The 64th annual Grammy Awards were held Sunday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was honored during the “In Memoriam” segment. “This was the moment in the show when I was supposed to be introducing the Foo Fighters,” host Trevor Noah said before launching an extended intro tribute to the beloved rock musician. “We would have been celebrating with them as they won three Grammy Awards earlier today. But they, of course, are not here due to the passing of their legendary drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Our thoughts go out to Taylor’s family, his friends, his Foo Fighter family and all his fans.”
Hard rock and metal fans vented their frustrations, however, that the Grammy Awards failed to recognize late Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison, Cinderella guitarist Jeff LaBar and Megaforce Records founders Jon and Marsha Zazula, among others. Sirius XM DJ and rock ambassador Eddie Trunk has repeatedly slammed the Grammys for being “clueless” when it comes to hard rock and metal. “#Grammys remain biggest disrespectful joke for rock,” Trunk tweeted. “Don’t televise the categories and treat it as a footnote. Clueless beyond words. No Joey Jordison (Slipknot won a Grammy!), Jeff LaBar, and more left out of in memoriam. 1 second for Charlie Watts?! Insane!” Queensryche singer Todd La Torre wrote: “A friend of mine pointed out to me that The Grammy’s forgot all about mentioning Joey Jordison, Mike Howe, Jeff LaBar, and Alexi Laiho (to name a few) among musicians that have passed away in 2021. Can’t say I’m surprised, but what a shame.”
Among those who did make the segment, albeit briefly, were Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones), Gary Brooker (Procol Harum), Meat Loaf, Dusty Hill (ZZ Top), Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), Ronnie Spector (The Ronettes) and rapper Biz Markie. The Foo Fighters were scheduled to play but canceled following the death of Hawkins. The band won Best Rock Performance” for “Making A Fire,” “Best Rock Song” for “Waiting On A War” and “Best Rock Album” for “Medicine at Midnight.” In the “Best Rock Performance” category the Foos beat out AC/DC, Black Pumas, Deftones and the late Chris Cornell. In the “Best Rock Song” category, they topped Weezer, Kings of Leon, Mammoth WVH and Paul McCartney. Dream Theater beat out the Deftones, Gojira, Mastadon and Rob Zombie to win the “Best Metal Performance” category for their song, “The Alien.”
