Be the first to find out about GRAMMY nominees, winners, important news, and events. Privacy Policy

How does one evolve the music of an auteur who oversaw every detail of his creations? Co-arranger and orchestrator David Holcenberg discusses honoring Michael Jackson on stage through "MJ."

In several scenes throughout "MJ the Musical," a fictional MTV reporter attempts to get a quote from Michael Jackson ahead of his 1992 Dangerous tour.

Jackson, portrayed by Tony winner Myles Frost, insists, "Listen to my music, it answers any questions you might have."

This line from the musical was at the forefront of the mind of "MJ" Music Supervisor, Orchestrator and Arranger David Holcenberg. Professionals like Holcenberg hold the power to transform a song forever, but in the case of "MJ," how does one live up to the impossible standards of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century? How can one reimagine a catalog whose auteur (and now estate) oversaw every detail of his creations?

"We knew we wanted to honor the brilliance of Michael Jackson's music and arrangements, while still having the music speak to an audience in 2022," Holcenberg tells GRAMMY.com. 

The Tony-nominated Holcenberg boasts a resume full of stage adaptations of films like Matilda, Ghost, Groundhog Day and Titanic . He also worked on the quintessential jukebox musical "Mamma Mia!" Yet "MJ" marks a turning point as his first music supervising, orchestrating and arranging Broadway credit for one production. 

Alongside GRAMMY-nominated music director Jason Michael Webb ("Respect"), who was unavailable for an interview, Holcenberg co-architected every beat, mixing samples from existing arrangements. The pair also immersed themselves in some of Jackson's greatest influences, including  Quincy Jones and Gamble and Huff. 

The two eventually hit on rich details from his catalogue that allowed Jackson's story to advance and address his much-analyzed career and personal life. "MJ” doesn’t include any updates after 1992, so any attempts at a reckoning or discussion of the child molestation allegations are absent from the production. 

"We knew in doing a musical about Michael Jackson there would be songs that had to be in the show," Holcenberg tells GRAMMY.com. "[Pulitzer and Tony-award winning playwright] Lynn Nottage's initial draft of the script used those songs as tent poles that we built the rest of the show around."

Holcenberg, a willing student and fan of Jackson's, already possessed  "eclectic listening habits," as well as a love for Stevie Wonder and Motown oldies. To more effectively collaborate with Webb, Nottage, and director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, he listened to contemporary pop and R&B.

Holcenberg also immersed himself in the deeper cuts he wasn't aware of, as well as the "why" behind each part of Jackson's story they were allowed to delve into (the participation of Jackson's estate was conditional upon leaving certain aspects of the performer's life untouched). Once he had the intentions clear, he was able to embark on the daunting process of finalizing the track list. 

"The one rule for music in musical theater is that the songs always have to serve the story. It doesn't matter the style," Holcenberg says. "Even in a pop show like 'MJ,' we wanted to be sure the songs were moving the story and the themes Lynn wrote about." 

"MJ" features high-energy showstoppers like "Thriller," "Billie Jean" and Jackson 5 medleys. On numbers like "Strangers in Moscow," Holcenberg honored the care Jackson put into his harmonies, bass lines, and syncopations. He also highlighted how some of those elements were present in early tracks like "I'll Be There," although Jackson had less agency as an artist at the time. 

Holcenberg is most proud of the way that the Broadway versions of those two songs use lyrics and structures that keep "the emotions front and center" and allow the character of Jackson to look inward.  

"We put endings on some songs that in the show don't have endings. We also expanded some songs that are just touched on in the show," Holcenberg says of the accompanying MJ the Musical cast recording. "My favorite of those on the album is 'She's Out of My Life,' which is a smaller moment in the show. We expanded it to a duet between our MJ Myles and our teenage MJ Tavon."  

"MJ the Musical" also addresses Jackson's difficult childhood, but only suggests scrutiny of this beloved but often debated artist. The demons he battles in the show — his father and the media — are equated with literal monsters in some scenes.

Alluding to the dualities in Jackson's work, Holcenberg finds himself returning to "Man in the Mirror."  

"When it came out, I was very young, and I listened to the song as someone who had his life ahead of him," Holcenberg says of the 1987 track. "Now some 40 years later, it has so much more resonance for me, and I can really imagine even more what Michael must have felt when he sang it."  

Whether you believe the allegations against Jackson, his greatness is undeniable. "MJ," both the cast recording and the musical, are a new arena for Jackson's work that will resonate with established fans and new audiences. They're a reminder that Jackson communicated best beyond the structures of language, stretching across genres to create endless allure. 

