Photo of John Mellencamp's Gibson Dove Acoustic guitar with "Fuck Fascism" written on it

John Mellencamp's Gibson Dove Acoustic Guitar

Photo: Josh Giroux

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GRAMMY Museum Presents 'Songs Of Conscience, Sounds Of Freedom' Exhibit, Opening January 2022

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Curated by the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles, the 'Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom' exhibit examines the role music has played in informing and inspiring social consciousness throughout American history
GRAMMY Museum
Dec 9, 2021 - 9:28 am

The GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles has announced the return of Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom, an exhibit examining the role music has played in informing and inspiring social consciousness throughout American history. Charting a path from spirituals sung by enslaved people in America and the songs and sounds of the American Revolution to the mass movement of music and art that helped stir action during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s to the continued fight for racial justice in America today, the exhibit spans time and genres to tell the stories of music's role as a source of inspiration and education. Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom opens on Sat, Jan. 15, 2022, and runs until May 8, 2022.

Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom was first on display at the GRAMMY Museum when it opened in Los Angeles in 2008. In the 13 years since that initial run, the exhibit has been updated to include the Black Lives Matter movement, songs that fight for LGBTQ+ rights, and how music from artists like H.E.R., Dave Specter and Mickey Guyton continue the traditions of using music as an agent and catalyst for social change.

Additionally, Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom will include a newly expanded section, "The Sounds of Los Angeles," which explores Los Angeles-based social movements and events that have inspired protest songs spanning a variety of genres and communities, the Chicano Movement that formed during the 1960s and 1970s, the 1965 Watts Riots/Rebellion, the 1992 Riots/Uprising, and the city's history of poverty and economic disparity, gang violence and police corruption. Featured artists include Lalo Guerrero, Mark Guerrero, Frost, Kim Weston, Randy Savvy of Compton Cowboys, Chuck D, and more.

Read More: Fight The Power: 11 Powerful Protest Songs Advocating For Racial Justice

"Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom returns to the GRAMMY Museum at a particularly relevant time," Bob Santelli, Founding Executive Director and Exhibit Curator, said. "Although socially and politically conscious songs have healed and inspired generations throughout our history, it feels especially significant to showcase the power of song as a unifying force and agent of change in the midst of America's current struggles for equality."

"Los Angeles' connection to the creation of socially conscious music is undeniable," GRAMMY Museum Curator and Director of Exhibitions Nicholas Vega said. "In this newly expanded section, the GRAMMY Museum partnered with a number of L.A.-based artists to shine light on the community-based movements that have impacted the city's identity and history, and inspired the creation of socially and politically charged music."

Read More: From Aretha Franklin To Public Enemy, Here's How Artists Have Amplified Social Justice Movements Through Music

Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom will also include "Song Spotlights," individual video displays that feature artists talking about specific socially conscious songs:

Exhibit highlights include:

  • Woody Guthrie's Tenor Banjo (May Bell) used during the "Woody and Lefty Lou" radio show in the 1930s
  • Handwritten lyrics to "I Can't Breathe" and the Martin LX1 Little Martin Acoustic guitar used by H.E.R. to write the song
  • John Mellencamp's Gibson Dove Acoustic guitar with "Fuck Fascism" written on it
  • Stevie Van Zandt's Guild electric guitar used during the recording of "Sun City"
  • Handwritten lyrics to "The Ballad of George Floyd" written by Dave Specter
  • Custom dress designed by Naeem Khan worn by Mickey Guyton during her performance of "Black Like Me" at the 63rd GRAMMY Awards in March 2021
  • Original flyer from the "First Ever Chicano Rock Concert" held at Cal State LA in 1972

For more information regarding advanced ticket reservations and the GRAMMY Museum's new safety protocols, please visit www.grammymuseum.org.

