Body Count, 2018

Body Count

Photo: Jeff Kravitz

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Body Count Perform "Black Hoodie" | 2018 GRAMMYs

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Ice-T & Co. blaze through their GRAMMY-nominated track
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jan 28, 2018 - 6:12 pm

If there's one way to powerfully encapsulate anger, metal music might just be one of the most effective outlets. Such is the case with band Body Count and their track "Black Hoodie."

Body Count Perform "Black Hoodie"

The group — fronted by legendary rapper Ice-T—  got political with the Best Metal Performance GRAMMY-nominated slugger, railing against the shooting of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012. The band didn't hold back their rage, tapping into the zeitgeist of what many are feeling in today's political climate.

Body Count brought the unapologetic song to the 60th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony with a performance that won't soon be forgotten. Take a look for yourself.

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Ice-T to India.Arie: 2018 GRAMMYs Premiere Ceremony

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Between giving out awards in more than 70 categories and great performances, you don't want to miss what happened at the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jan 28, 2018 - 7:01 pm

Each year prior to the GRAMMY Awards telecast, the Premiere Ceremony honors GRAMMY winners in more than 70 categories, complete with a slate of unforgettable performances.

Body Count Perform "Black Hoodie"

During the 60th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony, for example, you must see the hilarious Paul Shaffer present the GRAMMY for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album to Tony Bennett and his son Dae Bennett, Chris Stapleton add two more GRAMMYs to his collection, and Body Count's slammin' performance of "Black Hoodie."

We didn't want you to miss any of the action, so take a look at what happened during this year's prelude to Music's Biggest Night.

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Ice-T and Body Count at the 60th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony in 2018
2018 GRAMMYs Premiere Ceremony

Luis Fonsi photographed in 2018

Luis Fonsi

Photo: Victor Chavez/WireImage.com

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"Despacito" To Taylor Swift: 15 Potential Records On The Line | 2018 GRAMMYs

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From Jay-Z and Bruno Mars to Lorde and Khalid, find out more about the potential history at stake at the 60th GRAMMY Awards
Paul Grein
GRAMMYs
Jan 25, 2018 - 6:00 am

GRAMMY history will be made on Jan. 28. Records will be set. Milestones will be reached. No one knows exactly which records will be set, but here are 15 that potentially could come to fruition.

Watch Spike Lee's Star-Studded 'NY Stories' Film

Which of these possibilities will become reality? Take your best guess and then be sure to watch the 60th GRAMMY Awards on Jan. 28 to find out.

1. "Despacito": Record, Song Of The Year

Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" (featuring Justin Bieber) is nominated for both Record and Song Of The Year. It is vying to become the first entry that is primarily in a foreign language to win in either category since Domenico Modugno's "Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu (Volare)" in 1958. "Despacito" is mostly in Spanish. "Volare" was in Italian.

2. Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar: Record Of The Year

Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." and Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." are nominated for Record Of The Year. If either wins, it would become the first hip-hop recording to win in that category.

3. Bruno Mars: Record Of The Year

Bruno Mars' "24K Magic" is nominated for Record Of The Year. Mars won in this category two years ago as featured artist on Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" Should Mars win again this year, he'll become the third artist to win both as a solo artist and as a billed part of a collaboration or duo/group. Norah Jones won on her own for "Don't Know Why" (2002) and with Ray Charles for "Here We Go Again" (2004). Paul Simon won on his own for "Graceland" (1987) and twice as half of Simon & Garfunkel.

4. Lorde: Album Of The Year

Lorde's Melodrama is nominated for Album Of The Year. Should Lorde win, this will be the first time in GRAMMY history that female solo artists have won in this category (as lead artists) three years in a row. Adele won the award last year for 25. Taylor Swift won two years ago for 1989.

5. "That's What I Like": Song Of The Year

Mars' "That's What I Like," with eight credited songwriters, is nominated for Song Of The Year. So are "Despacito," with six credited songwriters, and "Issues," with five. Should any of these songs win, it would set a new record as the Song Of The Year winner with the most co-writers. The current record, shared by seven songs, is four co-writers. (Interesting side note: All seven of those songs have come since 2000.)