True to form, Jackson's music had all the answers Holcenberg and Webb needed. The duo not only delivered on the dynamism needed to honor his work but highlighted what makes it so effervescent: the danceable beats, the appeal to emotions, the musical puzzles, but most importantly, the unbridled joy it ignites. "MJ" upped the ante. 

"A Strange Loop" Musical Director Rona Siddiqui On Breaking Boundaries In Broadway

With her 2002 album, the neo soul sensation became a GRAMMY winner after a disappointing defeat in 2001. But the most rewarding part wasn't the accolades — it was the fact that she stayed true to herself on the journey.

India.Arie faced a particularly unique pressure going into her second album, 2002's Voyage to India . Signed by Motown after performing at Lilith Fair in the late '90s, Arie was a new kind of talent within the burgeoning soul revival movement of the time. And just the year prior, Arie's acclaimed debut, Acoustic Soul , had established her as one of the brightest stars to emerge from the neo soul explosion of the early 2000s — so all eyes were on her when it came time to follow it up.

Unlike some of her contemporaries, such as Jill Scott , Macy Gray or Erykah Badu , the Atlanta-raised Arie (who was born India Arie Simpson) wielded her faithful acoustic guitar to craft a sound inspired in equal parts by the soul of Roberta Flack and the folk of Bonnie Raitt , all tied together with the songwriting prowess of her idol, Stevie Wonder . 

The album turned Arie into an overnight success, thanks in large part to its anthemic lead single "Video," which preached radical self-love and the rejection of impossible beauty standards as the singer's defining manifesto. Acoustic Soul also earned her a whopping seven nominations at the 2002 GRAMMY Awards — including nods for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist — though she ended up leaving empty-handed by the end of the night.

There was no denying Arie had been dealt a very public blow to her confidence. "All I felt was, 'Maybe I'm not meant to have all of that…Maybe I wasn't built for that,' you know?" Arie recalled to Oprah Winfrey in 2013. "In hindsight I realize now that I was scared of failing and I was scared of succeeding." 

However, instead of letting the defeat derail her artistic vision or frighten her further from succeeding, Arie turned inward to find inspiration and allowed the experience to fuel what eventually became 2002's Voyage to India . On lead single "Little Things," the singer grappled openly with her newfound stardom while reorienting her priorities. 

"Runnin' round in circles, lost my focus, lost sight of my goals/ I do this for the love of music, not for the glitter and gold/ Got everything that I prayed for, even a little more/ When I asked to learn humility, this is what I was told/ It's the little things/ And the joy they bring, it's the little things," she sang, channeling the GRAMMYs strife and hard-earned wisdom over a lilting acoustic beat and clattering percussion.

Yes, in some ways it was a sentiment similar to the message she had first shared in "Video" when she sang, "I'm not the average girl from your video/ My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes/ No matter what I'm wearing I will always be/ India Arie." But this time, she had real-world experience of being battered by the fickle winds of fame — and emerged on the other side with her proverbial ship intact.

With Voyage , Arie doubled down on themes that had connected fans to her music in the first place, whether she was exhorting men to respect their female counterparts ("Talk To Her"), preaching a gospel of gratitude ("Slow Down"), basking in guidance from a divine hand (Headed In the Right Direction"), or espousing a wide-eyed appreciation for the beauty of creation ("God Is Real"). In between those reflections, interludes titled "Growth," "Healing" and "Gratitude" — as well as soothing love songs like "The Truth," "Beautiful Surprise" and "Can I Walk With You" — further displayed her knack for combining inspirational messages and warmhearted melodies.

The singer/songwriter also proved on her second outing that she had the musical smarts to deftly avoid any kind of sophomore slump. While she'd clearly had creative control on Acoustic Soul , it had been the learning process of an industry newcomer — with every song featuring one of several different co-producers listed next to her name in the credits. 

This time around, Arie pared down the cooks in the musical kitchen by enlisting Nashville-based duo Drew and Shannon to help produce and write the bulk of the album. (She ultimately worked with the then-newcomers on eight of its 15 tracks, including "Little Things" and "Good Man.") 

The partnership served Arie's music well, giving Voyage to India consistency as a more cohesive body of work that was filled with smarter production choices and stronger vocal performances than its predecessor. Arie even threw off the training wheels and produced five tracks on the album solely by herself.

Voyage to India came together quickly, with Motown aiming for a release date just seven months after the 2002 GRAMMYs. And by all means, the strategy was entirely intentional: The label's then-president and chief executive Kedar Massenburg admitted that he pushed Arie to release the album ahead of the Recording Academy's Oct. 1st submission deadline.

"Now she'll get her just due," he told The New York Times at the time. "As far as R&B and soul is concerned, she has no competition."

