2025 Gramm formed to be a lively celebration of a lively year in music: the years by Chappell, Charli and Sabrina; by Taylor, Beyonce and Billie; by “Brat”, “Tipsy” and “Not Like us.”
But on Wednesday, January 8, everything changed when fire fires raged over Grammy’s hometown of Los Angeles. For the third time in five years-after the covid-changed show 2021 and 2022-where Grammys have to turn and convert what is usually an extravagant, glamorous celebration into something more serious and sometimes gloomy. “I’ll admit that I was looking forward to a simple show,” says Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. “But on that Wednesday morning it just turned upside down.”
Although many urged that the February 2 show be postponed – and almost every Grammy Week party was quickly canceled – for Mason and Ben Winston, the show’s executive producer, there was no question of moving on. About 6,500 LA areas work with major awards such as Grammys, which have an estimated impact on the local economy of about $ 200 million.
“On the one hand, there is the good we can do with our platform,” says Mason. “But if we were to cancel or postpone the show, how would it affect the thousands of people working on it or around it?”
Winston adds, “After Covid, Post-Covid, two (Hollywood industry) beating and everything else, try to tell those stage hands, customers, makeup partners, drivers, cater Not the show. “
Ben Winston, Left, and Harvey Mason Jr. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Recording Academy)
Getty -Pictures for the recording a
So in what has become a familiar scenario, Recording Academy, Broadcast Partner CBS and Winston’s team got to work. “On Wednesday I started phone calls,” Mason reminds. “I met or zoomed with state leadership, local leadership, officials in the fire brigade, tourism managers, managers for many hotels – and for one person they all said the same thing: ‘You have to do the show – for the city, for the people, to the image of spring City is open to companies. You have to do it. ‘And of course the music community needed it, for the money Musician The event will raise. ”
Musicares, Recording Academy’s Charitable Wing – which paid out more than $ 30 million in Covid Relief to the music community during Pandemin – also immediately jumped into action. The revised not only his annual benefit concert Person of the Year (this year who honored Grateful Dead) to be for fire relief, but it began to raise money immediately: at the time of publication, it had collected almost $ 4 million so far and distributed at least 2 , $ 2 million.
While many people were originally worried that Grammy participants took hotel rooms from the locals who had lost their homes, from last week, local hotels were only 30% occupancy, according to the city’s tourism manager for the marketing district and CEO of the Convention and the Visitor Agency. This was probably due to the fire -induced reduction in tourism and hotels that were not a viable long -term alternative for local residents.
On January 13, the Academy officially announced that the show was moving forward. Mason says: “The only reason we would have interrupted or postponed is if it was physically and logistically impossible to keep the show – if the fire brigade said it is not safe, or the police department said we would overload their infrastructure, or the local The government said that not. “
Yet he is equally clear about what the show is coming not Pray: It is neither a collection nor an advantage, but “a show that collects money”, he emphasizes. “It will not be a teleleton, and you will not see one (chyron with a) that goes totally over the bottom of the screen; It is not that kind of an event. It is a chance for us to use our platform – and thankfully our partners at CBS are helpful with this – to raise money and awareness, but it will still have performance and awards.
“It will be different, but I would not say dramatically Otherwise, he continues. “We get a different tone. It will be discussed and segments around the electricity and collection components. We still have performances, we still have awards and honors music. But you know something has happened, and you know we use music to do good. “
Balancing Gravitas with celebration is a familiar challenge for these teams and returning hosts Noah, and the Covid era Grammys introduced several elements that have remained, such as the celebrity tables in front of the arena, which started with the intimate, only invitation, partly socially distanced 2021-show; There will also be relatively long, commercially smaller parts of the ceremony. Nevertheless, Winston notes that this year’s Pivot has not led to a full -scale review.
“It’s not a brand new show,” he says. “We have not interrupted any performances, although there are a couple of new ones, and a couple of artists changed their songs. But I think it is our job to set the tone, not the artists. It’s still Grammys, we still have incredible performances and assigns the people who have created the music that has moved us over the past year, and I think there is a lot of value to give some joy and levity and music to the world right now. But we are very aware of the devastation that has happened La and what is happening in the world, and we will reflect it. ”
However, the academy decided that “condensate “its usual dozen plus Grammy Week event And instead focus on four, all of which added a fire recovery element: Musicares, Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala, The Special Merit Awards and the show itself. A small number of non-Academic Grammy Week events, such as the two all-Star Fireaid concerts that take place on the forum and intuit arena on Thursday and a couple of others, will contain fire loss elements.
“No event was more important or less important than others,” says Mason, “but we are aware that some of the same people come to many of these events, and rather than having eight or nine collection events, it may make it more feeling Focus our efforts on those many people can meet to do the best. ”
Winston emphasizes that he understands why most of the week’s regular parties, brunches and dinners were interrupted. “I think that one party Is different, he says. “Having Hors d’oeuvres and Champagne when there are people on the road facing devastation can be tone deaf. But I think the Grammy show is very different and can make a difference. “
Mason actually ends, “When I see people and friends who have lost their studio, lost their house, lost their instruments, lost their ability to serve their life, after all the battle and struggle that has happened to people in this society all over the latest Five years I say we have to do everything we can to help. It’s about raising money, raising awareness and hopefully letting musicians have the financial resources it will take to support the thousands and thousands of people who will need help – not just this week or next week, but in the nearest the years. ”
But as fires continue to collapse over La County, a strong reality remains: The situation can be difficult again at any time. “Every time I speak, I always use it as a warning,” says Mason. “If things get worse, all bets are suspended.”
See Musicares.org For ways, you can help the music community with willing.
