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Rewind: the story behind the iconic (and controversial) performance of Eminem and Elton John at the 2001 Grammy
– Story by Taryn Ryder and Rewind experience created by Tim Chaffee and Quinn Lemmers The Grammy Awards are known for unusual and eye-catching musical combinations, but no pair caused a sensation like Eminem and Elton John in 2001. Eminem’s LP The Marshall Mathers was one of greatest successes of the previous year. This consolidated him as a rap star and a force to be reckoned with in the music industry – love him or hate him. And people really loved or hated him. For each critic acclaiming the Detroit native as a lyrical genius, there was another criticizing him for homophobic and misogynistic messages. (The “Criminal” banner, for example, features the phrase: “My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge / This will stab you in the head / Whether you’re an idiot or a lez.”) Still, Eminem said repeatedly that his lyrics shouldn’t be taken seriously, the rapper’s four Grammy nominations caused a storm. GLAAD announced that it would be among groups protesting Eminem’s “hateful lyrics” outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Grammy night. Then, less than two weeks before the broadcast, it was revealed that John would be taking the stage with Eminem to perform his hit “Stan”. Yahoo Entertainment spoke with former Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich about how Eminem and John’s unforgettable performance came to be. According to Ehrlich, who has been the Grammy Awards showrunner for 40 years and the architect of the musical moments of the event, there was no hesitation that Eminem’s participation (solo or not) could be very controversial for the television network. “I produced the show, a lot of that was my decision. We wanted it, there was no doubt, ”he recalls. “It is true that he was – I don’t even want to use the word controversial. He was an extremely unique artist who did not hesitate to express his point of view. And, by the way, part of that point of view was aimed at the Grammy.” ( That’s true. Eminem’s hit song “The Real Slim Shady” features the phrase: “Do you think I care about a Grammy? / Half of your critics can’t even swallow me, let alone hold on.”) According with Ehrlich, both he and Eminem, whose real name was Marshall Mathers, had the vision that he would perform with another artist. The idea of recruiting John differs somewhat. “I was like, ‘The only way to perform at the Grammy is with Elton John,'” Eminem told MTV News in 2001. “And I was saying it as a kind of joke, thinking it would never happen. The idea started to get more, ‘OK, this is a way to really turn the tide and really fuck people’s heads. “Ehrlich told Yahoo,” Well, I don’t want to rewrite history if he says it’s okay. No it’s exactly how I remember it. But, you know, great ideas have a lot of parents. ” “I remember getting a call,” continues Ehrlich, “it may have been someone from the record company, it may have been someone from [Eminem’s team], but I think we were already thinking about it, but not necessarily in those terms. We were looking for a duet partner because they told us that he was interested in performing with another artist. “Ehrlich had a decades-long relationship with John, so he says” it was easy to talk to Elton “about the possible collaboration. The iconic singer immediately accepted the idea.” As soon as we passed the message to Elton that we were interested, he spoke up ” , recalls Ehrlich. “He said, ‘This is exactly the kind of thing I want to do. I want to break those barriers. If [Eminem’s] That’s okay and he wants to do that. I would love to do that. ‘”While everyone expected to keep the collaboration a secret until the big show, the buzz of shocking pairing started to leak. The Recording Academy confirmed that John would join Eminem for a version of” Stan “, provoking even more reaction. GLAAD released a statement saying he was “shocked that John would share the stage with Eminem, whose words and actions promote hatred and violence” against gays and lesbians. ” [John] would do that, “a spokesman told Entertainment Weekly. In” Stan “, which is about a crazy fan obsessed with the rapper, Eminem speaks in the final verse as what he says shouldn’t be taken literally. John explained that he could separate the o Slim Shady character of a real life rapper. “If I thought for a minute that [Eminem] was [hateful], I wouldn’t do that, “John told the Los Angeles Times amid the uproar. The duet was still going on. Ehrlich drove to an outside location to watch their rehearsal and was surprised by what he saw.” word I don’t usually use. It was palpable, “he says about the chemistry of Eminem and John.” I could see that the two were big fans of each other. “Creatively, Eminem and John were also in sync as to the appearance of the performance.” I believe that was Marshall’s concept of how to integrate Elton into it, “recalls Ehrlich. (John sang the vocal choruses performed on the original track by Dido.)” It was Eminem’s moment. So what I didn’t want to do and, by the way, neither did Elton, was to step on it. So Elton was in the background. That was how he wanted it. He didn’t want to take the spotlight off what Marshall was