Beck, Common, St Vincent To Perform At Prince Grammy Tribute Concert
‘Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince’ will be held on 28 January – two days after the Grammys – at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be broadcast in April.
Beck, Common, St Vincent, Alicia Keys, John Legend and Usher will perform at a special Prince Grammy tribute concert, which is set to take place after the 2020 Grammy Awards and air on television later this year, Rolling Stone has confirmed.
Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince will be held on 28 January – two days after the Grammys – at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be broadcast in April. Past Prince percussionist Sheila E. will serve as the night’s musical director alongside long-time Prince associates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The line-up also includes Foo Fighters, H.E.R., Earth, Wind & Fire, Mavis Staples, Chris Martin, Gary Clark, Jr. and Juanes.
The Prince Grammy tribute will also feature several of the iconic musician’s collaborators, including Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles (who sang the Prince-written hit ‘Manic Monday’), and Morris Day and the Time. The musician’s old band, the Revolution, have also signed on, with drummer Bobby Z. telling Rolling Stone the group “are involved and looking forward to honouring Prince.”
Speaking with Rolling Stone, Sheila E. says she and her band will be supporting most of the performers throughout the night while also getting her own set. The musician says they plan to perform the breakout, Prince-penned hit ‘The Glamorous Life’ — “For obvious reasons,” she quips — and Prince’s 1985 song, ‘America.’
“I was very honoured to be able to do this for so many reasons, but to be able to help celebrate the life of a dear friend and be a part of this and be musical director is awesome,” Sheila E. says.
In a statement, Recording Academy President/CEO Deborah Dugan said, “Prince. The Purple One. His Royal Badness — regardless of how you identify him, he is indisputably one of the greatest musical virtuosos of all time. With his subversive attitude and commanding nature, he straddled musical genres and created electrifying music that was bursting with character. He continues to serve as an inspirational icon for artists and fans worldwide, and we are so honoured to pay tribute to his legacy.”
Like past concerts of this nature, the Prince ‘Grammy Salute’ show will offer fans the opportunity to not just enjoy Prince’s music, but also hear familiar songs with fresh ears. Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich says that, so far, he’s heard a handful of scratch tracks from artists set to play the show, and says, “I’m really happy, because everyone I’ve heard, there’s a little bit of Prince — sometimes there’s a lot more Prince there.”
The Prince tribute will follow past “Grammy Salute” concerts, which have honoured the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Motown and Aretha Franklin.
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