From Macklemore’s public apology for “robbing” Kendrick Lamar of an award to a lack of recognition for the late two-time Grammy winner and Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman in the ‘In Memoriam’ segment, complaints about the Grammys have been coming from all directions. However, no complaint received more att ention than Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor’s disdain for getting cut short.
The closing performance was to include Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl and Lindsey Buckingham – and it did. But for viewers at home, the last half of the performance was unexpectedly obscured by promotional messages and the closing credits. Following the ceremony Reznor took to Twitter to confess his extreme displeasure toward the Grammys: “Music’s biggest night… to be disrespected. A heartfelt F— YOU guys.”
Following the abrupt ending, Grammys Executive Producer Ken Ehrlich sat down for a Q&A with The Hollywood Reporter and was asked, among other things, about the ceremony getting cut short and Reznor’s tweet:
I’m sorry he was upset. I was really thrilled that we were finally getting him on the Grammys. The final jam started with Arcade Fire a few years ago, and LL Cool J last year. I want to end on a high, an up note. I did tell them we’d take it as long as we could. The number was about five, six minutes long, and we got to within a minute twenty of the end. We got as close as we could possibly get.
Historically, the last bands get cut off, but that doesn’t make it any better for the many fans of all the closing musicians that sat through the whole ceremony just to have the set cut short. Guess we won’t be seeing Trent or Josh Homme playing the Grammys again any time soon. And while it’s unfortunate, at least Ehrlich addressed the decision publicly.
