Jon Batiste

Jon Batiste Pulls Off A Major Upset As ‘We Are’ Is Crowned Album Of The Year At The 2022 Grammys

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Jon Batiste 64th Annual Grammy Awards 2022
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Winning any Grammy Award is a big deal, but there’s something extra special about picking up an honor in one of the four major categories. Now, one of this year’s big winners has been revealed and it was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night: Taking home the Grammy for Album Of The Year is Jon Batiste’s We Are.

That show-ending win capped off an amazing night for the Late Show bandleader, who came into the evening with a whopping 11 eleven nominations, which was one shy of the all-time record for a single year. He picked up four wins before the proper televised ceremony even started, and when it came time for the show, he pretty much dominated the evening. He gave a vibrant and energetic performance of “Freedom,” which ended up being one of the musical highlights of the show.

The category was crowded this year, as also nominated for the award were Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s Love For Sale, Justin Bieber’s Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe), Doja Cat’s Planet Her (Deluxe), Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, HER’s Back Of My Mind, Lil Nas X’s Montero, Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, Taylor Swift’s Evermore, and Kanye West’s Donda.

Find the full list of this year’s Grammy nominees and winners here.

Jon Batiste Was Full Of Life During His Vibrant Performance Of ‘Freedom’ At The 2022 Grammy Awards

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Jon Batiste 2022 Grammys
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This year’s Grammys are a big one for Jon Batiste. The New Orleans star was nominated in eleven categories including Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Best R&B Album, and more. His total of eleven nominations for the 2022 Grammys makes for the second-most ever in the award show’s history and, in large part, Batiste’s recognition at the Grammys comes as a result of his eighth album We Are. He described the project as “a representation of genreless music that’s just about the story” and “a culmination of my life to this point.”

https://twitter.com/victorsssss____/status/1510809476202438658

Now we get to see a piece of We Are live on display through his performance of “Freedom” from the album. His performance of the song was quite the vibrant effort as the stage was flanked in bright colors and Batiste himself was also full of life during his set as he danced and pranced from every corner of the stage. Out of his eleven nominations, Batiste has won in four categories so far. He won in the Best Americana Roots Song Performance and Best American Roots Song categories for “Cry.” He was also honored with wins for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media and Best Music Video.

After the nominations for the Grammys were revealed, Batiste shared a very excited reaction to his eleven nominations. “WOW!! Thank you God!! I love EVERYBODY!” he wrote on Twitter. “I’m so grateful to my collaborators and to my ancestors [crying emojis] 11!”

You can watch Jon Batiste’s Grammy performance in the video above.

Killer Mike And Stephen Colbert Celebrate The 20-Year Anniversary Of The ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Films With A ‘Late Show’ Rap

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It’s pretty well known that Stephen Colbert is a huge nerd who absolutely loves the Lord Of The Rings film trilogy but not as well known is the apparent fact that so is renowned Atlanta rapper Killer Mike.

Wait, what?

Yep, that’s right. Killer Mike joined Stephen Colbert on last night’s episode of The Late Show to celebrate the film series’ 20th anniversary with an elf-laden rap video in which Colbert, dressed hilariously in an old-school hip-hop get-up that LL Cool J would have loved back in the ’80s, Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste, and Mike rampage through a Blockbuster-like video store set, putting down other film trilogies like Star Wars and The Godfather as vastly inferior.

Then the hobbits themselves show up. Yes, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, and Sean Astin show up as raptified versions of their mischievous film characters to continue the song along with Elijah Wood, who poses in front of a Benz with “Baggins” on the license plate. The music video even gets meta, as Wood disses the Pitch Perfect trilogy, prompting a quick interlude of that series’ star Anna Kendrick looking very confused and kind of disgusted.

Method Man shows up to replace Gandalf actor Ian McKellan, Killer Mike slates Back To The Future, Indiana Jones, The Mighty Ducks, Twilight (another Kendrick cameo!), and The Dark Knight trilogy. Andy Serkis — aka Gollum — plays the flute as Hugo Weaving raps in freaking Elvish. This video has everything. You should really check it out.

Jon Batiste Has The Second-Most Grammy Nominations In A Single Year Ever And He’s Jazzed Up About It

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Jon Batiste 74th Annual Tony Awards 2021
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When watching the livestream of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards nominations being announced, some viewers noticed that they were hearing Jon Batiste’s name a heck of a lot. In fact, when all was said and done, Batiste actually had more nominations than anybody else, as he racked up an impressive 11 of them: Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Album, Best Improvised Jazz Solo, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best American Roots Performance, Best American Roots Song, Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, Best Contemporary Classical Composition, and Best Music Video.