6. Alessia Cara: Best New Artist

Alessia Cara is nominated for Best New Artist. Should she win, she'll become the first artist who was born in Canada to win in this category.

Alessia Cara To Jay-Z: 60 60th GRAMMY Nominee Facts

7. Khalid: Best New Artist

Khalid is nominated for Best New Artist. The R&B singer/songwriter is just 19. (He'll turn 20 on Feb. 11, two weeks after GRAMMY night.) Should he win, he'll become the first teenager to win in this category since Christina Aguilera, who was 19 when she took the 1999 award. (One other teenager has taken the prize. LeAnn Rimes was just 14 when she took the 1996 award.)

8. The Chainsmokers & Coldplay: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

The Chainsmokers and Coldplay are nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Something Just Like This." The smash is vying to become the first collaboration by two groups or duos to win a GRAMMY in the Pop Field since "Feel Good Inc." by the English virtual band Gorillaz and the American hip-hop trio De La Soul. That hit took the 2005 GRAMMY for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.

9. Body Count: Best Metal Performance

Body Count's "Black Hoodie" is nominated for Best Metal Performance. This would be the second career GRAMMY for the group's co-founder, Ice-T. He was featured on Quincy Jones' "Back On The Block," the 1990 winner for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. It almost goes without saying that Ice-T would be the first musician to win in both of these disparate categories.

10. Bruno Mars: Best R&B Album

Mars' 24K Magic is nominated for Best R&B Album. Mars is vying to become the first artist who isn't African-American to win in this category, which was introduced in 1994.

11. Jay-Z: Best Rap Album

Jay-Z's 4:44 is nominated for Best Rap Album. Jay-Z first won in this category 19 years ago for Vol. 2 … Hard Knock Life. Should he win this year, he'll set a new record for the longest span of wins in this category. Eminem currently holds that distinction, with a 15-year span of wins (1999–2014).

12. Rapsody: Best Rap Album

Rapsody's Laila's Wisdom is nominated for Best Rap Album. Should it win, Rapsody would become the first female solo artist to win in this category, which was introduced in 1995. (One group that included a woman has won in this category. The Fugees, which featured Lauryn Hill, won the 1996 award for The Score.)

13. Taylor Swift: Best Country Song

Swift's song "Better Man" is nominated for Best Country Song. Should it win, Swift will become the first woman to win three times in this category. She previously won for co-writing "White Horse" (2009) and for writing "Mean" (2011). One man — Josh Kear — has won three awards in this category.

14. Chris Stapleton: Best Country Album

Chris Stapleton's From A Room: Volume 1 is competing for Best Country Album. Should it win, he'll become the first male solo artist to win twice in this category since the category was re-introduced in 1994.

15. Sara Caswell: Best Improvised Jazz Solo

Violinist Sara Caswell is nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for her work on "Can't Remember Why," a track from Chuck Owen And The Jazz Surge's album, Whispers On The Wind. Should it win, she'll become the first female instrumentalist to win in this category.

(Paul Grein is a veteran music journalist and historian whose work appears regularly at Yahoo.com and Hitsdailydouble.com.)

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Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

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"Dear Evan Hansen" Producers On Winning A GRAMMY In New York

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The creatives behind the hit musical detail their path from the idea stage to Broadway to Music's Biggest Night
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Feb 2, 2018 - 12:00 pm

If you haven't seen "Dear Evan Hansen," given the show's win at the 60th GRAMMY Awards in New York, now is the perfect time to look into checking out the hit Broadway musical.

"Dear Evan Hansen" One-On-One: 2018 GRAMMYs

Written by composers/lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and produced by orchestrater Alex Lacamoire, Stacey Mindich, Pasek, and Paul, "Dear Evan Hansen" explores the struggle of social anxiety.

"It's about a young man who feels incredibly isolated and alone in his world," producer Pasek explained backstage at the 60th GRAMMYs. "And through a series of events he is believed to have been the best friend of a kid who just passed away and he basically [helps] a grieving family make them think that he was actually best friends with their son who has recently been deceased. His whole life changes as a result and the question is whether or not he should come clean and how his life changes because of this lie."