Clearly the plan worked: Arie added four more nods to her already-impressive string — to date, she has received 23 nominations, along with two more wins — and Voyage to India was awarded Best R&B Album Of The Year. "Little Things" also won a golden gramophone, beating out tracks by Erykah Badu and Common , Floetry , CeeLo Green , and Raphael Saadiq and D'Angelo in the then-inaugural Best Urban/Alternative Performance category.

But as the saying goes, the journey — or shall we say, voyage — is never really about the destination. And while Arie's sophomore album resulted in GRAMMY gold, the singer's titular voyage was ultimately one back to the essence of herself, even if its title happened to be lifted from an instrumental off her personal idol's 1979 soundtrack Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants ."

"When I first got those GRAMMY nominations, I had chest pains…when I really should've been celebrating and enjoying," she reflected in her 2013 sit-down with Oprah. "But one of the things that I've worked my way out of doing…[is] comparing myself to other people. That just poisons everything. 'Cause your real job in the world is to be you."

Black Sounds Beautiful: Tracing Miguel's Journey From Sleeper Success To Mastering His Own Brand Of R&B

Little Big Town's Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook commemorate the band's 20 years together by taking a look back at hits like "Pontoon" and "Girl Crush," as well as songs from their 10th studio album, 'Mr. Sun.'

This year marks 20 years since country foursome Little Big Town released their debut album. And almost more impressively, the band is still composed of original members: Karen Fairchild , Kimberly Schlapman , Phillip Sweet , and Jimi Westbrook .

The quartet has created a legacy in their two decades together, releasing soulful ballads and jovial party starters that have helped the three-time GRAMMY winners become one of the most critically acclaimed country groups of their generation. Along the way, they've forged a familial bond that Westbrook and Sweet insist hasn't wavered. Their secret? "Lots of whiskey," Westbrook jokes. 

The more serious answer, though, is that they have created an environment of love and respect among the band. "The number one thing is us just trying to respect everyone's lives, we love each other and respect each other," Westbrook adds. "And we try to take care of each other the best we can. It's not perfect, but we try really hard." 

Little Big Town's 20-year anniversary was marked by the release of their 10th studio album, Mr. Sun . The album is a representation of both how they've evolved as a group, and the extensive time they've spent developing their sound. "We keep growing and evolving. We know who we are. We get inspired and excited about learning, about creating new things that we haven't done before," Westbrook says. "I feel like we're just scratching the surface of what we can do."

Just after Mr. Sun 's arrival, GRAMMY.com sat down with Westbrook and Sweet over Zoom to look back at some of their biggest hits and get better acquainted with some tunes from their latest set.

Westbrook: We knew that we loved it. It felt fun. And it just had a great attitude and spirit to it. So I think we had high hopes for it, but you never know. I just remember the whole writing process of that back in the day, when we were working with Wayne Kirkpatrick, who was such a godsend in our career and early on. I remember writing it that day, [and] it being a lot of fun. We wrote it pretty quickly and then headed to a barbecue joint to celebrate. We always celebrate with food. [ Laughs ]

[For the video] I just remember that we were out in the woods. A ways out there by that weird spooky ghost story. That was the weirdest weekend. I lost my treasured 1932 Gibson guitar.

Sweet: Also, I remember us walking forever. It was a lot of walking and there was a camera guy that was following us and had to run backwards as he was filming the whole thing. And I think he had had too much to drink the night before. That didn't end well.

Westbrook: We were working with Wayne Kirkpatrick, like Jimi had mentioned earlier, who is just a beautiful human. He was a godsend to our life. We actually were working on another song called "Bones" that is on the same record. Those two songs kind of burst together. "Bones" and "Boondocks'' became something that were the cornerstones for that particular record.

We were talking about how they told us we were a put-together band and we were like, "No, we're, we're not. We're who we are." We had to speak from where we came from, and that's where "Boondocks" came from.

Sweet: There's nothing like playing that song. It's still my favorite thing. No matter where we are. It's definitely fun going home and I mean, I can't help but think of that. Especially when we have friends in the audience, like people I grew up with. You can't help but feel that connection, and it gives you a sense of pride. You feel like they know your story. And it's just so much fun every night. The reaction is so heartfelt from the crowd with that one as well — man, it'll lift you.

Westbrook: We performed with Lindsey Buckingham in 2006, on CMT crossroads. And he had something really unique to say about it. He was like, "it doesn't matter where you're from. This song just resonates with where you came from." And that's what we intended when we were writing it. 

Westbrook: I got an email from a friend saying "hey, listen to this song," and it kind of passed by for a little while. Then we went back later and listened to it again. And it really struck a chord. It's just such a quirky cool song. The groove to it is so good. That's what we loved, that swagger that it had in the groove. People really grabbed a hold of it when it came out.

