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Springsteen Rocks with Jon Bon Jovi at Pre-Grammys Tribute

Honoree Jon Bon Jovi waves onstage during the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala in Los Angeles, California, US, February 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Honoree Jon Bon Jovi waves onstage during the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala in Los Angeles, California, US, February 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
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Springsteen Rocks with Jon Bon Jovi at Pre-Grammys Tribute

Honoree Jon Bon Jovi waves onstage during the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala in Los Angeles, California, US, February 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Honoree Jon Bon Jovi waves onstage during the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala in Los Angeles, California, US, February 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Bruce Springsteen and other music stars paid tribute to rocker Jon Bon Jovi on Friday at an annual pre-Grammys fundraiser, putting their spin on hits such as "Blaze of Glory" from the singer's extensive rock catalog.
Bon Jovi founded a band of the same name in 1983 in New Jersey and helped define the guitar-heavy rock of the 1980s. The 61-year-old was chosen as this year's Person of the Year by MusiCares, a charitable arm of the Recording Academy that raises funds to help musicians with health care and other needs.
Springsteen, also from New Jersey, joined Bon Jovi on stage in downtown Los Angeles for a duet of "Who Says You Can't Go Home?" Both played guitar and sang. In the audience, former Beatle Paul McCartney stood and clapped his hands above his head.
Springteen's mother, Adele Springsteen, died on Wednesday at age 98. Bon Jovi said he would have understood if Springsteen, who he called a friend and mentor, had canceled his appearance.
"But he wanted to be here tonight for MusiCares, and he wanted to be here tonight for me, and I'm forever grateful," Bon Jovi said, according to reuters.
Bon Jovi also talked about the importance of music in his life. "Every time I strum my guitar, I'm reminded that I have a best friend for life. That instrument will never let you down," he said.
During a three-hour tribute, fellow '80s rocker Sammy Hagar belted "You Give Love a Bad Name," folk-rock musician Melissa Etheridge sang "Blaze of Glory" and singer-songwriter Jason Isbell performed "Wanted Dead or Alive."
Other performers included country singer Jelly Roll and husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty, two acts competing for best new artist at Sunday's Grammys.
Bon Jovi applauded the performances and laughed at jabs from host Jim Gaffigan about the singer's big hair and over-the-top clothing of the 1980s. Gaffigan joked that Bon Jovi and his band looked like "a gang of aerobics instructors" at the time.
The night ended with the all-star lineup gathering on stage with Bon Jovi for rock anthem "Livin' On a Prayer."
Past MusiCares honorees have included Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Tony Bennett, Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac.

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André 3000's Alt-Jazz, ‘No Bars’ Solo Album Stunned Fans. Now, It’s up for Grammys

André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)
André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)
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André 3000's Alt-Jazz, ‘No Bars’ Solo Album Stunned Fans. Now, It’s up for Grammys

André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)
André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)

No one was expecting it. Late last year, André 3000 released his debut solo album, "New Blue Sun," 18 years after his legendary rap group Outkast's last studio album, "Idlewild."

But "New Blue Sun" has "no bars," he jokes. It's a divergence from rap because "there was nothing I was liking enough to rap about, or I didn't feel it sounded fresh. I'm not about to serve you un-fresh (expletive.)"

Instead, he offered up a six-track instrumental album of ambient alt-jazz — with special attention paid to the flute.

"The sound, that's how I got into it," he says of the instrument. "The portability, too. You can't tote around a piano and play in Starbucks."

He's also invested in the flute's history — like learning about Mayan flutes made from clay, a design he had re-created in cedarwood. "There’s all kinds of fables and, you know, indigenous stories that go along with playing the flute — playing like the birds or playing your heart like the wind — it kind of met (me) where I was in life," he says.

"Flutes — wind instruments in general — are the closest thing you get to actually hearing a human," he continues. "You're actually hearing the breath of a person."

"New Blue Sun" is a stunning collection, one that has earned André 3000 three new Grammy Award nominations: album of the year, alternative jazz, and instrumental composition. Those arrive exactly 25 years after the 1999 Grammys, where Outkast received their first nomination — for "Rosa Parks," from their third album, "Aquemini" — and 20 years after the group won album of the year for "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below."

"It matters because we all want to be acknowledged or recognized," André 3000 says of his new Grammy nominations. "It's a type of proof of connection, in some type of way ... especially with the Grammys, because it's voted on by a committee of musicians and people in the industry."

He's a bit surprised by the attention, too, given the type of album he created. "We have no singles on the radio, not even singles that are hot in the street," he says. "When you're sitting next to Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, these are highly, hugely popular music artists, I'm satisfied just because of that ... we won just to be a part of the whole conversation."

He theorizes that it may be because popular music listening habits are broadening. "A lot of artists are just trying different things. Even, you know, the album that Beyoncé is nominated for, it’s not her normal thing," he says of her country-and-then-some record, "Cowboy Carter.We’re in this place where things are kind of shifting and moving."

For André 3000, "New Blue Sun" has allowed him to "feel like a whole new artist," but it is also an extension of who he's always been. "Being on the road with Outkast and picking up a bass clarinet at a pawn shop in New York and just sitting on the back of the bus playing with it — these things have been around," he says.

He's also always embraced "newness," as he puts it, experimenting creatively "even if it sounds non-masterful."

"Even producing for Outkast, I was just learning these instruments. If I ... put my hands down and play ‘Ms. Jackson,’ I'm not knowing what I'm playing. But I like it," he says.

As for a new Outkast album, "I never say never," he says. "But I can say that the older I get, I feel like that time has happened."