doing. It worked for everyone. “Although Ehrlich remembers the 2001 Grammys as a” very strong show “, he knew from the beginning on Eminem and John’s moment would be the most talked about on the show. That’s why it was performed until the final moments of the broadcast of three But Eminem and John gave the producers a clear directive that they didn’t want the promotion of their performance to look “exploitative.” “They were both very careful about what we could do because they didn’t want it to look too exploitative, which they didn’t want. I think it is, “says Ehrlich.” We honor what we said we would do. “And so did Eminem and John. Despite the Grammy night protests – people were holding signs outside the Staples Center that said things like” Don’t Award Hate “- the artists delivered an unforgettable version of” Stan ” in six minutes. John gave a special touch to the chorus of a piano positioned behind Eminem. They only got together after dark was over. At the end of the song, they raised their hands in a show of unity and embraced. “It was the photo who went around the world, where the two of them got up, Elton left the piano, came to the center of the stage and they gave a really remarkable and really emotional hug ”, recalls Ehrlich. it one of the most memorable moments in Grammy history. As to whether John and Emimen’s hug was rehearsed or spontaneous, Ehrlich can’t remember. “I don’t remember. I’m a huge fan of artists who embrace each other when we do these moments, so maybe I mentioned that, maybe it was spontaneous. They obviously – they liked each other very much and it really led to an ongoing friendship from that day on, “he says. (This is true, as the two stars talked about their close bond that stretches for two decades now.) What was not rehearsed was when Eminem looked away from the audience after the hug. “I kind of shrugged my shoulders and said, ‘This is Marshall,'” laughs Ehrlich. After hitting three to three, Eminem lost the biggest prize the night of Album of the Year. (Which is still questionable, no offense to Steely Dan.) Some critics called the performance “anti-climatic” because after all the construction, there was no drama on the stage. But the performance did not appease the protesters. , with one of them telling the Guardian at the time that he is “like Barbra Streisand hugging Eva Braun.” Although Eminem and John’s acting is for the books, the two drew much more from that than the headlines. The pair sparked a genuine friendship. After a relapse in 2008, Eminem revealed that it was John who helped him stay sober. John has served as your sponsor for the past few years. “When I wanted to sober up, I called [Elton] and talked to him about it, “Eminem told The Guardian.” He is someone who is in the business and can relate to and relate to the lifestyle and how things can be hectic. He understands … the pressure and any other reasons that you want to invent to use drugs. … I reached out to him and said, ‘Look, I’m having a problem and I need your advice.’ “During a 2017 interview, John said that he and Eminem have” been amazing friends “since the performance.” I just adore him, “shared John on The Graham Norton Show, revealing that Eminem sent him an NSFW wedding gift after he left. marry David Furnish. “Shows how he is not homophobic.” Twenty years later and Eminem still has his detractors, though; more recently, it is Generation Z who are trying to cancel the rapper on TikTok for “deaf” lyrics. want to tell them where the word “stan” comes from, which is part of our vocabulary for two On whether Eminem really could have been canceled in 2001 if social media existed, don’t bet on it. “I really can’t talk about the reaction of Eminem these days. I found him very approachable, great to work with, “says Ehrlich.” And Elton, I have had a lifetime of great moments on television with Elton. … He is wonderful. And characteristic of the way he embraced the situation of Eminem, always re that i am with him or talk to him, he is very interested in the future of music, especially with artists. He remains a fan of the changing face of music and, in 2001, Eminem was the changing face of music. “Behind the scenes, Ehrlich has nothing but fond memories of putting the” incredible “performance together. I think it would be moving mountains for the two of them to do that, but in the end, it wasn’t that difficult,” he adds, saying which is definitely in its “top 10” of the Grammy moments of all time. “The Grammys continue to receive a lot of criticism and many of them are justified, certainly this year with the nominations is justified”, says Ehrlich, who was nominated for five awards Emmy for her Grammy production work. “But the show itself.? I’ve always been proud of those kinds of things, which are performances that you’ll see elsewhere.” Read more on Yahoo Entertainment: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis about how ‘Control’ and Janet Jackson ‘revolutionized female art’ 35 years ago, Paula Abdul speaks the Grammy-winning video ‘Opposites Attract’: How Gene Kelly, Boogaloo Shrimp, Romany Malco and the animators of ‘Take on Me’ helped to create a classic legacy of SisQó t alk ‘Thong Song’: Victoria’s Secret sales peak, Berry’s Halle Fashion Inspo and the true meaning of ‘dumpsters like a truck’