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      How ‘Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ Beat Broadway at the Grammys

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      With their award for “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” two musical theater newcomers won against veterans like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz.When the lyricist-composer duo behind “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” stepped onstage Sunday to accept their Grammy for best musical theater album, the list of people they wanted to thank did not start with a record label or producer, but with their social media followers.“We want to thank everyone on the internet who has watched us create this album from the ground up,” said Abigail Barlow, who sings for over a dozen different characters on the album. “We share this with you.”Last year, Barlow had watched the first season of Netflix’s saucy period drama about the elite marriage market of Regency England, along with millions of others searching for escapist entertainment during the pandemic. A 22-year-old aspiring pop singer with a sizable TikTok following, she posted a song that she wrote with a simple but, she thought, promising premise: “What if ‘Bridgerton’ was a musical?”As the spark of an idea started to build, she sought help from a collaborator, Emily Bear, a 19-year-old composer and musician who had been introduced to the world as a 6-year-old piano prodigy but was hoping to prove herself as more than just a former spectacle for daytime talk shows.The pair started building what would ultimately amount to a 15-song album that includes an amorous duet between the show’s leading couple, a comedic solo for the show’s nonconformist tomboy and an opening number that they wrote with a lavishly dressed Broadway ensemble flitting around the stage in their heads.Bear produced and orchestrated the album herself, using her computer and an electronic keyboard to create the sound of a full symphony orchestra.More Coverage from the 2022 Grammy AwardsThe Irresistible Jon Batiste: The jazz pianist is an inheritor more than an innovator, but he puts the past to use in service of fun.Old, but New: Despite nods to Gen Z, this year’s show favored history-minded performers like Silk Sonic, H.E.R. and Lady Gaga.The Fashion: An exuberant anything-goes attitude was a reminder of why red carpets are fun in the first place.Zelensky’s Speech: Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, addressed the audience in a prerecorded video. Here’s what he said.On Sunday, with about six years of musical-theater writing experience between the two of them, the Gen Z songwriting duo beat out a list of powerhouse Grammy nominees that included Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cinderella”; Conor McPherson’s “Girl From the North Country,” built around Bob Dylan songs; and a Stephen Schwartz musical.“It’s hard to comprehend fully — like, we did this from our bedrooms,” Barlow said in an interview on Monday.“In my head, there was no way this was going to happen,” Bear added. “We just wanted to put out the album for the people that followed the whole process of it.”And there were a lot of those people, weighing in from every corner of the theater-loving internet. Barlow and Bear would livestream their songwriting sessions from Los Angeles, inviting fans to weigh in. Followers shared ideas for staging and choreography, Playbill designs, viral videos of them singing half of a duet and even a pitch to be the show’s intimacy coordinator.Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page in Season 1 of “Bridgerton” on Netflix.Liam Daniel/NetflixThe TikTok videos gained approval from Julia Quinn, the author of the “Bridgerton” books that inspired the TV series; the cast members of the show; and Netflix, which gave Barlow and Bear’s lawyers the green light for them to make their songs into an album, the duo said.The original videos remain on TikTok, and the independently produced album is on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services, but the musical has yet to actually be staged. (This is far from the norm for the musical theater album category, which has typically gone to big-name Broadway musicals such as “Hamilton,” “Jersey Boys” and “The Lion King.”)Speaking on a video call from their hotel rooms in Las Vegas, where the Grammys were held, Barlow, now 23, and Bear, 20, discussed their album’s unanticipated success, their practice of collaborating creatively with fans and where their careers are headed (starting with a Broadway-bound musical that they can’t yet discuss). Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.Abigail, what was it about “Bridgerton” that made you want to turn it into a musical?BARLOW The opening scene is so theatrical. I could just see each part of the stage lighting up in my brain. And then I kept writing down lines of dialogue that sounded like song titles. The phrase “ocean away” was the first one that made me run to my piano.Where were you each at before this came into your lives?BARLOW We were both really depressed. It is hard to break into the music industry, and I was ready to give up. I was applying for record-label receptionist jobs and crying to my parents because they had been helping to support me in Los Angeles and they were like, “You need to get a real job. We can’t help you anymore.” It was a really hard decision to try to chase after it just one more time.BEAR We were like, “Did we pick the wrong career?” I feel like we were putting out great music but no one was listening to us, no one was taking us seriously.Then, all of a sudden, you’re creating a musical that’s getting a ton of public engagement and videos that are getting millions of likes on TikTok. That’s one form of approval, but how does it feel getting this form of institutional approval from the Grammys?BEAR The powerful executives follow what the people want. Of course it feels good when someone who brushed you off for the same exact music you were writing two years ago now wants to buy it. But it’s more than that. We want to make way for all of the other incredible female — and not even just female — composers who love their craft.Some artists might bristle at your strategy of inviting in fan feedback as you create the work, leaving it open to significant influence from the audience in the middle of the creative process.BARLOW I’ve been livestreaming while singing and songwriting for an audience since I was a teenager. It’s like a muscle; the more you do it, the better you get at it. Emily has classic training and is incredibly educated in her craft. I am not, so it was just sort of my process to gain an audience’s perspective on what they thought and how I could improve.BEAR If you think about it, it was like we were workshopping instantly. We were getting live feedback in real time for people that would be coming to the show or buying the album.Do you think you’ll continue that way of doing things now that you have this institutional approval?BARLOW We’d love to, but we have some exciting projects after “Bridgerton” gave us a foot in the door and we still have to keep it hush-hush.BEAR Which is totally against our M.O., and it’s a little frustrating because, as we’re writing this music, we want to share it with everyone. What’s better P.R. for a project than getting people on board early? By the time it comes out, they know the music, they feel invested, they were there when it happened.And you did “Bridgerton” without a record label?BARLOW In the beginning when it first started to blow up we had a few conversations with labels, but none of it felt right. We knew that we wanted to capitalize on the moment, and we knew that the faster we released it the better.BEAR We would have gotten an orchestra and a cast, and that would have taken a lot of time and a lot of money. And why sign a label deal and not own all of our masters and publishing? We were like, eh, let’s just put it out ourselves. And I remember the night the album came out and we just saw it climbing the charts. We had fans who were constantly bugging us to release the album, so we knew we would have listeners, but I didn’t quite expect that much.How likely is it that the musical gets staged?BEAR It’s a bit out of our court because we don’t own the I.P. We feel like it would fit perfectly onstage. We see it so clearly. Netflix, you know where to find us. More