"Dear Evan Hansen" opened on Broadway in 2016 following a premiere at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 2015. For the creators of the show, getting the musical from the conceptual stage all the way to Broadway was a collaborative process.

"The songs are created along with the rest of the show, so we really worked in tandem with our book writer Steven Levenson on this project. We developed these characters and this storyline all together. Then Michael Greif our director," said Paul. "We sit in a room for a long time and come up with it all together. We bring in our music team, Alex Lacamorie and the rest of them. It's an amazing sort of journey where you keep picking up more incredible, wonderful people all along the way as you create this show from scratch and then get it up, workshopped, up on its feet and finally, eventually, thankfully on Broadway."

"Dear Evan Hansen" has earned critical acclaim since its opening. The show took home six Tony Awards, including Best Musical in 2017, and Ben Platt's role as the lead garnered him a Best Performance by an Actor Tony Award. Now the creators and Platt have added a GRAMMY to the list of the musical's accolades, having earned the GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album this year.

Pasek and Paul couldn't wait to share their GRAMMY success with the rest of the cast and crew of the show, especially because Music's Biggest Night was celebrated right in the musical's hometown.

"It is really cool that our show is playing just up the street and then we get to celebrate this with our whole cast," Pasek said. "They're just finishing a matinee performance right now so I think they're going to come down and find out they're all GRAMMY winners at the end of it, which is a very, very cool thing. And to have it be in New York and to celebrate that energy that Broadway's so vital in, it's a very exciting thing for us."

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Kendrick Lamar and Dave Chappelle at the 60th GRAMMY Awards

Kendrick Lamar and Dave Chappelle

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Dave Chappelle On Winning First GRAMMY, Kendrick Lamar Performance

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The comedian also reveals who texted him right after his big win and what he thought about that puppy love moment on Music's Biggest Night
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Feb 2, 2018 - 11:18 am

Dave Chappelle is among the group of the most fortunate people in show business. And no, it's not because he won his first GRAMMY for Best Comedy Album at the milestone 60th GRAMMY Awards in New York. It's because, first and foremost, he loves his job.

Dave Chappelle's One-On-One: 2018 GRAMMYs

"I love what I do and my favorite part of it is when I get to stand in front of audiences and I'm real grateful that the rooms fill up," Chappelle said backstage at Madison Square Garden. "Just [having] a platform like this is an amazing, amazing experience."

Speaking of amazing, Chappelle admitted his surprise when his named was called as the winner of Best Comedy Album for his double album, The Age Of Spin & Deep In The Heart Of Texas. This year's category was crowded with talent, with Chappelle nominated alongside the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, Jim Gaffigan, and Kevin Hart.

"I wasn't expecting it, I think it was probably one of the worst GRAMMY speeches ever," he said. "But I was very happy to win. And my son texted me afterward and [said] he was proud of me. It made it all worth it."

Watch: Dave Chappelle Wins Best Comedy Album

But as much as winning a GRAMMY is a thrill, Chappelle cited his participation in Kendrick Lamar's spell-binding show-opening medley as his personal highlight of the evening. During the performance, which included "XXX," "DNA" and "King's Dead," Chappelle appeared to deliver a punctuating monologue: "The only thing more frightening than watching a black man be honest in America is being an honest black man in America."

"My favorite part of the night was actually the Kendrick [performance]," said Chappelle. "It was an honor to be part of that. I loved it, man."

So what's next for Chappelle? While he didn't get into specifics, one thing is for sure: It's back to the grindstone.

"[The work] never ends," he said. "If you do something good in this game, then do it again, do it again, and do it again. So I enjoy the moments but I try to keep a level head and see if I can create new great memories."

James Corden Presents Comedy Nominees With Puppies

In the meantime, when asked about his fellow Best Comedy Album nominees receiving puppies from host James Corden as consolation prizes, Chappelle deadpanned, "I would love to get one of those puppies."

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