Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick rule at pre-Grammy gala
THE NIGHT began with a rare sight: tennis champion Serena Williams was flustered. “I’m a little nervous... I can’t breathe,” she said through an exasperated smile. “I’m usually really good at this.”
The overwhelming task was not opening the famed Clive Davis pre-Grammys gala at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, though that no doubt comes with some social pressure. It was introducing its opening act, one of her favourite groups of all time, Green Day.
An enthusiasm for music fueled the night, as to be expected. But it was a concluding performance by Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, and Stevie Wonder that really stole the show, for those still in the room after 1 a.m. “Music is love,” Wonder told the crowd before launching into a sing-along of Warwick’s What the World Needs Now.
Knight first emerged to sing The Way We Were/Try to Remember, before being joined by Warwick for That’s What Friends Are For, which Wonder closed with a harmonica solo.
About an hour earlier, Jon Platt, Sony Music Publishing chairman and CEO, was honoured with the 2024 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons Award at the star-studded event and used his speech to remind those in attendance that “it always takes a village” to move the needle in the music industry.
Across his career, Platt has been celebrated for improving the ways in which hip-hop and R&B artists are compensated as songwriters – working with Usher, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Drake, Rihanna and Pharrell Williams to name a few.
“Jon cares about songwriters of all generations,” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason Jr. said i n his introduction to Platt.
Davis’ gala, the incredibly popular and equally exclusive event, returned for the first time since the 2020 pandemic last year and attendees were just as excited as ever.
Davis, currently the chief creative officer of Sony, kicked off his pre-Grammy party in 1976 to celebrate Barry Manilow’s Mandy, which became Arista Records’ first Grammy Record of the Year nominee.
Admittance to Davis’ event is notoriously challenging to receive. This year, those A-listers who made the cut included Smokey Robinson, Meryl Streep, Babyface, Jon Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Gayle King, Ted Danson, Shania Twain, Diane Warren, Cameron Crowe, Sammy Hagar, Cher, Jack Antonoff, Gloria Esteban, Busta Rhymes, Megan Thee Stallion, Peso Pluma, Tyla, David Foster, and Mark Ronson.