That’s a historic achievement, as it ties him for the second-most Grammy nominations in a single year. Michael Jackson had 12 nods in 1984 and Babyface had the same amount in 1997. Batiste is currently tied with Kendrick Lamar, who had 11 nominations in 2016. Also worth noting is the variety of the categories in which Batiste is nominated, as he’s up for consideration in R&B, jazz, American roots, soundtrack, contemporary classical, and visual categories.

After Batiste, this year’s leading nominees are Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and HER, who all have eight nods each, followed by Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, who both got seven nominations.

Batiste is pretty psyched about the whole thing, as he tweeted today, WOW!! Thank you God!! I love EVERYBODY! I’m so grateful to my collaborators and to my ancestors [crying emojis] 11!”

Check out the categories in which Batiste is nominated below to see who he’s up against and find the full list of 2022 Grammy nominations here.

Record Of The Year
ABBA — “I Still Have Faith In You”
Jon Batiste — “Freedom”
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga — “I Get A Kick Out Of You”
Justin Bieber — “Peaches” Feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
Brandi Carlile — “Right On Time”
Doja Cat — “Kiss Me More” Feat. SZA
Billie Eilish — “Happier Than Ever”
Lil Nas X — “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
Silk Sonic — “Leave The Door Open”

Album Of The Year
Jon Batiste — We Are
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga — Love For Sale
Justin Bieber — Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)
Doja Cat — Planet Her (Deluxe)
Billie Eilish — Happier Than Ever
HER — Back Of My Mind
Lil Nas X — Montero
Olivia Rodrigo — Sour
Taylor Swift — Evermore
Kanye West — Donda

Best Traditional R&B Performance
Jon Batiste — “I Need You”
BJ The Chicago Kid, PJ Morton and Kenyon Dixon — “Bring It on Home to Me” Feat. Charlie Bereal
Leon Bridges — “Born Again” Feat. Robert Glasper
HER — “Fight for You”
Lucky Daye — “How Much Can a Heart Take” Feat Yebba

Best R&B Album
Snoh Aalegra — Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies
Jon Batiste — We Are
Leon Bridges — Gold-Diggers Sound
HER — Back of My Mind
Jazmine Sullivan — Heaux Tales

Best Improvised Jazz Solo
“Sackodougou,” Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, soloist
“Kick Those Feet,” Kenny Barron, soloist
“Bigger Than Us,” Jon Batiste, soloist
“Absence,” Terence Blanchard, soloist
“Humpty Dumpty (Set 2),” Chick Corea, soloist

Best Jazz Instrumental Album
“Jazz Selections: Music From and Inspired by Soul,” Jon Batiste
“Absence,” Terence Blanchard featuring the E Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet
“Skyline,” Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette and Gonzalo Rubalcaba
“Akoustic Band Live,” Chick Corea, John Patitucci and Dave Weckl
“Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV),” Pat Metheny

Best American Roots Performance
“Cry,” Jon Batiste
“Love and Regret,” Billy Strings
“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” The Blind Boys of Alabama and Béla Fleck
“Same Devil,” Brandy Clark featuring Brandi Carlile
“Nightflyer,” Allison Russell

Best American Roots Song
“Avalon,” Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson and Francesco Turrisi, songwriters (Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi)
“Call Me a Fool,” Valerie June, songwriter (Valerie June featuring Carla Thomas)
“Cry,” Jon Batiste and Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
“Diamond Studded Shoes,” Dan Auerbach, Natalie Hemby, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Yola, songwriters (Yola)
“Nightflyer,” Jeremy Lindsay and Allison Russell, songwriters (Allison Russell)

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
“Bridgerton,” Kris Bowers, composer
“Dune,” Hans Zimmer, composer
“The Mandalorian: Season 2 – Vol. 2 (Chapters 13-16),” Ludwig Göransson, composer
“The Queen’s Gambit,” Carlos Rafael Rivera, composer
“Soul,” Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers

Best Contemporary Classical Composition
“Akiho: Seven Pillars,” Andy Akiho, composer. (Sandbox Percussion)
“Andriessen: The Only One,” Louis Andriessen, composer. (Esa-Pekka Salonen, Nora Fischer & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
“Assad, Clarice and Sérgio, Connors, Dillon, Martin and Skidmore: Archetypes,” Clarice Assad, Sérgio Assad, Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin and David Skidmore, composers. (Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad and Third Coast Percussion)
“Batiste: Movement 11,” Jon Batiste, composer (Jon Batiste)
“Shaw: Narrow Sea,” Caroline Shaw, composer (Dawn Upshaw, Gilbert Kalish and Sō Percussion)

