The Grammy Awards has always been a bit lackluster when it comes to honoring metal in the proper way. Case in point, former All That Remains guitarist Oli Herbert’s omission from the ‘In Memoriam’ segment during the Grammy Awards telecast earlier this year. Now the band’s frontman Phil Labonte has spoken out about the snub, saying he wasn’t surprised it happened.
When asked during a recent interview with the “BREWtally Speaking” podcast about the Grammys omitting Herbert from the telecast and the artists speaking out about it, Labonte said of the snub
“The Grammys have screwed up every single time since Metallica and Jethro Tull. Why would you expect them to do it right this time? So, as far as I’m concerned, I’m not surprised. And for the people that did care, I’m sorry that they were kind of bummed out. Maybe I’m a little cynical, but I don’t expect the Grammys to get anything right at all — at least when it comes to metal. So, no big surprise to me. They just did what they do normally, which is blow it.”
Herbert wasn’t the only metal musician to be left out of the ‘In Memoriam’ segment. Pantera/Hellyeah drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott and We Came As Romans vocalist Kyle Pavone were also left off the telecast. All three were, however, listed on the Grammy Awards website’s “Recording Academy Remembers Those We Lost: Grammy In Memoriam” section.
Labonte also had some kind words for the artists that stood up for Herbert, Abbott and Pavone, namely Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale. Preceding his comments about the Grammys, he said
“There’s a lot of really thoughtful, warm, sweet human beings, and Lzzy is the perfect person to lead that charge. As a heavy rock ambassador, I’d follow her to the ends of the earth. I can’t come up with anyone better than Lzzy Hale.” He also praised Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe for not attending the Grammys, saying “I think Randy [Blythe] did the right thing — Randy from Lamb Of God. He didn’t go [to the Grammy Awards when his band was nominated], and he auctioned off [his Grammy medallion that he won for the LAMB OF GOD song ‘Redneck’].”
He continues:
“metal is subversive. Metal is supposed to be for the people that don’t want to fit in, that don’t care if they fit in. So when people get upset because the metal community is shunned, to me, I’m just like, ‘Screw them. Why do you care? They’ve crapped on us forever.”
All That Remains released their latest album, Victim of the New Disease, in November. The band is currently on tour in North America with Attila and Escape The Fate.
