The Grammy Awards vowed several years ago to try to update the image of the annual music-industry awards buffet. And while the Recording Academy has made great strides in spicing up the
show with more contemporary artists and performances, 2009 is shaping up to be the year that the Grammys go all-in.
On Monday (January 26), it was announced that Radiohead, up for five Grammys, including Album of the Year for In Rainbows, would perform on the February 8 show. Also joining a performance roster that already includes Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, Coldplay, Carrie Underwood, the Jonas Brothers, Jennifer Hudson and Kenny Chesney is former Beatle Paul McCartney, who will be joined by a special guest drummer, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl.
The icing on the cake is a pair of hip-hop performances: one featuring T.I. and Justin Timberlake, and another of the hit "Swagga Like Us" with Jay-Z, Wayne, T.I. and Kanye West.
The Grammy spot will be Radiohead's first live television performance in the U.S. since 2000, and their first time ever playing the awards show. It comes as normally publicity-shy singer Thom Yorke has begun appearing in a splashy ad campaign promoting the broadcast; Wayne and Rihanna have also been drafted as part of the ad blitz to drum up excitement for the show, the Los Angeles Times reports.
With the addition of Radiohead, the list of Album of the Year performers now includes three nominees (Wayne and Coldplay are the others), with the only names missing so far being Ne-Yo, nominated for Year of the Gentleman, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, who are being honored for their bluegrass collaboration, Raising Sand.
More performers and a list of presenters are expected to be announced soon.
This report is from MTV News.
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