NY –
Bryan Adams may have earned his first Grammy nomination in more than two decades, but he won’t be at the ceremony. He has a concert that night.
The Canadian rock star had promised to play a concert in Las Vegas on Sunday and didn’t want to disappoint his fans or his team by canceling it.
“Work is work. I mean, I have 40 people on my tour, so I want to make sure I keep them with food and warm shoes, you know,” he said earlier this week.
Working hard is a theme for Adams, who released four albums last year: her fifteenth studio effort, “So Happy It Hurts,” the cast album of “Pretty Woman: The Musical” and “Classic” and “Classic Pt. II”, which saw him return to recording songs from his catalog and handling most of the instruments.
On Sunday, he moved up in the best rock performance category for “So Happy It Hurts,” the title track, which includes the lyric “I’m so happy it hurts/I’m so glad, it’s outrageous.” Her last nomination came in 1998 with the song “Finally I Found Someone.”
“I am absolutely floored to have been nominated, especially after such a long time. But, I mean, I’m very grateful. I don’t think I’ll win it, but I’m happy to be nominated,” he said.
To win, Adams must beat Beck and his version of Neil Young’s “Old Man”; Ozzy Osbourne’s “Patient Number 9” with Jeff Beck; “Wild Child” by The Black Keys; “Broken Horses” by Brandi Carlile; “Creep!” by Idles and “Holiday” by Turnstile. Adams suspects “Patient Number 9” will win in honor of Jeff Beck, who died earlier this year.
If Adams wins, the trophy will join the 1992 Grammy he won for best song written for a motion picture for “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” which was used in “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” soundtrack.
This is a remarkably rich period for the 63-year-old singer-songwriter. He says ideas came to him all the time while he was creating “So Happy It Hurts” and recording more songs than usual. In the face of the pandemic, he ended up playing most of the instruments by himself.
“I’m not a particularly good drummer, but I love to give everything I’ve got to try to make it great,” he says with a laugh.
The album is full of gratitude and mature love, with upbeat titles like “You Lift Me Up,” “I’ve Been Looking For You,” and “Let’s Do It.” In the song “These are the moments that make up my life,” she sings “I like to make the kids breakfast/I like the family way/I like the sound of their laughter/As I plan my day.”
“I think one of the things that as songwriters we should tap into is our truth,” he says. “If you can start writing songs that are really about your truth and being able to open up in a way that you can relate to your life without giving too much away, I think people will connect with that.”
He also dug up his old amps, guitars, and gear and began re-recording all of his hits, including “Summer of ’69,” “Run to You,” and “Everything I Do (I Do It for You).” She did so after Universal Music Group refused to return her original masters and was inspired by Taylor Swift, who also began re-recording her catalogue.
“That’s brought back a lot of memories. It brought back memories of, first of all, where I was, who I was recording with, the amount of work that went into making those records, and just generally an appreciation of what I was doing at that time. moment,” he said.
“There are sort of minor alterations to things, but overall I’m staying true to the original recordings because I felt like that’s what people would recognize,” he added. “Unless it was a live recording, it needed to have the same structure and emotion.”
This year you’ll find Adams in familiar territory: working. After a spring tour of Asia, this summer it hits 26 US cities, starting in Baltimore in June with stops in New York City, Boston, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco and more. Joan Jett opens.
He is also planning a “Classic Pt. III” and has recorded three of his first live albums at London’s Royal Albert Hall which he hopes to release: “Cuts Like a Knife”, “Into the Fire” and “Waking Up the Neighbors”.
“It’s super exciting,” he says, and then he has to go. After all, she has to prepare for a concert on late-night television.