Thursday, January 24, 2008
First Performers Announced for Feb. 10 Telecast from Staples
Now that the pesky
WGA has been taken care of, the
Recording Academy can get down to business for its gala 50
th anniversary
Grammy ceremony Feb. 10 at L.A.’s Staples Center and
Neil Portnow can put the final polish on his awards night speech.
Beyonce and the Foo Fighters will perform on the show, which is no surprise given both announced they would attend the ceremony, regardless of the writer’s strike.
In addition, multi-nominee Carrie Underwood will be on hand, along with a special gospel tribute featuring 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, the Clark Sisters, Israel and New Breed and Trin-I-Tee 5:7.
Another announced segment will include Rihanna performing with a reunited The Time and Morris Day.
The Foo Fighters will perform on this year's "My Grammy Moment" segment on the telecast with up to 20 unsigned musicians as part of an orchestra created specifically for this event, conducted by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, performing a new rendition of their Grammy-nominated Best Rock Song, “The Pretender," produced in partnership with YouTube and CBS.com.