As we reported yesterday, it wasn’t exactly a spectacular night for Australians at the Grammys. Not that we need a shiny statuette to remind us of how awesome Courtney Barnett, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Tame Impala are, but every Aussie nominee went home empty-handed.
Well, that is every nominee except for true blue Aussie Tim Munro, who actually managed to pick up his third Grammy last night, taking out the 2016 award for Best Chamber Music Performance for his work in the Eighth Blackbird sextet.
As Sky News reports, Munro, who was born in Brisbane but now resides in Chicago, was the flautist and co-artistic director of the Eighth Blackbird ensemble from 2006 to 2015. He and the group performed at major venues, curated festivals, and premiered over 100 new pieces.
When he’s not playing flute with Eighth Blackbird, Munro is also a speaker, writer, and teacher, giving lectures on music at colleges and universities around Australia and the US, and he’s currently working on several projects, including a collaboration with a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Sadly, Tame Impala, Courtney Barnett, and Hiatus Kaiyote didn’t fare so well. Tame Impala picked up a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album with their acclaimed third LP Currents, though it eventually went to Alabama Shakes for Sound & Color.
Hiatus Kaiyote, meanwhile, nabbed their second Grammy nomination with their single ‘Breathing Underwater’, which scored a nod in the Best R&B Performance category, eventually losing out to The Weeknd’s soundtrack cut ‘Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)’.
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And Courtney Barnett was pitted against Meghan Trainor, James Bay, Sam Hunt, and Tori Kelly in the highly coveted but often controversial category of Best New Artist, losing out to Trainor. But hey, we’ve heard that category is cursed, so maybe it’s for the best.
Besides, all the attention that would’ve gone to the nominees and winners was stolen by Kendrick Lamar’s stunning performance, Lady Gaga’s tribute to David Bowie, and Taylor Swift hitting back at Kanye West during her acceptance speech for Album of the Year.
After West claimed on his new album that he made Swift famous, the first female artist to win Album of the Year twice said in her speech, “There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.”
“But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and know that it was you,” she continued. No word yet on when West will recover from that third-degree burn.
