Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy recently appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers in promotion of his latest solo album, Love Is King.
The appearance saw Tweedy perform album cut ‘Gwendolyn’, with his son, Spencer Tweedy holding down drumming duties.
Check out ‘Gwendolyn’ live on Late Night With Seth Meyers
https://youtu.be/FjHRsFOsnFs
During the appearance, Jeff Tweedy recalled an experience he had at a previous Grammy Awards ceremony that saw rapper P. Diddy mistake him for an usher. The Wilco rocker relayed an incident that saw Diddy ask for a program to the evenings events.
“I was with a big group of people; all the Wilco guys, wives and girlfriends. Somehow I ended up standing outside one of the bathrooms at the Staples Center, holding everyone’s Grammy program,” Tweedy said.
“And P. Diddy walked up to me, and he thought I was an usher handing out programs. He taps the programs I was holding with a cane and said, ‘give me one of those.’”
To which Tweedy responded. “No, they’re mine.”
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He continued, “It didn’t escalate, thank goodness. Every time I’ve ever gone to the Grammys I’ve been mistaken for a seat filler. ‘Get up, go!’”
Jeff Tweedy released his fourth solo album, Love Is The King, on October 23rd. Last month also saw the release of Tweedy’s book How to Write One Song.
Jeff Tweedy discusses his P. Diddy encounter on Late Night With Seth Meyers
On June 18th, Tweedy published a lengthy open letter, addressing the racial inequality in the music industry, and calling on his peers to take action.
The letter saw him pledge to donate 5% of his earnings to Movement for Black Lives and Black Women’s Blueprint.
A move that came in light of the Black Lives Matter movement that picked up momentum following the senseless murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Tweedy’s open letter was a call to action for his peers, encouraging them to reckon with the knowledge that the music industry is built on a foundation of profiting off black art.
“The modern music industry is built almost entirely on Black art,” he wrote. “The wealth that rightfully belongs to Black artists was stolen outright…I’ve often thought there should be an industry-wide plan to address this enormous injustice.
Tweedy’s letter saw the musician challenge performance rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI and SESAC to implement programs committed to elevating black musicians, and committing to reparations.
“Hundreds of us joining together could provide some tremendous relief. Thousands of us committing to a reparations initiative could change our business and the world we live in,” he wrote.
The musician revealed that he has a dialogue running with BMI, which he hopes will “be able to put together a coalition of Black community leaders and people within the music industry that would help me administer and direct and be somewhat of a board of trustees.”