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      Anne Parsons, Who Revived the Detroit Symphony, Dies at 64

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      She shepherded the orchestra through a bitter six-month strike and then worked to ensure that it flourished after what many considered a near-death moment.Anne Parsons, who as president and chief executive revitalized the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the aftermath of a bitter strike, using education and technology to attract new audiences, died on March 28 in Detroit. She was 64.Her husband, Donald Dietz, said the cause was complications of lung cancer.Ms. Parsons, who led the Detroit Symphony from 2004 until December 2021, shepherded the orchestra through a six-month strike that began in 2010, one of its most challenging periods. She worked to ensure that the orchestra emerged from what many considered a near-death moment, reassuring donors and civic leaders as tensions between musicians and management escalated.Determined to avoid another labor dispute and eager to make the orchestra a pillar of Detroit’s civic revival, she spent the next decade rebuilding the ensemble, investing in live-streaming technology, expanding community programs and luring unconventional stars like Kid Rock to perform. At a time when many American orchestras were struggling amid declining ticket sales, the Detroit Symphony, digitally connected and agile, became a model modern ensemble.“They hit a financial wall and went through a very brutal strike,” said Mark Volpe, who was president and chief executive of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 23 years. “Instead of conceding and leaving like others have done in that context, she had the stomach, the persistence, the tenacity and, frankly, the vision to do something very special.”Ms. Parsons in an undated photo. She initially pursued a career in finance but found herself drawn to the arts.Detroit Symphony OrchestraAnne Hyatt Parsons was born on Nov. 4, 1957, in Schenectady, N.Y., to Jane (Walter) Parsons, a schoolteacher, and Gerald Parsons, who worked in finance.She initially pursued a career in finance to please her father, working as a bank teller during her summers at Smith College.But Ms. Parsons, who began studying the flute as a child, found herself drawn to the arts. She became manager of the student orchestra at Smith, helping to keep it together during a time of discord about its role on campus.She graduated from Smith in 1980 with a degree in English, promising her father that she would return to banking if, within one year, her career in the arts did not work out. Before long she had begun to ascend in the arts industry.Ms. Parsons was among the first class of fellows chosen by the American Symphony Orchestra League (now known as the League of American Orchestras). As a young employee at the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, she was an aide to the cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, who was the music director at the time.She went on to hold a variety of prestigious posts, including orchestra manager of the Boston Symphony from 1983 to 1991; general manager of the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles from 1991 to 1998; and general manager of New York City Ballet from 1998 to 2004.When she arrived in Detroit in the summer of 2004, she faced immediate challenges, including a sharp decline in ticket sales and dwindling support from corporations. She worked to overhaul the orchestra’s offerings, and in 2008, in a coup, she lured Leonard Slatkin, then the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, to take the podium in Detroit.As Detroit’s economy worsened amid the Great Recession and the orchestra’s financial picture grew bleaker, tensions at the orchestra deepened. A strike erupted in October 2010 after the orchestra, citing the difficult economic environment, proposed steep reductions in pay and benefits. The musicians said the cuts would destroy the ensemble’s high caliber, and they led a spirited campaign to oppose them.Ms. Parsons with Kenneth Thompkins, the principal trombonist, and other members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2021.Detroit Symphony OrchestraMs. Parsons maintained a tough stance throughout the ordeal. “The board was telling her, ‘You’re going to be the bad guy,’” Mr. Slatkin said in an interview. “But that’s the role, that’s the job. And there were days when I don’t know how she managed it. It became very, very vicious. But she stuck it out and kept a positive attitude the whole time.”After six months of heated talks, a deal was reached. In the end, the players accepted large salary reductions but preserved their health insurance and pensions.In the aftermath of the strike, Ms. Parsons set out to find ways to elevate the orchestra’s profile and bring in more revenue. She began a streaming service, one of the first orchestras to do so, and organized tours abroad, including to China and Japan. Vowing to make the Detroit Symphony the “most accessible orchestra on the planet,” she also oversaw efforts to expand music education in the city, bringing orchestra players into public schools that served large numbers of poor families. And she increased the orchestra’s presence in the suburbs, where many of its patrons live, holding concerts in churches, high schools and community centers.Donations rose, and ticket sales began to bounce back. After running deficits for years, the orchestra reported operating surpluses from 2013 to 2021.“What I really felt was this incredible responsibility to find a way forward regardless of the challenge that was facing us,” Ms. Parsons told The Detroit News last year. “The alternative for an institution as storied as the D.S.O. was unacceptable to me.”Even some of the musicians who clashed with Ms. Parsons during the strike said she had been vital to the orchestra’s turnaround.“After the strike, she said: ‘We’re never going to do that again. We have to maintain the artistic quality of the organization,’” said Haden McKay, a former cellist in the orchestra who served on the negotiating committee during the strike. “It was a stake in the ground. It put the institution on good footing, both financially and psychologically.”Ms. Parsons called her move to Detroit with her family the “best decision we ever made.” In 2021, the city named a street just south of Orchestra Hall in her honor.In addition to her husband, a photographer, Ms. Parsons is survived by a brother, Lance Parsons, and a daughter, Cara Dietz.Ms. Parsons learned she had lung cancer in 2018, but despite her illness she kept a busy schedule. She stepped down two months after returning from an extended medical leave.“She wanted to be able to say she’d given everything she could give,” Mr. Dietz said. “And that’s what she said to me after she couldn’t do it anymore. She said, ‘I have nothing else to give.’”Ms. Parsons said last year that her illness had brought into focus the “fragility of our world.”“We just take for granted that we’re going to be healthy and one day we’re not,” she said in an interview last year with Crain’s Detroit Business. “We take for granted someone is going to be a strong leader. When that doesn’t happen, it causes you to wake up every day and be grateful for the positive things.” More