GRAMMY Museum In-Person Programs Return September 2021 With Ava Max, The Marías, Danny Elfman, Ryan Tedder & More

Margo Price (L) speaks at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles in 2016

Margo Price (L) speaks at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles in 2016

Photo: Rebecca Sapp/WireImage for The Recording Academy

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GRAMMY Museum August 2020 Content Lineup: Margo Price, Pete Yorn, Bright Eyes, Ava Max, Kiana Ledé & Much More

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The upcoming month's programming also includes intimate sit-down interviews with Toots and the Maytals, Burt Bacharach & Daniel Tashian, The Airborne Toxic Event, Ashley McBryde and many others
John Ochoa
GRAMMY Museum
Jul 31, 2020 - 4:03 pm

The GRAMMY Museum has announced the next round of new and never-before-released digital content to be shared every week throughout August 2020. As the physical location in Los Angeles remains closed until further notice in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the GRAMMY Museum will continue its digital initiatives, including the newly announced Spotlight Saturdays series.

Highlights for next month's programming include new, intimate sit-down interviews with artists and musicians recorded via Zoom, as part of the Museum's Public Programs digital series, with breakout country star Margo Price, alternative legend Pete Yorn, pop sensation Ava Max, indie icons Bright Eyes, reggae legends Toots And The Maytals and several others. 

Launching this weekend (Aug. 1) at their Digital Museum, the GRAMMY Museum's new Spotlight Saturdays series will feature intimate sit-down interviews and performances via digital conferencing with up-and-coming artists. The series kicks off with an exciting class of emerging acts including platinum-selling R&B artist Kiana Ledé, New Zealand pop star BENEE, rising L.A. rapper Duckwrth and others. 

On August 7, the GRAMMY Museum will also release a new digital exhibit, "Rhymes & Reasons: The Music Of John Denver," with several photo slideshows.

In addition to the new content released during August, GRAMMY In The Schools Mini-Lessons will be posted on Thursdays. 

Since the GRAMMY Museum opened 12 years ago, it has offered more than 900 Public Programs. The Museum continues to release digital educational content and lesson plans as part of the GRAMMY In The Schools Knowledge Bank, continuing its mission of paying tribute to our musical heritage and bringing our community together through music.

Check out the GRAMMY Museum's full digital programming schedule for August 2020 below:

DIGITAL PUBLIC PROGRAMS

8/3 – Ruth B.
8/5 – Burt Bacharach & Daniel Tashian 
8/5 – The Immediate Family
8/10 – Pete Yorn
8/10 – Ava Max
8/12 – Margo Price
8/17 – Chuck Prophet
8/17 – Bright Eyes
8/19 – The Mavericks
8/24 – The Secret Sisters
8/24 – Toots & The Maytals
8/26 – The Airborne Toxic Event
8/31 – NEEDTOBREATHE
8/31 – Ashley McBryde

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAYS SERIES

8/1 — Kiana Ledé 
8/8 — BENEE
8/15 — Conan Gray
8/22 — Duckwrth
8/29 — Jeremy Zucker

DIGITAL EXHIBIT

8/7 – Rhymes & Reasons: The Music of John Denver

For more information about the GRAMMY Museum, how to become a member and to access its catalog of digital content, visit their Digital Museum. 

Little Big Town, Ledisi & More Partner With GRAMMY Museum & Michelle Obama's Reach Higher To Mentor College Students

Courtesy Photo: GRAMMY Museum

Courtesy Photo: GRAMMY Museum

Courtesy Photo: GRAMMY Museum

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#DoorsClosedMissionOpen: GRAMMY Museum Staff Curates Daily Playlists To Soundtrack Your COVID-19 Quarantine

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The daily playlists are part of a larger digital initiative from the GRAMMY Museum during the location's temporary closure, which includes never-before-released free digital content from the archives
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
Apr 2, 2020 - 10:42 am

Like many other businesses, arts organizations and museums around the world, our beloved GRAMMY Museum home base in Los Angeles is currently being impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since mid-March, the GRAMMY Museum has temporarily closed its doors until further notice for safety and health precautions in light of the coronavirus pandemic. 

