Grammy’s 2015 Beyonce & Ledisi – Photo credit: thegrio.com
At the risk of coming into the whole Grammys debate a bit delayed (some of us were battling a winter storm and had a legitimate reason to be delayed), I do have to add my 2 cents to the discussion. As excited as I was for Common (and all of his good-looking self) and John Legend’s performance, I have to say, girls ran the Grammys this year (oh and Sam Smith, who took home four of his own), and this for so many different reasons:
1. First, President Obama made a speech on ending the violence against women and girls during the ceremony, as part of the White House “It’s On Us” campaign, making the importance of this issue abundantly clear to the artistic community and everyone around;
2. Abuse activist Brooke Axtell paired up with singer Katy Perry to give a speech about her experience with domestic violence during the singer’s rendition of “By the grace of God”;
3. Women in rock broke their own musical glass ceiling, with Paramore nabbing their first Grammy ever, and St. Vincent being only the second female-led act to win Best Alternative Music Album. Rock on!
4. Country star Miranda Lambert represented for the very under-represented female country singers, being nominated in four categories and putting on a show to remember;
5. Last but certainly not least, Queen Bey passed the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin as the female artist with the most Grammy wins! Yet as happy as we are for Bey, and in awe of her performance of Mahalia Jackson’s mythical “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”, we couldn’t help but wince at the fact Bey requested to sing the famous song which Ledisi sang in the “Selma” movie, as an opening act to Common and Legend’s performance. Some couldn’t help but ask why Ledisi, who sang it in the movie, was not invited to perform. However, it was such a relief to note Ledisi remained a class act despite the controversy and her obvious disappointment, reminding us all of the importance to look at the positive, in this case the powerful history behind the song and the fact we, as women, do have to empower each other instead of turning against each other. Very true, Ledisi!
And to remind us of the original beauty of this song, here is a quick snapshot of Mahalia Jackson’s “Take My hand, Precious Lord”:
So, who ran the world of Grammy’s last night again? Girls of course, oh and Sam Smith too…
The Corporate Sis.