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      2022 Grammys: Jon Batiste and Silk Sonic Win Top Awards

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      The 64th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night featured major wins by Silk Sonic, Jon Batiste and Olivia Rodrigo, elaborate performances from a music industry struggling to emerge from the pandemic and an impassioned plea for help from President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.The show, broadcast from Las Vegas, opened with Silk Sonic, the retro soul-funk project of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, playing “777,” about the high-rolling, Sin City side of Las Vegas. Moments later, the group won song of the year for “Leave the Door Open,” a throwback to smooth early ’70s soul.“Leave the Door Open” also won record of the year, as well as best R&B song. Silk Sonic also tied Jazmine Sullivan for best R&B performance.“We are really trying to remain humble at this point,” said Anderson .Paak, born Brandon Paak Anderson, while accepting record of the year. “But in the industry we call that a clean sweep.” (The record of the year prize is for a single recording, while song of the year recognizes songwriters.)Silk Sonic and Batiste’s wins kept Rodrigo — a 19-year-old Disney television star who burst on the music scene with smashing success and critical respect — from making her own sweep of the four top categories. But she did take best new artist.“This is my biggest dream come true,” Rodrigo said as she accepted that prize. She also took home best pop vocal album for “Sour” and pop solo performance for “Drivers License,” which she performed on a set like a suburban street, her voice swelling to emotional peaks and then breaking as it fell.Olivia Rodrigo performed “Drivers License,” which won best pop vocal performance. The 19-year-old also won best new artist.Mario Anzuoni/ReutersJon Batiste, the bandleader of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” took album of the year for “We Are,” which had virtually no commercial impact but was supported strongly by the membership of the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys. Batiste was up a total of 11 awards, more than any other artist, and won five.“I believe this to my core,” Batiste said, taking album of the year. “There is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor. The creative arts are subjective and they reach people at a point in their lives when they need it most.”Read More on the 2022 Grammy AwardsThe Irresistible Jon Batiste: The jazz pianist is an inheritor more than an innovator, but he puts the past to use in service of fun.A Controversial Award: Some people questioned the decision to bestow the Grammy for best comedy album to Louis C.K., who has admitted to sexual misconduct.Old, but New: Despite nods to Gen Z, this year’s show favored history-minded performers like Silk Sonic, H.E.R. and Lady Gaga.The Fashion: An exuberant anything-goes attitude was a reminder of why red carpets are fun in the first place.Zelensky’s Speech: Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, addressed the audience in a prerecorded video. Here’s what he said.The Grammys ceremony, initially planned for Jan. 31 in Los Angeles, had been delayed nine weeks by the Omicron variant, and moved to Las Vegas for the first time. “Better late than never,” the host, Trevor Noah, said as the CBS telecast opened at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.“We’re in Vegas,” he said. “Look at this. You know, people are doing shots. I mean, last year, people were doing shots, but it was more Moderna and Pfizer.”In a prerecorded message, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine appealed for support amid Russia’s invasion of his country.Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesPresident Zelensky had pressed the producers of the Academy Awards to speak last week, but was turned down. Invited to speak at the Grammys, he made an impassioned plea for his country, saying in a hoarse voice that Ukrainian musicians “wear body armor instead of tuxedos” and urging American music fans to “tell the truth about the war” on social media and “support us in any way you can.”John Legend then led a somber performance of his song “Free,” featuring Ukrainian artists like the singer Mika Newton and the poet Lyuba Yakimchuk.The night was also a complementary balance of vital young stars — Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X — giving powerful, fizzy performances that showed them fully in command of their art, and older acts being lauded for decades of work. Tony Bennett, the 95-year-old lion of the American songbook, won best traditional pop vocal album for the 14th time for “Love for Sale,” his Cole Porter project with Lady Gaga, who sang solo from that album. (Bennett, who has Alzheimer’s disease and has retired from performing, did not attend the ceremony, but briefly introduced Lady Gaga by video.)Women delivered some of the most memorable messages. Sullivan, who won