Sweet: There's so much joy in that song. When we heard it, that's what we felt from it. It was instant. It had a vibe, it had a quirkiness to it that we loved. 

Westbrook: It definitely goes over well in festivals — summertime, everybody hanging out with drinks in their hand. A lot of times we will start the shows off with that, because [with] that lick, immediately everybody knows what it is.

Sweet: That was me and Philip and Karen writing with Troy Verges and Barry Dean . That was just one of those great days hanging out with your friends. Troy brought his mando in that day and started the vibe off with that lick. We began day drinking, because we felt it was only appropriate.

Westbrook: We knew from the beginning that there were interpretations, you know, at country radio, that kind of caused a little stir. And I love it. That's the beauty of music — it's people's stories. And those stories are interpreted differently in all kinds of ways.

I'm just proud of that song. That was such a catapulting moment for our band. That song is so special, and it does resonate deeply with people, and we're grateful for that, for sure.

Sweet: It was just nice to — I mean, in a weird way — to stir it up. It got people thinking, it got people moving, and differently than any other song we'd ever put out before. So, for that reason, I really am grateful as well.

We were lucky — the girls in our band went to write with <a href="https://www.grammy.com/artists/lori-mckenna/19192"> [Lori McKenna , Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose , aka the Love Junkies ] literally the day after they wrote that song. And they were saying in their session, "play something you just wrote" and that's what they played. 

Westbrook: Karen and Kimberly put that one on lockdown instantly. Like, "you can't play that for anybody else."

It was very intentional to make the track feel skeletal and haunting and, like, empty, because that's what your emotion would feel. And that was definitely the goal.

Sweet: We've known Taylor Swift for a long time, since she was just in the beginning in the business. And we would do label showcases together when she was really young, and we recognized the poise she had. So we always stayed connected and have always been friends. She had our emails and such.

She sent me an email and said, "Hey, I have the song. I have the demo. I just thought about your harmonies when I was writing it. And so check it out. No pressure." 

That was 2016. We were touring with Luke Bryan and we were making a record with Pharrell Williams [2016's Wanderlust ]. I played it for the guys on tour and we were all like, "Holy smokes, man, this is a really good song," and I [knew I] needed to record it. I am just thankful she sent it to us.

Westbrook: Sarah Buxton sent us that song, and from the first time we heard it, it has such a vibe to it. Another really classic melody. I love a good melancholy song. And that's what "Mr. Sun" feels like. Because you think with it being "Mr. Sun," it's going to be some bright shiny song, but it's a little blue.

Sweet: Jimi wrote this song. I've been hearing this song in the dressing rooms and backstage for about 10 years. He said it wasn't really quite finished. We actually attempted to record this several years back, but it was one of those that was in the ether. Then Jimi said he finished it. And I said, "Man, that's just beautiful."

We were playing new music for some friends and they were like "play something we haven't heard." We played them "Rich Man," and their reaction was so authentic and visceral.

We were done with the record. And then the fact that we went in there and finished the album with "Rich Man" was just perfect. It was like the perfect little piece to the puzzle that we didn't even know [we needed]. It just made it feel so beautiful. It was perfect for this record.

Westbrook: It's one that it just kept hanging around. I would always come back to it, and then, maybe a year or so ago, finally felt like I wrapped it up like I wanted to. I wasn't even sure that anybody would even hear it. It was kind of my own. It's my own story in my heart for my family. But it's really cool that it found its way on the record.

Sweet: Karen, Kimberly and Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose, they get together and they didn't invite the boys. But they wrote this together and it's just so beautiful. I think it's just one of the most beautiful melodies.

Westbrook: Haunting as well. You feel that loneliness.

Sweet: Kimberly always says this in interviews — when they get together, like the girls and the Love Junkies, it's a safe place. It's a place where you can just speak your heart, your emotions. And they do that. And man, what beautiful things come out of that room.

Kelsea Ballerini's Musical Growth: 12 Songs That Represent Her Journey To 'Subject To Change'

As he claimed his trophy for Best Urban Music Album for his project 'X 100pre,' Bad Bunny championed the reggaeton style and its vaunted place in Latin music.

Rapper and singer Bad Bunny didn't even prepare an acceptance speech before walking in to the Latin GRAMMY Awards in Las Vegas in 2019. Even though he was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Urban Music Album for his studio debut, X 100pre , he was confident he wasn't going to win the golden gramophone.

So when his name was called as the winner in said category, it came as a huge surprise, and the artist delivered a heartfelt, off-the-cuff speech celebrating his supporters and repping the reggaeton style from the GRAMMYs stage.

