The Hamilton rolled out the red carpet Tuesday for the annual Grammys on the Hill.
This year honored Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth and gospel icon Yolanda Adams.
“I simply just want to say thank you to Grammys on the Hill and the Recording Academy,” Chenoweth told the crowd, before thanking her co-recipient. “I love you and you’ve been an inspiring performer and singer to me for a long time. We were standing on the red carpet — talk about the long and short of it — how tall are you? 6’1? I’m 4’11. That’s why my neck hurts!”
Chenoweth performed a “Wicked” duet of “For Good” with Kesaundra Haythe of Duke Ellington High School, whose alum Dave Chappelle hosted the first Grammys on the Hill.
Adams was introduced by Maroon 5 singer/keyboardist P.J. Morton as his “Aunt Yo-Yo.”
She performed the gospel tune “Since the Last Time I Saw You” after an inspiring speech.
“The one thing I know is that every person on Earth, no matter which side of the aisle, color, creed, ethnicity, everyone has a heart,” Adams said. “If we are able to touch hearts … that’s part of our responsibility. The other part is to make sure that young people … once they realize how amazing and creative they are, that we stand for them right now so that by 2030 or 2040 they’ll look back and say, ‘Wow, those old people did a whole lot of stuff for us!'”
Chenoweth and Adams’ performances were just two of many throughout the night, as Recording Academy government and member relations officer Daryl Friedman put it best.
“Most organizations salute with a banquet, we salute ours with a jam session,” Friedman said.
The lineup kicked off with a national anthem rendition by Morton that echoed Stevie Wonder.
Linda Perry, lead signer of 4 Non Blondes, sang “Beautiful,” which she wrote for Christina Aguilera (she also wrote “Get the Party Started” for P!nk). After that, she invited a group of lawmakers — from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — on stage to sing her ’90s hit “What’s Up” with the refrain, “I say hey! What’s going on?”
“Let’s get some f***ing Congress up here!” Perry said. “Gavin DeGraw get your butt up here!”
As DeGraw and the rock band Halestorm gathered around the mic with Perry — all flanked by suited congressmen — it was a surreal scene at The Hamilton’s downstage concert space.
However, it was a triumphant year, celebrating Congress’ bipartisan passage of the Music Modernization Act, which passed just a week after last year’s Grammys on the Hill event.
“The incredible victory was only possible because of all of your tireless efforts,” Pelosi said.
R&B star Mario and performer Kat Graham took the stage to honor Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), who co-sponsored the 2018 bipartisan bill with Congressmen Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
“Many members of the House who are here today helped make the Music Modernization Act possible,” Jeffries said. “Not long after, I ran into somebody from where Junior Mafia and Bad Boy started. He said, ‘Aren’t you that congressman who shouted out Biggie Smalls on the House floor? And now you’re the fifth top Democrat? How the heck does that happen?’ I responded, ‘The only way that I could: ‘You never thought hip-hop would take it this far.'”
Grassley did not attend, but he was honored by Recording Academy President Neil Portnow.
“Progress begins with unity and our partners … have demonstrated altruistic harmony,” Portnow said. “I was there for the historic Music Modernization Act being signed into law, and I certainly didn’t expect to be getting a new nickname from the president of the United States,” referencing a video clip of President Donald Trump calling him “Big Stuff” to crowd laughter.
While the new law boosts musician royalties on streaming platforms, such as Spotify and iTunes, musicians will lobby Capitol Hill on Wednesday for more protections on terrestrial radio.
It’s all part of a music industry trying to play catch up with 21st century technological shifts.
“For instance on Pandora, ‘Beautiful’ played 20 million times and I got $300,” Perry said. “If this were the ’90s and my song played 20 million times, I would have my own island in the middle of a paradise on my own continent. We’re so drastic from the ’90s to 2000s and these are the things we’re hoping to correct. It’s not a lucrative business, but thank God, I just do it for passion. I’m a songwriter. Whether you pay me $5 or $500,000, I’m gonna write a song.”
Other guests included Brandon Victor Dixon of “Hamilton,” Grammy-winning producer Steven Epstein, Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and Kacey Musgraves’ album producer Ian Fitchuck.
Past Grammy on the Hill honorees include Keith Urban, Alicia Keys, Garth Brooks, John Mayer and Quincy Jones.