best R&B album for “Heaux Tales,” said her project “ended up being a safe space for Black women to tell our stories, for us to learn from each other, laugh with each other and not be exploited at the same time.”Doja Cat, a spitfire rapper and internet provocateur, won pop duo/group performance for her hit “Kiss Me More,” featuring SZA. Taking the stage, she joked about racing back from the restroom just in time. Then she teared up. “It’s a big deal,” she said.Lil Nas X, the rapper, singer and meme master, performed a high-concept medley of his songs “Dead Right Now,” “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and “Industry Baby,” featuring Jack Harlow, interspersed with a montage of overheated media commentators. In other performances, the K-pop stars BTS began their song “Butter” looking like “Oceans 11” characters, and the Latin pop superstar J Balvin sang with Maria Becerra.There were several nods to the controversy that marred last week’s Academy Awards, when the actor Will Smith slapped the comedian Chris Rock onstage. During a nontelevised ceremony before the telecast, one presenter, Nate Bargatze, introduced the classical field while wearing a thick helmet. “This is what comedians at awards shows have to wear now,” Bargatze said.And early on in the telecast Noah promised that “we’re going to be dancing, we’re going to be singing, we’re going to be keeping people’s names out of our mouths,” alluding to Smith’s expletive-filled demand that Rock stop talking about his wife.Jon Batiste won five Grammys, including album of the year for “We Are.”Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesA series of complications in recent days had challenged Grammy producers as the show came together. Kanye West was barred from performing and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters, which had been scheduled to play, died while on tour. Two members of BTS, the K-pop phenomenon, announced that they had tested positive for the coronavirus, leaving fans to guess whether their performance would go on.As the multibillion-dollar touring industry tries to return to full capacity, some of music’s biggest stars gathered for a celebration of the art — and business — of performance. In a series of segments, behind-the-scenes crew members introduced those stars, telling of the hard work and close bonds that develop on the road. Nicole Massey, the production manager for Billie Eilish, introduced the woman she called “the best 20-year-old boss in the world.”Foo Fighters won all three awards they were nominated for: rock performance (“Making a Fire”), rock song (“Waiting on a War”) and rock album (“Medicine at Midnight”). Voting by Recording Academy members ended in January, long before Hawkins’s death.Chris Stapleton won three country awards: solo performance (“You Should Probably Leave”), country album (“Starting Over”) and country song (“Cold,” with Dave Cobb, J.T. Cure and Derek Mixon). The jazz keyboardist Chick Corea, who died last year, won two.Joni Mitchell won best historical album for her “Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967),” sharing the award with Patrick Mulligan, her fellow compilation producer. In a rare televised appearance, Mitchell gave a brief introduction for a performance by Brandi Carlile, whom she called “my brilliant friend and ambassador.”The 64th Grammy ceremony honored music released during a 13-month period, from Sept. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021. Winners were chosen by more than 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy, who qualify by gaining recommendations from fellow music professionals.Speeches from early winners highlighted personal triumphs, social ills and the power of music to serve as a balm in troubled times.Accepting the award for best country duo/group performance, T.J. Osborne, of the group Brothers Osborne, said their song “Younger Me” was written about his coming out as gay — a risk given Nashville’s largely conservative music business.“I never thought that I’d be able to do this professionally because of my sexuality,” he said, “and I certainly never thought I would be here on this stage accepting a Grammy after having done something I felt like was going to be life-changing, potentially in a very negative way.”The comedian Louis C.K., who has admitted to sexual misconduct, won for best comedy album (“Sincerely Louis C.K.”).The first award of the day, for best musical theater album — a prize that in the past has gone to Broadway smashes like “Hamilton” and “The Book of Mormon” — went to “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” a D.I.Y. project by Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow, who created the music as fans, while spurred on by comments from viewers online who watched them work.“A year ago, when I asked the internet, what if ‘Bridgerton’ was a musical,” said Barlow, “I could not have imagined I would be holding a Grammy in my hands.” More

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      Why the Grammys Couldn’t Resist Jon Batiste

