February 12, 2019

Los Angeles, CA

Well there we go. We’re on the tarmac, on board a plane, ready to take off on a flight to Dallas, from where we’ll connect on to Wichita for our next concert, which is in Kansas.

Yesterday, after a 4am alarm in Vancouver, where we had a concert the previous night, we flew from Canada down to a California, and attended the GRAMMY awards in downtown Los Angeles. As you might know, our 50th anniversary album GOLD was nominated for ‘Best Classical Compendium’. Sadly, we didn’t leave with statues, but we had such an amazing day which none of us will ever forget.

It was every bit as glamorous and thrilling as we had imagined it might be. We (including Tim and Chris) were joined by our American manager Steph, our publicist Amanda, and our partners and spouses, who’d flown out from London to spend this special day with us, making it twice as special again. We congregated (after driving through a stringent security cordon) at the foot of the red carpet, dressed up in our tuxedos. Then Amanda escorted us down the red carpet, where we did some interviews for a few media outlets including Forbes and the BBC. Then we had an official photo shoot on the red carpet (which was (respectfully to the photographers) a bit like being eyed up by a pack of animals all squashed behind a barrier!).

After walking the R.C. we went into the Primere Ceremony (where the vast majority of the awards are presented). There were great musical performances, and the host was Shaggy — an RnB star whose songs I’ve always loved. Sadly, ‘our’ award went to Kenneth Fuchs for his excellent album. Many congratulations to him for the win. It was still a great ceremony nonetheless!

After that we popped to a nearby restaurant for some much needed food and refreshment, before heading back in to attend the evening telecast awards ceremony, where the biggest 10 or so awards are given. I don’t think any of us ever dreamed we’d ever be in the same room as Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Miley Cyrus, Drake and Quincy Jones all on one night. But there we go! The musical performances were brilliant, and there were some very moving and inspiring speeches made by winners and presenters alike (see below).

After the ceremony we traipsed across to the nearby venue of the official after-party. I’ve never seen so much free food and drink, in such great variety! It was great fun, with some great music and some bizarre circus acts too, to keep us on our toes. Tim ate his entire body weight in salmon, and Eddie devoured any and all gluten free options.

For an event which mainly involved sitting down and clapping, it was a surprisingly exhausting day, so I think we all slept very well after it was over!

It was a shame not to win our category, but the nomination itself was a great honour, and recognised the hard work of not just us, but all of our predecessors, our producer Nigel Short, our management team, and our record label, Signum.

In a way, I think we’ve come out of it more inspired than ever. To share a room with so many musical visionaries, from so many different genres and styles, reminds us what a powerful tool music is. I think it’s given us renewed artistic vigour, and a determination to keep making great recordings. I’ll finish this (very long - sorry!) blog with a couple of the memorable sentences from award-winners last night.

‘With music, we build bridges, not walls.’ Brandi Carlisle

‘Winning isn’t getting this [gestures to GRAMMY statue]. If you’re making music, and people are leaving their homes, spending their hard-earned money to come out and hear it, then you’ve already won.’ Drake