In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, turn back the clock to 2019 at Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena, where the 20th Latin GRAMMY Awards were held, to revisit Bad Bunny's victory. The singer born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio took time to hug every member of his crew before walking up to the stage, drink still in hand — and admitted he was feeling pretty flustered as he stepped up to the microphone.

"I've never been more nervous in my life," the singer told the crowd, before launching into a litany of thank-yous.

"Grateful to God, before anything. My family, who's always there for me. They're the ones responsible for the young man I am today," Bunny began. "And despite how high people will take me, because people are the ones who lift me up, I remain with my feet on the ground."

He also thanked his team, who rose to their feet in the audience to watch his acceptance speech, as well as his producer and all the musicians who played on his album.

But as he reached the conclusion of his speech, Bunny had one more important thing to add: He stressed that reggaeton, the style endemic to his native Puerto Rico that has become such a large part of his global career, is an intrinsic and essential piece of the Latin music genre.

"Reggaeton is part of Latin culture. And it's representing, just like lots of other music genres," Bunny said, to roaring applause from the crowd. "I tell my colleagues from reggaeton, 'Let's make an effort, let's bring back creativity and sincerity. The genre has become about views, numbers. Let's turn things around and do genuine things and different things for the people."

With that, Bunny shared his love and left the stage. While his 2019 win for Best Urban Music Album was his first Latin GRAMMY, it certainly would not be his last.

In the years since, he's picked up three more trophies at the ceremony, including another award in the Best Urban Music Album category for his El Último Tour Del Mundo . At the upcoming 2022 Latin GRAMMY Awards, he is nominated in a whopping seven categories, including for Album of the Year.

Press play on the video above to revisit Bad Bunny's first-ever Latin GRAMMY win, and keep checking back to GRAMMY.com for more episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.

GRAMMY Rewind: H.E.R. Brings Her Whole Team Onstage While Accepting The GRAMMY Award For Best R&B Album In 2019

With the release of her new album 'SUBJECT TO CHANGE,' Kelsea Ballerini celebrates life's unexpected journeys. The country star picks 12 songs that tell her story, from her first hit "Love Me Like You Mean It" to the heartfelt "WHAT I HAVE."

"I gotta be honest, my life looks a lot different than I thought it looked even a couple years ago," Kelsea Ballerini says with a sense of disbelief.

While many people can relate to that sentiment amid the effects of the pandemic, the country singer has experienced lots of changes herself in the past couple of years — including a divorce, which she announced in August.

That's one of the many life happenings Ballerini documents on her fourth studio album, the aptly titled SUBJECT TO CHANGE . But as she declares in the thought-provoking title track, "I don't think about the chapters/ It's all about turning the page."

The 15-track LP covers the usual country suspects — love ("LOVE IS A COWBOY"), heartbreak ("I GUESS THEY CALL IT FALLIN'"), booze-filled nights ("YOU'RE DRUNK, GO HOME") — but with a level of maturity and growth that even Ballerini admits feels different. As she's detailed in her teasers for SUBJECT TO CHANGE , the album is as literal as the title itself, and it all goes back to one thing: growth.

"I keep calling it my first grown-up record," Ballerini, who turned 29 on Sept. 12, says with a laugh. "Every record I've made, I've just been in such a different headspace, because they kind of mark two years of my 20s. And every two years in your 20s, I feel like you're just a whole different person."

To commemorate the release of SUBJECT TO CHANGE , Ballerini picked three songs from each of her four albums that she felt best displayed her personal and professional journey. Below, Ballerini details why she picked each song, what they mean to her, and how they all led to her most personal album to date.

I started writing songs when I was 12. When my parents got divorced, it was in that moment, and through that process, that I realized that music was my tool to heal. It's the way I process life and the way I get my emotions out.

"Secondhand Smoke" is the only song I've ever written about my parents divorce. And it, to me, was such a marker of honoring the pain that brought the gift. It was really important for me to put that on my first record to time-mark that — to just say, "This is the thing that is even the reason I'm making this record."

I had signed my publishing deal. I was doing two or three writing sessions a day, trying to figure out my thing and what was gonna make me an artist — like, what was gonna make people listen.

To this day —and I have an awful memory — I remember sitting in the lobby of Black River [Entertainment, her label] with ["Love Me" co-writers] Forest [Whitehead], Lance [Carpenter] and Josh [Kerr], we had just ordered pizza, and we were talking about the music we loved. And Forest brought up "Take A Bow" by Rihanna . He was like, "I just want to hear you do something with this kind of attitude." And the song just like, happened. I remember it feeling like something I hadn't written yet, and something that I hadn't really heard anyone else do yet.

