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British rock band says get bush out Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Coldplay tells the US: Vote Bush out of office
TRACEY LAWSON
BRITISH rock band Coldplay walked away with one of the global music industry’s most prestigious awards yesterday - and straight into a political controversy.
The band’s lead singer, Chris Martin, collected the Record of the Year trophy at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles - but then urged Americans to oust George Bush, the United States president, in favour of John Kerry, the current Democrat front-runner.
Martin, who is married to Gwyneth Paltrow, the Hollywood actress, accepted the award for the song Clocks, then told the star-studded audience: "We would like to dedicate this to Johnny Cash (the late country singer) and to John Kerry, who hopefully will be your president some day."
Martin’s words were a rare moment of controversy at the 46th Grammy Awards, in a year which saw American artists dominate.
OutKast, nominated for a leading six Grammys, took home the most coveted title of best album for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which also won best rap album and best urban/ alternative performance for Hey Ya!.
Luther Vandross, who is recovering from a stroke, won Song of the Year for Dance with my Father, in collaboration with Richard Marx.
Pop diva Beyoncé took home a record-tying five Grammys, including best contemporary rhythm-and-blues album.
However, the Beatles brought Britain a special accolade, when the group received a President’s Award, in celebration of their inspirational influence over four decades. The honour coincides with the anniversary of the Beatles’ first appearance on-US television, when the Fab Four conquered America overnight on 9 February, 1964.
The band attracted audiences of 73 million with their on screen rendition of I Want to Hold Your Hand, and became the first British band to conquer the US as the single shot to number one in the charts.
The award coincides with the EMI release today of The First US Visit, a new Beatles DVD of the Maysles Brothers’ film from the time, which chronicles the band’s experiences.
Sir Paul McCartney said yesterday: "We didn’t know what to expect on that first visit.
"We didn’t expect the craziness that was there and when we did the Ed Sullivan Show, it got even crazier. We were just kids at the time and it was just fantastic. It was one of the highest points of my life.
Ringo Starr said: "We had no idea what the Ed Sullivan Show meant, we didn’t know how huge it was.
"I don’t think we were nervous because we were doing songs that we knew how to play, we’d done them before and we’d done plenty of TV. But the idea of just coming to America was the mind-blower - no-one can imagine these days what an incredible feat it was to conquer America. No British act had done it before."
The late Beatle George Harrison also won the best pop instrumental Grammy for Marwa Blues.
Sting won an award for the best pop collaboration with vocals, with Whenever I Say Your Name along with Mary J Blige.
Rockers Evanescence won best new artist, while perhaps most unusual winners were Bill Clinton, the former US president, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet Union president, and Sophia Loren, who won best spoken-word album for children for their reading on Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf/ Beintus: Wolf Tracks.
Amid the excitement and anticipation of who had won what, one question kept the star-studded audience preoccupied - where was Janet Jackson? The singer was noticeable by her absence from the ceremony, which comes just days after her breast was bared at last week’s American football Super Bowl game, as she sang and danced with Timberlake.
The ensuing public outcry prompted Grammy organisers to install a five-second tape delay on the broadcast of the awards, to prevent a similar furore.
Timberlake, who won best male pop vocal for Cry Me a River and best pop vocal album for Justified, used the opportunity to apologise for his part in Jackson’s unveiling.
He said: "What occurred was unintentional, completely regrettable, and I apologise if anyone was offended. This is officially the greatest moment of my life."
However, the truth behind Jackson’s absence remained a mystery. CBS released a statement saying that it had agreed to allow Timberlake and Jackson to appear as planned, so long as they apologised on air for their Super Bowl stunt.
But a statement from Jackson’s camp said she had chosen not to attend after CBS and the Grammys first withdrew the invitation, then reissued it.
The incident bubbled beneath the surface all night.
"I don’t want to have the same thing happen that Janet had done," said Christine Aguilera as she accepted the best female pop vocal performance Grammy in a dress cut so low that CBS briefly imposed a graphic across her chest. "But, uh, if I can keep it together ..."
Anti-Castro sanctions keep winner out of US
TIM CORNWELL
IBRAHIM Ferrer, the veteran Cuban singer, won a Grammy award for his latest album yesterday, but was barred from going to Los Angeles to collect the prize.
The Bush administration has tightened the 40-year-old economic and travel sanctions against Cuba, and Ferrer, 76, was denied a visa to attend the awards. His album - Buenos Hermanos - won best tropical Latin award.
A United States diplomat in Havana said the US could suspend the entry of people deemed to be "detrimental" to their interests.
Scottish audiences, by contrast, will get the chance to see Ferrer in concert next month.
Ferrer recently won BBC Radio 3’s world music award for best artist from the Americas, and will appear at the poll winners’ concert at the Usher Hall on 9 March.
He is one of the group of long-forgotten Cuban musicians who found fame when they appeared in the 1997 film, The Buena Vista Social Club. The album of the same name won a Grammy in 1998.
In 2000, Mr Ferrer won the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist - at the age of 72.
Ry Cooder, the US musician who produced the album, was fined $100,000 for his work under US Trading With The Enemy Act.
Travel bans barring several categories of Cubans, including musicians, were later lifted under Bill Clinton.
But George Bush, the US president, has adopted a tough line towards Cuba, and the bans have since been reimposed. It is seen as part of the effort to court the anti-Castro vote in the Cuban community in Florida, where the US presidential elections hung in the balance in 2000.
The government of Fidel Castro seized on the Ferrer ban as a propaganda coup. "Something as noble as music is being converted into a policy against Cuba," said Abel Acosta, the vice-minister of culture, last week.
Ferrer told a press conference in Havana: "I am not a terrorist. I couldn’t be one. I am a musician."
The Cuban will appear at the Usher Hall alongside the Iraqi star Kazem Al Sahir, dubbed the Robbie Williams of the Middle East. Al Sahir’s songs, which dwell on the suffering of the Iraqi people under Saddam Hussein’s regime and the struggle with sanctions, have sold 30 million copies.
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