Lady Gaga is set to pay tribute to David Bowie as part of a special segment at the Grammy Awards, which will be broadcast live by CBS on Feb. 15. Her performance, which will include covers of at least three or four songs, is likely to last up to seven minutes. It will not be the opening number though.
Nile Rodgers is in charge of the segment’s musical direction. He had been a lifelong friend of Bowie since 1983, when they worked together on the “Let’s Dance” hit.
The singer of “Poker Face” had already been booked for the Grammys before Mr. Bowie passed away last month, show producer Ken Ehrlich said in an interview. As soon as the unfortunate news came up, he started to talk about a possible tribute with Lady Gaga and her manager.
Within a week, he said, several other artists tried to reach him and expressed they wish to take part in the segment, but he knew the idea of Lady Gaga solo simply made sense.
Mr. Ehrlich expressed Lady Gaga’s performance “is going to be a true homage to who David was, particularly musically, but not ignoring his influence on fashion and pop culture in a broader way.”
Before Mr. Bowie’s death on Jan. 10, the pop star said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that she felt in love with him as she was living on the Lower East side. She recalled how she had felt about his glamour and commented that he had used it to give a message to people “that was very healing for their souls”.
Other performers who will take the Grammy Awards’ stage include Adele, the Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Sam Hunt and Carrie Underwood. The agenda also involves a tribute to Lionel Richie, who has been named the Recording Academy’s MusiCares person of 2016.
The Grammys’ producer has been involved with the show since 1980. As reported by The New York Times, Mr. Ehrlich said it is always kind of stressful to book the performances for the ceremony between the nominations and the live broadcast.
Unfortunately, it will not be possible to pay tribute to all the music figures who had recently died. The list includes Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Glenn Frey of the Eagles, Natalie Cole and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane. However, Mr. Ehrlich said he hoped he could manage to pay tribute to Mr. Frey and also that he had already booked several performers for the B. B. King tribute.
Bowie passed away after an 18-month battle with cancer. He died two days after his 69th birthday surrounded by his family.
Source: New York Times