Best Music Video
“Shot in the Dark,” (AC/DC); David Mallet, video director; Dione Orrom, video producer.
“Freedom,” (Jon Batiste); Alan Ferguson, video director; Alex P. Willson, video producer.
“I Get a Kick Out of You,” (Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga); Jennifer Lebeau, video director; Danny Bennett, Bobby Campbell and Jennifer Lebeau, video producers.
“Peaches,” (Justin Bieber featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon); Collin Tilley, video director.
“Happier Than Ever,” (Billie Eilish); Billie Eilish, video director; Michelle An, Chelsea Dodson and David Moore, video producers.
“Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” (Lil Nas X); Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino, video directors; Frank Borin, Ivanna Borin, Marco De Molina and Saul Levitz, video producers.
“Good 4 U,” (Olivia Rodrigo); Petra Collins, video director; Christiana Divona, Marissa Ramirez and Tiffany Suh, video producers.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Music World Reacts To The 2022 Grammys Nominations

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Lil Nas X 2021
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Today, the music world is focused on the list of nominees for The 64th Annual Grammy Awards, which was unveiled this morning. There’s a lot going on with this year’s list: Jon Batiste leads the pack with 11 total nominations, which is actually tied for the second-most in a single year ever. Tony Bennett became the oldest artist ever nominated for Album Of The Year. Barack Obama and Dave Chappelle are competing in the same category.

Across all categories, a lot of folks got nominated, and naturally, a lot of them have taken to social media to share their reactions to the news.

Batiste was pretty thrilled with his feat, writing, “WOW!! Thank you God!! I love EVERYBODY! I’m so grateful to my collaborators and to my ancestors [crying emojis] 11!”

Lil Nas X took a break from joking on Twitter to tweet, “don’t have to win a single award, truly thankful for all the insight this year has brought me. and thankful for the journey. love u guys.”

Japanese Breakfast, who was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album, was floored, as she wrote simply, “WTF!!!!!!!!!”

Saweetie was also moved, as she tweeted, “I’m speechless I wish I had the words to express how I feel but I’m just so grateful!!! Being acknowledged for all the hard work me & my team have been doing feels AMAZINNNNNG thank you #TeamIcy for stickin with me through thick and thin y’all some real ride or dies IKDR!!”

Check out some more reactions below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Watch A Gucci-Clad Thundercat Play ‘Dragonball Durag’ with Jon Batiste On ‘Colbert

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Considering Thundercat dropped his monumental funk fusion album It is What It Is in April of 2020, the pandemic and ensuing lockdown orders did not allow for the Los Angeles bass virtuoso to get his well-deserved promotional trip around the sun. But the interest in his album has been unwavering, considering it won Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B record and his current tour has been going steadily.

Last night, he made a long-awaited appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and he played the first single off of the album, Dragonball Durag, with Colbert bandleader Jon Batiste on the grand piano. It felt like a future-jazz lounge remix of the track, with Batiste moving from elegant to totally nuts on the ivories and Thundercat shifting similar wavelengths on his oversized electric bass and vocals.

‘Cat was dressed in short Gucci tiger shorts and a sparkling Gucci blazer. He also had a Gucci pin on his red beanie covering his green dreads pulled back in a ponytail. Sensing a theme here? Look, when you’ve waited this long to come on The Late Show, by all means, wear all the Gucci you can.

Watch the performance above and check out Thundercat’s remaining tour dates below. Tickets available here.

11/06 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
11/07 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues
11/10 — Montreal, QC @ MTELUS
11/11 — Toronto, ON @ History
11/14 — St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theater
11/16 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
11/17 — Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
11/19 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall Downstairs
11/20 — Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues Dallas
11/23 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
11/27 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall
11/30 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
12/03 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
12/04 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
12/05 — Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Boise

It Is What It Is is out now on Brainfeeder. Get it here.

Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, And Anderson .Paak Are All Guesting On ‘Sesame Street’

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Billie Eilish 2021
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Elmo and his Sesame Street cohorts have welcomed a bunch of guests onto the program over the years, and as the show gets ready to enter its 52nd season, more new friends have been announced. The music world is well-represented in the upcoming season, as a recently shared trailer shows a clip featuring Jon Batiste singing with Elmo and a character who appears to be a garbage collector. We also get a glimpse of Kacey Musgraves sharing smiles with Elmo, Big Bird, and a handful of other characters.