But while the location may be physically closed for now, the GRAMMY Museum's mission of cultivating a greater understanding of the history and significance of music remains wide open and alive online. And they're keeping that mission at the forefront in the best way they know how: music. 

As part of their ongoing digital initiatives, the music-loving staff at the GRAMMY Museum is sharing exclusive Spotify playlists to soundtrack your daily life during this time of social distancing. Updated daily at 10 a.m. PT, the playlists are curated by staff members from across the GRAMMY Museum team in an effort to keep all employees engaged with each other and with the Museum's followers and patrons during this closure. 

Featuring selections from everyone from guest services and security team members to the executive team and spotlighting everything from disco hits and Afrobeat to classic rock and Latin trap, the playlists highlight the wide range of personal tastes reflected in the Museum's diverse staff and honor the genres and artists both the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum celebrate every day in our missions.

Read: Recording Academy And MusiCares Establish COVID-19 Relief Fund

"Once we made the decision to temporarily close our doors, it was a priority for me that we maintain staff engagement as much as possible," GRAMMY Museum President Michael Sticka said. "Asking each member of our staff to curate their own playlists has been one way that we've been able to do that. For me personally, I have loved getting to know our staff better by listening to their music choices and hearing their personalities shine through! I'm proud that we have been able to build a digital museum that properly continues each pillar of our mission, including public programs, education and virtual exhibits. Our digital museum has been a key element of our strategic plan for some time now, so I'm happy that all of these initiatives will continue after we re-open our doors. For the time being, our doors may be closed, but our mission isn't and we look forward to continuing to bring music content to the general public during this time and into the future."

The daily playlists are part of a larger digital initiative from the GRAMMY Museum during the location's temporary closure, which includes never-before-released free digital content from the archives. The newly announced lineup of April 2020 programming includes exclusive content from Tanya Tucker, Ben Platt, Common, Los Tigres del Norte, Courtney Barnett and many more. They join previously announced programs featuring Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Greta Van Fleet and Kool & The Gang, making this April a can't-miss event for the GRAMMY Museum's digital content public programming. 

This month, the GRAMMY Museum will also debut the Digital Exhibit Series, exhibit slideshows featuring past exhibitions and museum installations, featuring Jenni Rivera, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. 

The Museum's Public Programs digital series features intimate sit-down interviews with artists and musicians in its 200-seat Clive Davis Theater from past programs. Since the Museum opened 12 years ago, it has offered more than 900 Public Programs.

Additionally, the Museum continues to release digital educational content and lesson plans titled GRAMMY In The Schools Mini-Lessons, continuing its mission of paying tribute to our musical heritage and bringing our community together through music.

In all, the Museum is releasing new content every day of the week, with GRAMMY In The Schools Mini-Lessons on Sundays and Tuesdays, Digital Public Program Series on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and Digital Exhibit Series on Friday. Thursdays are Member Engagement Nights. Exclusive for Museum members, these special nights include an Album Club, which is an interactive experience similar to a book club, except members listen to music instead of reading books.

To experience all the Museum At Home digital content and to view the full programming schedule, visit the GRAMMY Museum website, where you can also find more information about the organization and its programs.

GRAMMY Museum's April Online Lineup: Tanya Tucker, Ben Platt, Common, Los Tigres Del Norte & More

GRAMMYs

Jason Daley Kennedy, Rebecca Drucker, Sherri Lewis, Chauntae Pink, Abby Sasser and Mark Poston

Photo by Timothy Norris/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

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"Storiestelling: Music and HIV/AIDS" Highlights Impact Of HIV/AIDS Education, Storytelling, Activism On Music Communities

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The 2020 GRAMMY Week event was hosted in collaboration with STORIES: The AIDS Monument at the GRAMMY Museum
Onaje McDowelle
GRAMMYs
Jan 23, 2020 - 1:40 pm

As precisely stated by political activist and GRAMMY Hall of Fame Inductee and Lifetime Achievement award recipient Paul Robeson, "Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are civilization’s radical voice." The proposition is no exaggeration.