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      The jazz pianist is an inheritor more than an innovator, but he puts the past to use in service of fun, blending genres and embodying the pleasures of his hometown, New Orleans.Accepting the Grammy for album of the year on Sunday night, Jon Batiste delivered a minute-and-a-half manifesto that belied his roots in the musical culture of New Orleans.He telegraphed his gratitude but noted some reservations: Doling out awards, he said, seemed to go against the way people make music, which he called an act of inheritance and of community. “I believe this to my core: There is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor,” he said. Music is “more than entertainment for me, it’s a spiritual practice.” He noted that his grandfather and his nephews are featured on the award-winning album, “We Are.”Batiste invited all “real artists, real musicians” to share in the award. “Let’s just keep going,” he said. “Be you.” And then he slipped back, for a moment, into the blithe affect that by now is familiar to viewers of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” where Batiste’s Stay Human has been the house band since 2015. “I love ya, even if I don’t know ya!” he called, leaning into his New Orleans drawl. He tipped sideways, smiled big and said: “Goodnight! Hey!”It served as a reminder that Batiste’s biggest model, as a musician and a public figure, is a very old one: Louis Armstrong, the first pop-music virtuoso of the recorded era, who was getting his start about 100 years ago. That mix of affability and seriousness, the deployment of humility, the insistence on values outside of an explicit political claim, the old-time Crescent City flair: All were aspects of Batiste’s acceptance speech and the “We Are” LP itself, and all are pieces of the Satchmo playbook.So much of jazz’s virtue lies in its ability to inherit lessons from the past, but that doesn’t mean nostalgia is the only path to prominence for musicians these days. Increasingly, younger players have been finding real success by putting the ideas of classic jazz improvisers to use with new tools — whether that’s electronics, or a global palette of influences. Batiste is a gleeful genre-melder, but he is an inheritor more than he’s an innovator, and his songs don’t have the sense of adventure that pulses through so much dance-oriented, crossover jazz today. They’re more about making sure everyone has fun.So you could say that his big night at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards — where he took home five prizes, more than any other artist — represented both an upset and a confirmation of everything you thought you knew about the Recording Academy. Batiste’s generous virtuosity and dedication to equal-opportunity uplift make him an easy darling among a voting body not exactly known for progressivism.More Coverage from the 2022 Grammy AwardsThe Irresistible Jon Batiste: The jazz pianist is an inheritor more than an innovator, but he puts the past to use in service of fun.Old, but New: Despite nods to Gen Z, this year’s show favored history-minded performers like Silk Sonic, H.E.R. and Lady Gaga.The Fashion: An exuberant anything-goes attitude was a reminder of why red carpets are fun in the first place.Zelensky’s Speech: Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, addressed the audience in a prerecorded video. Here’s what he said.The Grammys have historically been dismal at recognizing Black artists in the major award categories. Batiste is the first Black artist in 14 years to win album of the year. Before him, Outkast had been the only Black performers younger than 65 to win the award in this millennium, for their 2003 double album, “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” Since then, Ray Charles and Herbie Hancock have each won, for albums that mixed in dabs of jazz with guest appearances from other stars. (Charles’s win came after his death; Hancock’s was for an album of Joni Mitchell covers.)It’s worth noting that Silk Sonic, the duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak that took home record of the year on Sunday, also relied on a song gazing at the past: “Leave the Door Open,” a self-aware dip back into 1970s soul.Some of the music on “We Are” pulls its acoustic-funk aesthetic from the 1960s, but other parts recall the 1990s, that pre-9/11 moment when Keb Mo’ was becoming a Grammy favorite, and Starbucks-curated albums summarizing entire genres infiltrated parental CD players everywhere. “Cry,” a single from Batiste’s album that won best American roots performance and best American roots song, is reminiscent of that era.He does dabble in the now, too. The first half of “Boy Hood,” his collaboration with Trombone Shorty and PJ Morton, retrofits trap aesthetics for a meditation on the simple joys of childhood in New Orleans.Ultimately, Batiste’s music is about feeling good as a collective act. Often that means playing things that will sound familiar, and keeping it lighthearted. On “Freedom,” a horns-driven funk strut that won the Grammy for best music video and was nominated for record of the year, Batiste sounds like he’s climbed inside the cast of an old protest song, and created a party anthem instead.But there’s something else to understand before you can get Batiste: He comes from a city where time and space remain somewhat collapsed, and where a Black instrumental tradition that died out 50 years ago in most other parts of the country actually continues. That tradition is based in gathering and in dance, and as a result it’s got perhaps the least complicated relationship to musical pleasure of any living style in this country — even in spite of the increasingly desperate conditions facing those living there.Batiste’s vibe might seem saccharine to someone from outside New Orleans, especially if you haven’t wandered Frenchmen Street with a plastic cup in hand, or found your way into a brass-band performance at Celebration Hall on a weeknight, or become infected by the Neville Brothers’ Caribbean-inflected funk on a spring afternoon at JazzFest. Listen to the records that Batiste’s New Orleanian peers are putting out these days — Trombone Shorty, PJ Morton and Tank and the Bangas, for a few, following in the footsteps of the Nevilles, Dr. John and Professor Longhair — and you’ll find a similar strain of happy-to-make-you-feel-good funk. Challenge your irony-addled, digital brain to love it back. See if you can handle it.Batiste’s 11 nominations on Sunday — the most of any artist — touched on categories under R&B, jazz, roots music, film scoring (for his work on the Pixar film “Soul”) and classical music. What that tells you is that supporting a young jazz musician these days means getting behind something broader than any one genre, even when he’s a relative traditionalist, proud to stand in the shadow of Satchmo. More

