""We were looking at the fire over the road from my office - you could see it," the Emmy-winning television producer recalls. "I remember we were like, 'Is there even going to be a show?'" The Recording Academy ended up going ahead with the 67th Grammys albeit with significant changes to the program, including a new opening number that had the band Dawes (whose drummer Griffin Goldsmith lost his home in Altadena) performing Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." with help from Sheryl Crow and John Legend, among others."
""We basically put on a Grammy show in two weeks," Winston says now of last year's ceremony, which the academy retooled as a fundraiser that brought in more than $9 million for fire relief through its MusiCares foundation. "I look back on it as one of the most insane things we ever did.""
"Preparation for the 68th Grammys - set to air live on CBS and Paramount+ on Sunday night from Crypto.com Arena - is going much more smoothly, Winston reports with a look of relief. Yet the show, which he's overseeing alongside Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins, will still be a feat to pull off, with about 10 televised award presentations and more than two dozen performers, among them Sabrina Carpenter, Pharrell Williams, Addison Rae, Clipse and Alex Warren."
Ben Winston and the Grammy production team recalled last year's wildfires visible from their offices and the uncertainty about holding the show. The Recording Academy proceeded with the 67th Grammys after retooling the ceremony into a fundraiser that raised more than $9 million for fire relief through MusiCares. The improvised show included a new opening with Dawes performing Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." with guest artists. Preparation for the 68th Grammys is proceeding more smoothly, though organizers expect logistical challenges with ten televised awards and over two dozen performers. TV viewership fell 9% to 15.4 million, increasing pressure to attract audiences during a network transition.
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