Kanye West Was in Talks to Perform at This Year's GRAMMYs
What a show it would have been.
This year’s GRAMMYs continued to be a hot topic for a number of reasons including Beyoncé’s loss for Album of the Year and the handful of artists who did not attend the ceremony, such as Kanye West. However, Recording Academy President, Neil Portnow insists West did not abstain out of protest and that West was in talks to perform. Portnow tells Pitchfork:
“Kanye, as you know, had some medical concerns and situations. We had dialog with him about actually performing. At the end of the day, what we had heard was he just wasn’t in a place where he felt comfortable doing that. That’s completely understandable.”
Frank Ocean, of course, is another story. He now-famously did not submit either of his 2016 albums Blonde or Endless for nomination consideration and leading up to the ceremony, bumped heads with the creative team. Portnow has expressed his feelings for Frank, stating:
“Not everybody likes or wants to be part of every organization or awards process. I respect that. What I’ll say about Frank is he did have his earlier album out at an early stage of his career, we were delighted that it was entered, we were delighted that he was a Grammy winner, we were delighted to have him on our stage, which gave him a platform very early in his career. That’s something we’re proud of, and down the line he may feel differently. Artists change their opinion. I don’t begrudge his choice at all.”
