Rumors are circulating that Bob Dylan will perform at tonight’s Grammy Awards with Eminem. If true, it is almost guaranteed to be an exciting collaboration. [Update 2/14/10: It turned out not to be true. Dylan ended up playing with Mumford and Sons and the Avett Brothers. See video toward end to see where Dlyan joins the bands for “Maggie’s Farm.” It’s a fun performance.]
It will be hard to top Eminem’s collaboration at the Grammy Awards on February 21, 2001. Was it really a decade ago?! At the 2001 show, Eminem performed with Elton John. In light of homophobic lyrics in some of Eminem’s songs, it was great to see the two perform together and hug at the end, reinforcing Eminem’s claim that the offending lyrics in his recent CD, The Marshall Mathers LP, should not be taken seriously.
The 2001 performance was certainly a classy act, especially on the part of Elton John, who showed us that the best force against hate, ignorance, and prejudice is usually a little love. It is the kind of force we saw in action this week, when peaceful protesters were able to topple a corrupt dictator in Egypt. Of course, the 2001 performance by Eminem and Elton John did not change the leadership of the country and did not end prejudice in general or homophobia specifically. And it did not necessarily undo damage Eminem had done with his songs. But it did show the power of music to heal a little bit. It was a lesson the U.S. would need again less than nine months after the 2001 Grammys.
Eminem and John have remained friends through the years, and the rapper even turned to John for help when he was dealing with a prescription drug addiction. Also, in the decade since the Grammy performance, views on issues such as gay rights, civil unions, and gay marriages have progressed in the U.S., especially among the younger generations. Did the 2001 performance have a little to do with that? I don’t know, but I like to think so.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
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CD. It is a beautiful song, simply about being lonely, missing people, and contemplating suicide. Although it is not as loud as many of their other songs, it is still powerful with Jack White’s voice singing over the piano.
. Most of the album was written by Justin Vernon during a time of seclusion in a Wisconsin cabin. Following a break up with his former band, an illness, and the end of a relationship, Vernon moved from North Carolina to his childhood state of Wisconsin to live alone in his father’s cabin for almost four months. Out of his pain, he created the album.