The Grammys paid
tribute to Glenn Frey on Monday night, nearly a month after the Eagles
co-founder and singer-guitarist died. Frey died Jan. 18 in New York of
complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and
pneumonia. To honor him, Eagles co-founders Don Henley and Bernie Leadon and
guitarist Joe Walsh, bassist Tim Schmit and Jackson Browne took the Grammys
stage for a performance of "Take It Easy." "Take it Easy"
was the Eagles' first single, released in May 1972. The song written almost
entirely by Browne with some lyrics added by Frey when the pair roomed together
in an East L.A. apartment block in the '70s. The tune became an enduring hit
for the Eagles after it appeared on the group’s self-titled debut album. Browne
later recorded it for his 1973 album, For Everyman.
I wrote this song with
Glenn Frey Browne said last month when he performed the song in Frey's honor.
“It’s a song that I started, but I didn’t finish it. Even if I had finished it
by myself, it wouldn’t be the song that it is, and it wouldn’t be the song that
we all love.”
year because there are always five nominated shows. For me, this one stood out
a little more than others have." Rather than being adapted to the Staples
Center stage in Los Angeles, where the vast majority of this year's Grammy
performance numbers will take place, the "Hamilton" sequence will
emanate via remote from the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway where it has
been holding forth since August. "I went to New York last year with the
intent that we should do it here," Ehrlich says. "But when I saw the
staging, and how fragile the lighting conditions are, how important the stage
set itself is, I realized we probably would not have been able to copy it well
here. The control they have over the lighting, the comfort factor of having a
cast that's done it X number of times, those things made it easier for us to fit
into their world than trying to have them fit into ours."
Hamilton is nominated
in the musical theater album category along with "An American in
Paris," "Fun Home," "The King and I" and
"Something Rotten!" "This show's real introduction to the
television audience will be our show," he says. "I'm sure it will
also be on the Tonys and they'll do a great number on their show. But ours is a
music show, and aside from the staging and the brilliant choreography, the
music in this show is unique, and it's special. I'm thrilled we're going to be
putting it up first to millions of people."