Obviously it was the first single, but it holds a lot of weight for me personally because it was my first experience as an artist in general. That song represents the first of this whole journey.

That song represents my songwriting, which is, and I've said it a million times, my favorite and the most pure part of what I do. I unintentionally wrote one song by myself.

When I decided to put that on the album, I made a promise to myself that no matter how many albums I get the pleasure of making in my career, I'm always gonna do one solo write [on] each record. I never want to lose the trust that I have for myself and my songwriting. That song represents that to me.

I had the hook, "I thought I'd miss you, but I missed me more" in my phone for a long time. And I didn't want to write it in Nashville, just because of who it was about. I also didn't let myself write outside of Nashville for a long time, because I was really protective of not sonically pushing the boundary to pop, ever.

Then finally, I went to LA., and I had one session with David Hodges and another artist/writer named Leland. I finally just felt safe enough, I guess, to unload, so I did. [ Laughs ] 

It's also the first time that I let myself get a little bit savage. I was so nervous about being the girl that's happy-go-lucky [after releasing] "Yeah Boy" and "Dibs and "Love Me Like You Mean It," and then finally getting a little harsher. But it honored the feelings that I had at that time. 

It represents me starting to take ownership of all of my feelings — not just the flirty, youthful ones, but the more confident ones. That song just took me on a ride. Best kind of revenge.

"Unapologetically" represents this really naive, but dead-set will to just follow my gut and follow my heart.

My current single out at country radio ["HEARTFIRST"] is the same sentiment. I keep going back to it in different forms and in different songs, because I really believe in my heart that nothing good in life happens unless you just trust yourself. You never know where it's gonna lead, and that's part of the risk, but it usually leads somewhere really beautiful — at least for a while. 

"Legends," at the time — and maybe still — is the only song that I wrote about one thing, and by time I recorded it and it came out, meant a totally different thing.

I wrote it to process this period of my life that I spent with the person that I was trying to reflect on fondly. By the time it came out, I named the fan club Legends, and then all of the people that have been on the journey since "Love Me Like You Mean It" started calling themselves Legends.

We used to scream, "We didn't do it for the fame of the glory/ We just did it for you and me" — like, we just unspokenly started screaming it together at shows. It became this real connection between me and the people that relate to my music.

I love it so much more now, because it represents the connection that I get to have with people, which is why I do [this]. It has been a metamorphosis of a song for me.

"the way i used to" is by far the most pop song I've ever put on a record. I was in the car with my friend Steph Jones — who's an incredible songwriter — and we were playing each other demos. She was like, "I just wrote this sick hook at a camp, but I don't have the song, it's just the hook." She played it for me, and I was like, "I don't know anything other than this feels like the most clever hook I've ever heard, and for some reason it feels like I need it."

It's the first song ever [that] I didn't write nuts to bolts. It's the first song where I took the hook and I wrote the rest. I just really believed in it.

"a country song" — that somehow lives on the same record [as "The Way I Used To"] — is truly digging my heels into country music and saying, "This is the place that I feel watered." I love the juxtaposition of both of those living on the same body of music.

"la" is literally me talking through not knowing how to be a semi-public figure. I mess it up often, but I'm doing my best. It talks about trying to honor country music and everything that I do, while also honoring my will to push boundaries and expand myself and my art. It also honors growing pains.

Having all three of those on the same record, nothing could have been more true to the musical place I was in. I was finally confident enough to play. I just played on that album. It was so collaborative, so full of friendship. And it's like a quilt — it's not a very cohesive record, and that's just where I was at. 

I had the [album] title before I had the song. I went in and I was like, "Okay, there's two ways we can write this. We can either be super broad, like, 'Everyone's experienced change in the last few years. This is a universal feeling.'" Or we can be so specific where it's like, almost jarring. And that's the route that I went.

I dyed my hair brown for like two seconds, and in the two seconds is when I wrote "SUBJECT TO CHANGE." So it literally says in the chorus, "I haven't decided if I'm gonna stay brunette," and I didn't. That is the irony of the whole entire record in one silly little line.

The whole record starts with "Seasons do it and it happens when the night goes day/ Going through it, I knew it, the right and the hard thing are sometimes the same." And then the second verse is, "If I'm honest, growing up, it kind of hurts like hell/ It's chaotic, ironic, but it's how I learned to find myself." 

I think it sets the tone of truly where I'm at right now in my life, but also just finding a lot of peace in the fact that the point of life is change. The point of life is growth. The point of life is moments where you just go "What is going on?," and then you find out what's going on, and you're better because of it. That song is the perfect tone-setter for the record, but it's also just a true snapshot of me as a 29-year-old right now.

There's a lot I could say about this song, so I'll word vomit because I think this song deserves it.