In 1994, hip-hop trio TLC famously released their chart-topping single "Waterfalls" which saw immediate success, landing at the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s top 100 chart shortly after its release. At the 38th Annual GRAMMY Awards the song was nominated for Record Of The Year and Best Pop Performance By A Duo. But beyond its accolades, the song perhaps did even better to openly address the HIV/AIDS crisis on a global scale during a time when speaking out was needed the most. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 21, The GRAMMY Museum’s Clive Davis Theater played host to the panel "STORIESTelling: Music and HIV/AIDS" which focused conversation on the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on artists, music communities and the music industry, as well as the impact of music on HIV/AIDS. The free-to-the-public panel was brought to life in collaboration with STORIES: The AIDS Monument as a part of the GRAMMY Museum’s GRAMMY week panel series, "Music in Action: conversations with those diversifying, preserving and changing the music industry."

Featured panelists included performing artist and "Poz Roz" actress Chauntae Pink, Director of Talent and Entertainment Relations at ONE Abby Sasser, Moscham CEO and former EMI Music Chairman Mark Poston, Manager Rebecca Drucker and Performer, AIDS Activist and STORIES Board Member Sherri Lewis. The panel was moderated by Producer and Content Creator John Daley Kennedy.

Read More: Women In Music And Film Talk Self-Confidence & Inclusion At The GRAMMY Museum

Lewis was a member of the '80s pop-band Get Wet, whose top 40 hit "Just So Lonely" helped launch music videos on MTV. She tested positive for HIV in 1997 and subsequently followed a path of activism, offering support and fully standing in a message of HIV empowerment for survivors of the virus as well as promoting HIV prevention through involvement with various HIV/AIDS service organizations. "Being able to educate young people based on my own experiences so that they don’t have to go down that path is what gives it purpose," she shared.

During the 1980s, also known as the "plague years" for HIV/AIDS, AIDS was considered a death sentence. There was no known treatment for the virus and HIV/AIDS was negatively stigmatized by the spreading of disinformation and heightened media propaganda, only causing more confusion and fear about HIV/AIDS and how it might affect us. 

Read More: "Amplifying Music’s Reach" GRAMMY Week Panel Discusses Human Connection, MusiCares Research, Outreach, & More

As for music’s impact on HIV/AIDS, Poston explained that its biggest push forward came in the form of speaking out and spreading awareness. "Music and artists help open the discussion and create the awareness," he said. "That’s something that has continued right up until the present day. Artists have a voice, they’re often leading the culture and their tapped in with young people." He continued, noting key moments such as Freddie Mercury’s 1992 HIV/AIDS tribute concert, which garnered over 1 billion viewers worldwide. After contracting HIV, he explained that Mercury’s death helped put a face to the devastation behind the virus for music communities, who began to rally together around the cause after his passing.

The fight against HIV/AIDS itself, for music communities and beyond, is not over. Knowledge around HIV/AIDS is often still mystified and links between healthcare and poverty are intrinsic. According to Sasser, HIV/AIDS is still the number one killer of young girls around the world and spikes in infection amongst black and brown communities and women of color are evident. She is working alongside the STORIES AIDS monument team, continuing to keep the fight for awareness and action alive. Education and storytelling are key in this mission, she stated, which hopes to memorialize lives lost, celebrate activism around the virus that has occurred and to equip future generations with the knowledge necessary to effectively mobilize around HIV/AIDS moving forward. You can find more information on STORIES the AIDS monument here.

The GRAMMY Museum’s educational programming will continue throughout the week including discussions on Careers in the Music Industry, Creating Collaborative Communities for Female Artists and more. For more information on the scheduled events, visit the museum’s programs page here. 

Be sure to stay tuned to GRAMMY.com throughout the week for your behind-the-scenes pass into 2020 GRAMMY Week events, including the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards airing live on CBS this Sunday, Jan. 26, featuring performers Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, Lizzo and more.

