrisy, and this performance burns with righteous fury. The show also marked the debut of Pat Smear, formerly guitarist with L.A. punk act the Germs, to the lineup, sharing guitar duties with Cobain. He’s certainly the most animated band member, bouncing around the stage with high-spirited energy. And don’t overlook how forcefully Grohl attacks his drum kit.

Nirvana Do A Masterful Performance On MTV’s "Unplugged" 

The idea of an incendiary band like Nirvana doing an "unplugged," sans their raging volume, seemed an oxymoron. Even the group seemed uncertain how to handle the task. The show’s producer, Alex Coletti, later recalled how MTV execs were unhappy that the band didn’t want to perform their signature hits, and that their choice of musical guest was not a similar headliner like Eddie Vedder, but a lesser-known indie act, the Meat Puppets. Before the taping on Nov. 18, the band hadn’t even done a complete run through of the set. 

It was a situation ripe for disaster. Instead, Nirvana pulled off what’s considered one of their most masterful performances. The band chose their more acoustically-driven numbers ("About a Girl") and songs that worked in a stripped down format ("Come As You Are"), though they weren’t entirely unplugged; Cobain’s guitar was put through a Fender Twin Reverb amp and effects boxes. 

The covers proved to be the most interesting choices — David Bowie’s "The Man Who Sold the World" was mesmerizing — and the Meat Puppets’ numbers underscored Nirvana’s own idiosyncratic indie roots. "I thought the Meat Puppets’ inclusion was especially magical," says Lori Goldston, cellist during Nirvana’s fall tour. "Curt [Kirkwood, Meat Puppets’ guitarist] was used to being the lead, not an accompanist, and afterwards he mentioned that it felt luxurious to play guitar without having to worry about doubling as a vocalist," a hint at how collaborations with other artists might have gone. 

The band finished up with an extraordinary performance of Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter’s "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" that left the audience stunned.

Nirvana Close Out 1993 With MTV’s Live and Loud 

Pearl Jam’s loss was Nirvana’s gain. After Eddie Vedder declined to appear at MTV’s New Year’s Eve gig (which was actually taped on December 13), Pearl Jam was cut from the lineup and Nirvana’s set was extended (other acts included Cypress Hill and the Breeders). 

The band had been on the road for two months now, and were firing on all pistons; the relentless "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" proved to be a powerhouse opening number and there was a scorching performance of "Scentless Apprentice." One moment not seen in the original broadcast (the entire show’s since been released on DVD) was when an audience member shrieked out "MTV sucks!" In response, Cobain smiled and quite sensibly asked, "Then why are you here?" But he perhaps revealed his own feelings about the network when, during the closing jam/end-of-show destruction, he looks straight into the camera and spits onto the lens. 

The final destruction sequence was particularly intricate on this night, starting out simply enough with Novoselic strumming his bass, then rising and falling in volume over the course of ten minutes, climaxing with Cobain swinging his guitar and decapitating one of the stage props. It brought Nirvana’s year to a suitably explosive close. 

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