We had cut the first 10 songs for the album, and I was listening to it when I was on vacation in Mexico a while ago. I was realizing that some of the pillar songs, like the ones I was really excited about, I was almost playing a character in them, like "MUSCLE MEMORY" and "YOU'RE DRUNK GO HOME." 

I was like, "These are so rad and I'm so excited to play them live, but it's not necessarily where I'm at in my life right now." And I really want to honor the part of me that I unlocked when I wrote my book [of poems, Feel Your Way Through , published in 2021]. I unlocked this part of me that was really fearless with honesty, and I wanted to make sure that I had at least one song where it was like, brutally honest — and honestly, just an extension of the book.

I asked my friend Alysa Vanderheym — who I wrote eight of the songs with on this album — to send me a track. She sent me a track, and I went down to the ocean. I put on my earbuds, and I opened my Voice Notes app, and I just stream-of-consciousness sang the song. That's why the rhymes aren't perfect and some of the words are weird. 

It's really taking ownership of my life and things that might have looked a little embarrassing or a little cringy, and just fully taking ownership of those things. 

The other thing that I'll say about this song is, every year I pick a word, like on New Year's, and it's my word for the year. This year, I remember I spent hours on New Year's Eve writing all the things that I wanted to get better at, and all the things that I wanted to grow in. I read it the next day, and all I got from it was, "You're not good enough now, and that's actual bulls—."

So I [tore] it up, and I just wrote, "I'm doing my best." And I put it in an Instagram caption too. I said, "That's my vibe for the year. I'm just going to show up as I am as someone who's actively trying to grow, but knowing that as I am now is enough." 

You hear that thematically on SUBJECT TO CHANGE — in "LITTLE THINGS," in "WHAT I HAVE," there's a lot of peace in it. Peace amongst chaos. It's been the theme of my year, it's been my biggest intention this year, and it's the song that really just takes ownership.

I love starting the record with "SUBJECT TO CHANGE," which says, "Life is chaos. Life is ups and downs. We find ourselves somewhere in the middle of all those ups and downs. I acknowledge that everything I have now I might not have tomorrow. Life is subject to change."

Then the record takes you through the journey. And at the end it says, "And although it might not be what I have tomorrow, right now what I have is meant for me. And it's not in the big things, it's in the little things. And I'm taking inventory of my life as it is now, before it changes." 

Why Noah Cyrus Is Unabashedly Proud Of Her Debut Album 'The Hardest Part': "I Had A Lot Of Growing Up To Do"

PHOTO: BRIAN ACH/GETTY IMAGES FOR BOB WOODRUFF FOUNDATION

The reach of Bruce Springsteen's cosmovision is universal. Ahead of the launch of Bruce Springsteen Live! at the GRAMMY Museum, revisit 15 hits and beloved classics by The Boss.

More often than not, the songs of Bruce Springsteen detail with stark, poetic realism the struggles, disappointments and triumphs of the anonymous heroes that make up the very fabric of American society. But the reach of his cosmovision is universal.

On the strength of his epic melodies and superb musicianship, Springsteen became a global rock'n'roll icon — an iconic status he has maintained through a consistent body of work. These 15 tracks highlight the creative brilliance and emotional honesty of an artist who was born to be called The Boss.  

The music and career of the 20-time GRAMMY winner will be the subject of a new exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum in downtown Los Angeles. Bruce Springsteen Live! launches on Sat. Oct. 15 and runs through April 2, 2023.

After releasing two critically acclaimed but commercially underwhelming albums, Springsteen was given a healthy budget by Columbia Records as a last chance for mainstream success. He reacted by investing his notorious perfectionism into a wall-of-sound approach on Born To Ru n, his first international hit. The title track is the one song that Springsteen has performed the most times onstage — a classic rock narrative about speed, freedom and broken heroes.

Informed by the energy of the punk revolution that swirled around him, "Badlands" was the ferocious opening track of Darkness On The Edge Of Town — released three years after Born To Run due to a legal dispute with his former manager. Springsteen favored a more immediate approach during the prolific sessions for this album. Striving for an aggressive sound, he recorded live in the studio with the E Street Band in order to avoid excessive overdubbing.

The River was going to be a single album until Springsteen changed his mind and continued recording a sprawling double LP that switches from party pop-rock to somber storytelling. The Boss wrote "Hungry Heart" with the Ramones in mind, but decided to keep the infectious radio hit for himself. Touches of piano and Clarence Clemons ’ baritone sax anchor Springsteen's voice, which was slightly sped-up in the studio to create a Beach Boys -like effect.