Furthermore, USA Today reports that the 35-episode season will also feature Billie Eilish and Anderson .Paak. Eilish will appear alongside The Count, while .Paak is set to perform a song for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day episode. The new season starts streaming on HBO Max on November 11 before coming to PBS Kids in the fall of 2022.

Musgraves has forged a strong connection with the world of Sesame Street over the past year or so. Back in May 2020, she guested on The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo to sing “Rubbie Ducky” alongside the red-furred host. Then, earlier this year, she was the face of a new line of Sesame Street clothes from Moschino.

Watch the Sesame Street trailer above.

Jon Batiste Proves That Movement Is Medicine In His Euphoric ‘Freedom’ Video

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Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe-winning musician Jon Batiste released his soulful album We Are last month. The multi-hyphenate musician has shared a handful of triumphant visuals alongside his LP and now, Batiste returns with a jubilant video to his funk-forward track “Freedom.”

The colorful visual is an ode to his New Orleans hometown, community, and Black joy. It opens with the singer exiting a vintage car on a busy neighborhood street. As he begins to dance, his happiness is infectious. Eventually, he’s followed by an entire parade of dancers and band players marching down some of New Orleans’ recognizable streets.

In a statement given to Apple Music about some of the themes he explores on We Are, Batiste said:

“I like to use the inspiration from the past and combine it with the things that are in the present to create the future. We’re finally at a point where we’re starting to untangle the way that my grandparents, and even my parents, experienced America. It feels like the culmination in the coming of age of what many generations have built, fought for, and poured into. As heavy as these themes are, the overall message of the album is love, joy, and community. That, and also the power of social revolution, in the sense of what we have to do in the culture to make room for everybody to be able to fully be who they are.”

Watch Batiste’s “Freedom” video above.

We Are is out now via Verve. Get it here.

HER, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, And Jon Batiste Got Big Wins At The 2021 Oscars

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The Academy Awards were last night, so the best in film from the past year was properly honored. Per usual, some of the awards were devoted to music as well, and picking up big wins in those categories were HER, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste.

HER got the Best Original Song win for her Judas And The Black Messiah track “Fight For You” over “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (sung by Will Ferrell and Molly Sandén, the latter of whom Rachel McAdams lip-synced for the film), Celeste’s “Hear My Voice” from The Trial Of The Chicago 7, Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” from One Night In Miami, and Lauren Pausini’s “Io Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead.

Reznor, Ross, and Batiste’s Soul score also picked up a win, in the Best Original Score category, winning over the former two’s score for Mank, as well as Da 5 Bloods, Minari, and News Of The World.

As Billboard notes, these wins were superlative. Reznor, Ross, and Batiste are the first three-member composing team to win Best Original Score in 33 years, following Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, and Cong Su’s 1987 win for The Last Emperor. Batiste is also just the third Black composer to win in a scoring category, following Prince’s 1984 win for Best Musical Song Score with Purple Rain and Herbie Hancock’s 1986 victory for Best Original Score with ‘Round Midnight.

HER’s victory was also historically significant: For the first time in 35 years, a songwriter or songwriting team won an Oscar in the same awards season that they won a Grammy for Song Of The Year for a different song, as HER’s “I Can’t Breathe” just picked up the Grammy win a few weeks ago.

Find the full list of this year’s Oscar winners here.

The Roots Reveal Their 2021 Jam Session Lineup Including Ari Lennox And Tobe Nwigwe

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Each year around Grammy Week, The Roots hold an annual Jam Session inviting special guests from their endless list of collaborators and connections for a one-of-a-kind live show experience. Unfortunately, with most venues still shut down due to COVID-19 safety precautions, there won’t be a live show this year, but the fact that it’s streaming via Tidal means there’s no capacity limit, and fans from outside of Los Angeles get to “attend” as well. Also, this year, the band partnered with Oculus, granting virtual reality access so it can still feel like you’re front row.

The band revealed this year’s lineup in a press release sharing the details of the new partnerships. Special guests for this year’s event include R&B singers Ant Clemons, Ari Lennox, and Emily King, as well as rapper-producer Tobe Nwigwe and pianist-singer Jon Batiste. Burgeoning country star Brittney Spencer and soul icon Kathy Sledge of the legendary Sledge Sisters will also appear. Clemons is nominated for Best R&B Album for his 2020 debut Happy 2 Be Here, while Batiste has two nominations at this year’s awards.

Ahead of the Jam Session, The Roots have updated their Essentials Playlist on Tidal. You can check that out now, and watch the Roots Jam Session Saturday, March 13 at 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET in-app or via the embed below.