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      Machine Gun Kelly Has a Second No. 1 Album, ‘Mainstream Sellout’

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      The pop-punk musician’s latest release had the equivalent of 93,000 sales in the United States.Machine Gun Kelly, the onetime rapper who has remade himself into the jester prince of a new wave of pop-punk, opens at No. 1 on the Billboard chart with his latest album, “Mainstream Sellout.”Produced with Travis Barker of Blink-182, and featuring guest appearances by Lil Wayne, Willow and the British band Bring Me the Horizon — plus an audio snippet from Pete Davidson, who has played Machine Gun Kelly on “Saturday Night Live” — the album had the equivalent of 93,000 sales in the United States. That included 69 million streams and 42,000 copies sold as a complete package, according to Luminate, the tracking service formerly known as MRC Data.It is Machine Gun Kelly’s second No. 1 album, following “Tickets to My Downfall” nearly two years ago, and is the first rock album to top the Billboard 200 chart since AC/DC’s “Power Up” in November 2020.Lil Durk’s “7220” is No. 2, the “Encanto” soundtrack is No. 3, Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous” is No. 4 and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” is in fifth place. Any sales bumps from Sunday night’s Grammy Awards — where top prizes were won by Rodrigo, Jon Batiste and Silk Sonic — would be reflected on next week’s chart.Also this week, “Legendaddy” by Daddy Yankee, the first studio album by the reggaeton star in 10 years, which he has advertised as his final release, opens at No. 8, a chart high for him. More

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      Lady Gaga and Silk Sonic Follow the Grammy Formula: Old, but New

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      Despite nods to Gen Z, this year’s show favored history-minded performers like Silk Sonic, Jon Batiste, H.E.R. and Lady Gaga.There is no surer way for a young musician to acquire a quick coat of gravitas than an appearance on the Grammy Awards. And there is no surer way for a young musician to speed the way to the Grammys than by already appearing to be old.Such is the chicken-egg conundrum bedeviling the awards, and also the pop music industry, which coexist in uneasy alliance, looking askance at each other while furtively holding hands. At the Grammys, maturity is rewarded, and often demanded, putting it at direct odds with a music business that continues to valorize youth.At the 64th annual Grammy Awards, which took place in Las Vegas on Sunday night, these tensions were on display in myriad ways. Take Justin Bieber, who began his performance of the glistening, slinky “Peaches” sitting at the piano, singing earnestly and with pulp. For Bieber, 28, not generally regarded as a musician’s musician, it was a pointed ploy, or perhaps a plea.Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak — performing as Silk Sonic — won both song and record of the year for “Leave the Door Open,” a stunningly slick slice of 1970s-style soul. At the show, they nailed the yesteryear aesthetic, too, from suits to hairstyles to mannerisms. Both men, masterful purveyors of retro sonic ideology, are 36.Read More on the 2022 Grammy AwardsThe Irresistible Jon Batiste: The jazz pianist is an inheritor more than an innovator, but he puts the past to use in service of fun.A Controversial Award: Some people questioned the decision to bestow the Grammy for best comedy album to Louis C.K., who has admitted to sexual misconduct.Old, but New: Despite nods to Gen Z, this year’s show favored history-minded performers like Silk Sonic, H.E.R. and Lady Gaga.The Fashion: An exuberant anything-goes attitude was a reminder of why red carpets are fun in the first place.Zelensky’s Speech: Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, addressed the audience in a prerecorded video. Here’s what he said.Jon Batiste, the New Orleans jazz scion and late-night bandleader who won album of the year, delivered a performance that channeled second-line funk, classic soul and just the faintest touch of hip-hop. He is 35.Justin Bieber opened his performance of “Peaches” at the piano.Mario Anzuoni/ReutersThese are the sorts of performances, and performers, the Grammys crave: appearing young but aiming to embody old-fashioned values of musicianship. Because the Grammys telecast draws generations of viewers, and because Grammy voters are drawn from a wide pool that skews older, what emerges on the show, and in the awards themselves, is a kind of piteous compromise that holds real innovation at bay. The artists nominated in the top categories were refreshingly democratic, in terms of genre and age, but Batiste and Silk Sonic bested them all.That meant that the only one remaining for Olivia Rodrigo, nominated in all four, to win was best new artist, which she did. Rodrigo was last year’s clear breakout star, and the prime placement she was given on the telecast, with one of the first performances, indicated the Grammys understood her power. She was a jolt of uncut youth, performing “Drivers License” with a light eau de grunge, and then later thanking her parents when accepting the award for best pop vocal album for “Sour.”But that was something of a head fake, as was most of the show’s opening run of performances, which also included the precocious Grammy fave Billie Eilish, the K-pop group BTS, the reggaeton star J Balvin and Lil Nas X, whose blend of raunch and wit felt slightly tamped down during his medley of recent hits. The only other moment the show approached a moment of honest freshness was when Doja Cat raced to the stage to accept her award for best pop duo/group performance after leaving the room for a bathroom break. She and her co-winner SZA giggled at the snafu, and Doja spoke in the unfiltered manner she’s become known for, which felt fresh in this context: “I like to downplay a lot of [expletive], but this is a big deal.”As for several other young stars, well, they declined to show up — Tyler, the Creator, who won best rap album; Drake, who withdrew himself from consideration in the categories in which he was nominated; the Weeknd, who after last year’s no-nomination debacle has stated he’ll never again submit his music for consideration by the Grammys; Cardi B, nominated just once. (Taylor Swift also did not attend, but that absence did not have the air of a protest so much as an acknowledgment that this year was unlikely to garner her any trophies.)Lady Gaga brought very-old-school flair to a medley of songs from her duet album with Tony Bennett.Chris Pizzello/Invision, Associated PressThat lineup of no-shows could fuel an alternate award show, or concert (as was proposed by the hip-hop mogul J. Prince). And therein lies the Grammys’ Achilles’ heel: It needs artists like these, both for reasons of relevance and also as tribute-payers. As hip-hop has become the dominant sound of pop music, its stars are going to become the elders of tomorrow. If the Grammys continue to alienate its young titans, its attempts to honor the music moving forward will consistently fall flat. (That was emphasized by the oldest featured performer at this year’s show: Nas, 48, who spent half of his set performing 20-year-old songs that deserved a Grammys stage long ago.)This chasm — between the Grammys and youth, between the Grammys and hip-hop — means that the show has to double down on younger stars willing (and excited?) to be in dialogue with the sounds of yesteryear. Some of the most strikingly mature vocals of the night were by Rachel Zegler, singing Sondheim as part of the in memoriam segment. One of the show’s most stirring moments came from the R&B singer-songwriter H.E.R., who has perhaps been over-indexed with awards-show acclaim in recent years. Her performance, alongside Lenny Kravitz, Travis Barker and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, connected her to three generations of funk and rock.And then there is Lady Gaga, the onetime pop disrupter who has become the embodiment of institutional legacy through her ongoing work with the crooner Tony Bennett. Their latest album, “Love for Sale,” won best traditional pop vocal album, and Gaga performed a tribute to Bennett, 95 — who did not attend — singing two of the album’s songs, which originated in the 1930s. Her singing was sharp and invested, making a case for decades-old standards on a contemporary pop stage, the embodiment of the Grammys’ cross-generational goals.It was easy to lose sight of the fact that Lady Gaga is only 36. And looking at the next generation of pop talent — Eilish, Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Tyler, the Creator and beyond — it’s hard not to wonder how long will they be allowed to be young before the Grammys insists they grow up. More

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      Grammys 2022 Best-Dressed

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      The Vegas evening was an exuberant reminder of why red carpets can be fun for both stars and fans.Ah, Las Vegas: It provides inspiration in so many ways. That’s how it seemed, anyway, judging from the Grammy red carpet, newly located to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the city of … gosh, so many things! Sin and lights and camp and Elvis.And as with the site, so, too, with the clothes. If there was a theme to the night, it was an exuberant anything-goes attitude that was not a bad reminder of why red carpets are fun in the first place. They’re as much for those doing the watching as those doing the wearing.Megan Thee Stallion, St. Vincent and Billie Eilish.Angela Weiss/AFP, via Getty Images (Stallion); Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording AcademyThere was Megan Thee Stallion, channeling an entire big cat enclosure in her one-shouldered, slit-to-the-waist Roberto Cavalli. St. Vincent, modeling “Showgirls,” the X Games version, in ruffle-trimmed Gucci with enormous sweeping sleeves and skirt. Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast, looking like a fabulous daffodil in short ruffled yellow Valentino. And Billie Eilish, going all Gothic conceptualist in a black Rick Owens coat with a neckline that seemed to have migrated to her torso, thus suggesting everyone’s perspective had flipped sort of sideways. Who couldn’t relate?Even the relatively sedate Louis Vuitton suiting of BTS (think tones of clay, sand, white and teal) was punctuated by V’s overblown corsage, like an entire bouquet of paper flowers had attached itself to the side of his jacket.BTSFrazer Harrison/Getty Images For The Recording AcademyShocking pink was the color of the night, worn by Billy Porter in a ruffled Valentino shirtdress, cape, opera gloves and trousers; Saweetie, in a Valentino bra, more gloves and ginormous skirt (the brand actually had its own patented name for the pink: Pink PP, after its designer, Pierpaolo Piccioli); Travis Barker, in a shocking pink coat over a black Givenchy suit; and Angélique Kidjo, in a fabulous fringed fuchsia.Billie Porter, Saweetie and Travis Barker with Kourtney Kardashian.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording Academy; Amy Sussman/Getty Images (Barker)Also Justin Bieber, who accessorized his oversize Balenciaga suit and steel-tipped Balenciaga Crocs with a bright pink beanie. (Crocs also made an appearance on the feet of Questlove. Comfort dressing to the fore!)Speaking of Saweetie, the pink was only the first of three — count ’em — outfits she wore during the night, swapping it for a black Oscar de la Renta gown cut to flash one silver-covered breast, like an Amazon going to the prom, and then trading that for a glimmering, backless gold Etro number.Giveon, Jon Batiste and Brandi Carlile.ordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated Press; David Becker/Getty Images For The Recording Academy; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording AcademyStill, when it came to bling, there was Lil Nas X, shining like a rhinestone on one of Elvis’s jumpsuits. He seemed to be channeling a sci-fi warrior angel in pearl-encrusted Balmain with butterfly detailing before he changed into glittering Zorro black to start his performance, which in turn was shed for a pearl bolero and then a marching band jacket complete with gold braid. As for Giveon, his Chanel black bouclé “denim” jacket and jeans sparkled like the night sky over the desert. Chanel men’s wear! Why not?Then there was Jon Batiste, who made his entrance in a silver, gold and black harlequin sequin suit in honor of New Orleans, his hometown. Designed by Dolce & Gabbana, the formerly canceled brand whose history of politically incorrect behavior seems to be behind it, at least as far as celebrities are concerned, the suit was outshone only by the diamante-bedazzled cape, part royal, part priest, he wore to accept his award for Album of the Year.Their only real competition in the sparkle stakes was Brandi Carlile, in a rainbow-bejeweled Boss tuxedo she told the E! host Laverne Cox weighted about “40 pounds” (anything for fashion), and that she said both made her feel “like a boss” and was a homage to Elton John, the king of fantabulous costume.H.E.R.Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesLeon BridgesJordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressIndeed, there was a strain of nostalgia running through the night. H.E.R. wore an egg yolk-yellow Dundas jumpsuit with caped sleeves and phoenix embroidery that was a direct reference to Aretha Franklin’s 1976 American Music Awards get-up. Leon Bridges, in white with gold embroidery, had a touch of Presley about him. Lady Gaga served full midcentury silver screen siren in black Armani Privé with a swag of white satin at the side before slipping into a minty blue Elie Saab satin number with a gigantic bow at the back to do her golden oldies medley, like a gift-wrapped Jean Harlow.Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga.Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated Press; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording AcademyOlivia Rodrigo paired her corseted Vivienne Westwood with a signature ’90s choker. And Dua Lipa channeled Donatella Versace in long blond hair and a bondage gown from the 1992 Versace “Miss S&M” collection. (Ms. Versace herself made an appearance in an award-presenting skit that was perhaps the ultimate in product placement.)SZAFrazer Harrison/Getty Images For The Recording AcademyStill, that Versace gown wasn’t the only vintage on the carpet. SZA wore a nude tulle Jean Paul Gaultier design from 2006 sprouting a garden’s worth of flowers down the front, and Laverne Cox modeled a lacy black John Galliano number from 2007. It was as close an anyone got to value signaling via dress.Billie Eilish performed in a T-shirt with Taylor Hawkins on it.Emma Mcintyre/Getty Images For The Recording AcademyYet in the end, amid all the fun and frippery, the one garment that most lingered was perhaps the least elaborate, least formal of all: the T-shirt worn by Billie Eilish for her performance. Featuring Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters drummer who died in late March, it was a fashion statement of the most emotional, effective kind. More

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      President Volodymyr Zelensky Gives Emotional Speech at the Grammys

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      Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, addressed the Grammy Awards in a video, giving an emotional plea for support in his country’s war against Russia.“What is more opposite to music?” Zelensky said. “The silence of ruined cities and killed people.”The leader’s aides had lobbied for an appearance at the Academy Awards last week, but organizers did not commit to it, drawing some backlash.In his brief address, Zelensky, an actor turned wartime leader, emphasized that many of the musicians in his country were fighting in the battle against the Russian invasion.“Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos,” he said. “They sing to the wounded in hospitals. Even to those who can’t hear them.”“Support us in any way you can,” he added. “Any, but not silence.”After Zelensky’s address, John Legend performed his song “Free,” featuring a Ukrainian singer, Mika Newton, and a poet, Lyuba Yakimchuk, who fled the country days ago.Here is Zelensky’s full speech:The war. What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people. Our children draw swooping rockets, not shooting stars. Over 400 children have been injured and 153 children died. And we’ll never see them drawing. Our parents are happy to wake up in the morning in bomb shelters. But alive. Our loved ones don’t know if we will be together again. The war doesn’t let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence. Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through anyway. We defend our freedom to live, to love, to sound on our land. We are fighting Russia, which brings horrible silence with its bombs. The dead silence. Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today to tell our story. Tell the truth about the war on your social networks, on TV. Support us in any way you can. Any — but not silence. And then peace will come. To all our cities the war is destroying — Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Volnovakha, Mariupol and others — they are legends already. But I have a dream of them living and free. Free like you on the Grammy stage.Many in the music industry have made public statements opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and showing support for the Ukrainian people. On Sunday night at the Grammys, the Recording Academy teamed up with Global Citizen to highlight its “Stand Up for Ukraine” initiative.The three major record conglomerates — Sony, Warner Music and Universal Music — have all suspended operations in Russia in response to the war, along with the touring behemoth Live Nation, which released a statement saying the company will “cease work with any and all Russian-based suppliers.” Spotify suspended its streaming service in Russia and closed its office in Moscow.How the Ukraine War Is Affecting the Cultural WorldCard 1 of 7Valentin Silvestrov. More