The Grammy Awards Barely Recognize The Death Of Eddie Van Halen

The Grammy Awards were last night. As I've said before, I am done with awards shows. I did watch for about 10 minutes or so just to see what the show looked like during the pandemic. It was open air and artists were sitting at tiny tables with lots of flowers. That actually seemed very classy. Apparently I missed the tribute to Eddie Van Halen... which was so short, I'm sure even folks who watched the whole show don't even remember it. Eddie Trunk was pretty pissed about it:

So in a more than 3 hour show, with 5 months to prepare, this is all #GRAMMYs could muster for one of the most iconic impactful artists in music history... they reached new levels of shame & disrespect. I am besides myself. #FuckTheGrammys pic.twitter.com/YRaX55WFWW

— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) March 15, 2021

The thing is, a tribute to Eddie would have been the easiest thing to put together, even during a pandemic. There are so many guitarists that would have gotten together to jam a classic Van Halen tune in his honor. His brother would have played drums. Would David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony have even shown up to jam? Honestly, probably in this situation. A true missed opportunity, but this is where we are. The music industry does not recognize rock n' roll as a genre anymore. I guess it just isn't profitable enough.

Comments

[Gary]

I mean c’mon, the guy only influenced literally millions of musicians for the better part of 3 decades. What do you want, 25 seconds instead of 15? They should’ve just given John Prine and Kenny Rodgers 1 hour each. Now there’s a couple of dudes who knew when to hold them and when to fold em. (I don’t often agree with Eddie Trunk. But he hit the nail on the head with his #FuckTheGrammys remark)

[Jeff]

But they broadcast blatant pornography with the Cardi B performance of WAP. Disgusting that young females look up to this piece of trash

[Steverox]

There were a lot of ways to do this better ... but having Wolfie perform "Eruption" was not one of them and I'm glad he declined.

I'm also glad they didn't get another guitarist to try to "play like Eddie".

This is going to be personal and may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I think it would have been great to have all 3 lead singers + Michael Anthony + Alex and Wolfie to all jointly show support somehow. Have the guitar in the middle of the stage... show ALL of eruption on screen vs. a 15 second clip (it's not that long), and have them all solemnly stand around the guitar. That's the best I got.

[Steverox]

one more thing sorry.....

If you were going to show only 15 seconds of Eruption, why would you show that section that they did? Yes, it's fast, but the truly memorable part of eruption starts at around the 1 minute mark of the recorded version with the tapping sequence. So I guess it wasn't just too short ... the section they highlighted wasn't the one that really showed the influence Eddie had on the instrument.

Just goes to show they have no clue and blew it all around.

[Mike]

Jeff don't take this the wrong way but you sound like an old fart. I don't care for that style of music (have never heard the song in question) - but in my youth I was dealing with an older generation who thought it was "disgusting" that we looked up to Blackie Lawless and Dee Snider.

The Grammys F'ed up and have been F'ing up since Jerhro Tull won the Metal award in 1991 over "Thunderstruck" and "Enter Sandman"...

This is on the Grammys and not the fault of the other performers, who are just there doing their thing, whether or not we "get it" is irrelevant.

[Jeff]

Mike, Yes the Grammys are a joke but the performance last night by her is a all time low, especially for the demographic they are playing to and the fact that she is a role model for young girls.

As far a being a old fart, nah, I'd tend to believe, you are only as old as you feel. I remember the good old days of growing up with 70's rock and roll as well as experiencing the birth and death of glam rock. You mentioned not ever hearing the song...do yourself a favor and google the lyrics and also watch the performance and then come back and tell me any redeeming qualities the song or the "performance" has.

[Jeff]

And also Mike, I'd venture to guess we are around the same age.

[Him]

Can't old farts get along? WA(S)P across America or perhaps Cardi (like a Beast)? Different ages, different sages and rages?

To expect something respectful from the Grannies is expecting a lot. And why would you expect that? The answer provides, well, an answer. And if you don't seek one, you don't find this all too interesting or exceptional.

The measure of a personality is found in those who speak of the same long after they are gone. I suspect that EVH will measure up quite well and be held quite close by many when judged by that metric. Taken in that way, no memorial or showy tribute makes a squat of difference. Reason being? We will forget those showy affectations, shallow as they might be. We will remember what those long since past meant because . . . we . . . remember . . . them, and those we respect do so as well. That is the substance of inspiration. Personality persisting in spite of the limitations of their life.

[Mike]

Jeff - of course we are the same age, both commenting on a Glam Metal blog about EVH.

I honestly wasn't trying to attack you personally, just wanted to offer a different perspective, and I stand by it... I don't need to look up the Cardi B song to know that it's not going to resonate with me. That's fine, she has a hit single and people are polarized just like they were when Elvis shook his hips on the Ed Sullivan show, parents called it "disgusting" and were alarmed that their children would look up to this guy.

I grew up with Paul Stanley singing about his "Love Gun', and Gene Simmons proclaiming "I wanna put my log in your fireplace"... That was outrageous to parents. Times change and so does the barometer of "decency".

Our generation rallied against the PMRC and Tipper Gore. if we stand behind Blackie Lawless' right to sing "F*ck Like A Beast" while wearing a buzz-saw codpiece with a naked woman strapped to the rack onstage; then we have to also acknowledge Cardi B's right to do her thing.

[Rita]

Cardi B can do her thing all she wants. But it doesn't mean people with good taste in music have to like it. Or deem it worthy of a televised audience.

It is crap, musically speaking.

But I do like Bodak Yellow (just a little bit) and she does have spunk. I'll give her that. Even if Santa comes to mind every time I look at her (Ho, Ho ,Ho), if you catch my drift.

But come on. If you watch her and listen to that song, you can't help but agree with Jeff. It is beyond trashy and classless. I dare anyone to listen and watch, and say otherwise.

But, again, she can do whatever she wants. And she has a right to do anything. But I also have a right to not like it and trash the performance. That's how it works.

And I am no prude, nor am i jealous. So don't even go there.

[Mike]

I'm not arguing whether or not the song is crap, I tend to avoid most modern pop music for that reason.

There's a big difference between saying "god that song is annoying" vs. "that singer is a piece of trash who is corrupting our children".

If Buckcherry had gotten popular enough to sing "Crazy Bitch" on the Grammys, would we as the rock community be defending them against the moralists? Or would we say "lighten up it's just a song, change the channel if you don't like it"...?

[Metalboy!]

Obviously, I’m a little late to the BBGame here but as you know that never stopped me from shooting my mouth off before ... Speaking of shooting one’s mouth off, where the h*ll’s HIM!

I’ll go back to my old adage, “I don’t have to like it to know whether it’s good of not.”

The Grammy’s have disappointed repeatedly ever since the major F*ck-up a coupla years back when Lady GaGa and Metallica took the stage and suddenly encountered technical difficulties which spelled total disaster for the performance ... I mean, what a HUGE f*ck-up, especially after GaGa expressed her passion for Metallica by getting her entire back tattooed with the “Moth to the Flame” artwork.

What a missed opportunity to not have had AC/DC perform “Shot In The Dark” as the show’s opener, then later award a Grammy to “Best Hard Rock or Metal” album.