Grammys Newsletter

GRAMMYs

John McKenna, Harry Grammer, Ifunanya Nweke, Erica Krusen and Victoria Stevens at the GRAMMY Museum

Photo by Timothy Norris/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

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"Amplifying Music’s Reach" GRAMMY Week Panel Discusses Human Connection, MusiCares Research, Outreach, & More

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The panel was one of a series of six that will take place throughout GRAMMY Week 2020 at the GRAMMY Museum in Downtown Los Angeles
Onaje McDowelle
GRAMMYs
Jan 22, 2020 - 4:36 pm

Yesterday, Jan. 21, the GRAMMY Museum kicked off a series of educational GRAMMY week events just ahead of the 62nd GRAMMY Awards set to take place this Sunday, Jan. 26 on CBS. Hosted on the museum’s second floor Clive Davis Theater, the panel "Amplifying Music’s Reach" brought students, visitors and industry professionals together for discussions focused on the ways that each panelist is using their career to help harness music's power as a tool for personal growth and mental and emotional healing in others. By dedicating their daily lives and consistent work to creating tangible change through music, each panelist is helping to diversify and ultimately redefine industry spaces, while uplifting underserved musical communities along the way. 

The panel, moderated by clinical Psychologist and GRAMMY Foundation Music and Science Research Special Projects consultant Victoria Stevens, helped its audience to explore what mobilizing through on-the-ground initiatives looks like in today’s music landscape. Stevens opened the proceedings by emphasizing the relevance of music's more tangible and human benefits that are often not fully realized. She explained that we must consider how deeply embedded music is within us culturally, socially and even biologically, in order to move more effectively towards serving communities through music. 

"Music is complex and mysterious. It’s ubiquitous and it’s known as the universal language,” she began. "Music-making and listening have been shown to exist in all current and historically documented human societies. And for all humans, the musical brain is present at birth and continues as a unique way of communicating, processing and understanding emotions throughout our lifetimes… music affects our minds and bodies in ways that we are only beginning to scientifically understand,” she said before detailing several music research initiatives supported through the Recording Academy including studies connected to music’s healing power for those with PTSD, Alzheimer’s and stroke victims.

Read More: Sheléa Serves GRAMMY Week Motivation: "This Is Why I Do What I Do, To Give To The Next Generation"

According to Stevens, the awarding of grants and funding for similar innovative music research projects is an important facet of the GRAMMY’s larger outreach in bringing music to everyone as a means of transforming and healing. Projects like MusiCares, which offers resources like health care and insurance to artists and musicians who may not have immediate access to it, and Jazz Hands for Autism, which empowers creators on the autism spectrum to pursue music as a career with advocacy programs, are the epitome of said efforts. Further, the mentor-based arts and education program New Earth helps exemplify the values of connecting and uplifting through music by bringing music education to juvenile justice system affected youth as a means of empowerment, while Operation Respect uses music as an anti-bullying tool in schools across the country.

Panelists offering their insights to these kinds of projects and other initiatives were Senior Director of the Recording Academy’s charitable arm MusiCares Erica Krusen, Ifunanya Nweke who is creating avenues of expression and employment for musicians on the autism spectrum with her organization Jazz Hands for Autism, New Earth founder, Obama fellow and CNN Hero Harry Grammer, and Executive Director of anti-bullying organization Operation Respect, John McKenna.

On using music as a helping hand for others, when asked what she’d like to leave the audience with, it was Nweke’s response that held itself transcendent in terms of keeping music alive as the connection between one another. "Confidence is knowing that you have something of value to give to somebody, and community thrives when that giving becomes reciprocal."

The GRAMMY Museum's educational programming will continue throughout the week including discussions on Careers in the Music Industry, Creating Collaborative Communities for Female Artists and more. For more information on the scheduled events, visit the museum’s programs page here. 

Be sure to stay tuned to GRAMMY.com throughout the week for your behind-the-scenes pass into 2020 GRAMMY Week events, including the 62nd GRAMMY Awards airing live on CBS this Sunday, Jan. 26. 

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