Springsteen composed one of his most memorable songs in a New York hotel room, right after singing Hank Williams ’ "My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It." Written in honor of his sister Ginny and his brother-in-law — who was unemployed due to the recession of the late ‘70s — it features one of Springsteen’s most vulnerable performances, accompanied by a plaintive harmonica solo. When he recorded it at The Power Station, mixing engineer Toby Scott started sobbing at the console.

After completing an extensive international tour in 1981, Springsteen rented a ranch by the shore of a lake in his native New Jersey. Inspired by its solitude and the writings of Flannery O’Connor, he began working on songs about gamblers, criminals and other desperate characters in a portable 4-track recorder. Sparse and introspective, the new songs were released in their original shape, without the E Street Band. Inspired by serial killer Charles Starkweather, the opening title track sets the mood with the singer’s gravelly voice, acoustic guitar and harmonica.

With its bold cover, crisp '80s sound and brave examination of the American dream, Born in the U.S.A. marked Springsteen’s commercial peak as a rollicking arena-rock star. The timing was perfect, as the musically dismal decade was in dire need of a song prophet with lyrical depth. Ironically, the meaning of the title track was misunderstood by many as a paean to America’s glory. Maybe because the lyrics of reckoning and disenchantment were coupled with a call-to-arms drum beat and his rousing vocal performance.

Written overnight after producer Jon Landau asked him for a surefire hit, "Dancing in the Dark" touches on Springsteen’s feelings of alienation and fatigue, as well as a desire to escape. A delicate melodic gem disguised as pop-rock concert favorite, it breathes to the sound of a synth line — hopeful, ever nostalgic — played by Roy Bittan on a DX7 Yamaha. Clemons’ solo at the end enhances the bittersweet mystique.

Springsteen weathered the excesses of the ‘80s admirably well. The Tunnel of Love sessions found him in a contemplative mood, performing most instruments himself with the assistance of the occasional E Street Band member. He considers "Brilliant Disguise" to be the existential centerpiece of the album, a meditation on masks and identity seeped in romantic defeat.

Mournful and serene, yet backed by a bouncy drum machine loop, "Streets of Philadelphia" was written at director Jonathan Demme’s request for inclusion in Philadelphia , one of the first mainstream films to deal openly with the AIDS crisis. The singer recorded a fuller version with jazz icon Ornette Coleman on sax, but then reverted to his original, low-key demo. A masterful decision, as this solo version is one of his most vulnerable recordings.

A soaring gospel-rock anthem, "The Rising" was written when Springsteen was almost done recording the album of the same name as a reaction to the September 11 tragedy. He felt the need to write an extra tune giving voice to one of the many heroes who died trying to rescue the victims of the attack. Filled with religious imagery, the song found him reunited with the E Street Band after 18 years.

In 2006, Springsteen released a folk album exploring the songbook of activist and singer Pete Seeger . The following year, Magic marked an explosive return to both rock’n’roll and the E Street Band. Produced by veteran alternative-rock helmer Brendan O’Brien , opening cut "Radio Nowhere" leaps out of the speakers with its distorted guitars — a sharp contrast to the lyrics, depicting a post-apocalyptic world where all communications are down.

While putting the finishing touches on Magic in Atlanta, Springsteen started writing songs for a more hopeful album. Reminiscent of Roy Orbison , title track "Working on a Dream" talks about the concerted effort that we must invest in our daily lives in order to create a better tomorrow. He performed it live in 2008 at a rally held by Barack Obama , two days before the presidential election.

Wrecking Ball , Springsteen’s 17th studio outing, was not only a critical darling — Rolling Stone named it album of the year and the record was nominated for three GRAMMY Awards — but it also climbed to the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. A song about the death of illusions, "We Take Care Of Our Own" frames his soulful vocals on a wide canvas that includes glockenspiel, subtle piano, a string arrangement and female choruses.

It is a testament to Springsteen’s stature as one of the most talented songwriters of his generation that he continues releasing gorgeous new songs. This timeless 2019 gem is one of them. Included in the bucolic Western Stars album, it recreates the effortless sophistication of ‘60s American pop, as Bruce’s voice floats in the ethereal arrangement of strings and a melancholy pedal steel guitar.

Having turned 70 in 2019, it was only natural that The Boss would gravitate to themes of aging and loss on Letter To You , his 20th album. Focusing on a more natural, organic sound, its 12 tracks were recorded live in the studio, with everyone playing together at the same time. An uplifting rock tune that sounds like an outtake from his early days, "Ghosts" talks about the joys of being in a band — and the pain of losing old friends to the inevitable ravages of time.

The Genesis Essentials: 15 Songs That Highlight The Band's Influential Genre-Bending Style

@ 2022 - Recording Academy. All rights reserved.

Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates.