By Aliza Rabinoff, Senior Vice President
The Grammy Awards — and the week leading up to the annual celebration — have been a ritual for over 15 years for me, and one that I eagerly anticipate each year. Despite insanely long working hours, the high volume of competition securing press for clients, and endless last-minute logistics, it is a pilgrimage that music publicists relish as we go through it together. After all, who can complain about a week of running around in the usually balmy Los Angeles weather, attending an array of pre- and after-parties, and reuniting with fellow PR and journalist pals, even if briefly to just congratulate each other on surviving another Grammy week!
Since coming to DKC, I have had the privilege of working for the past eight years on one of the most prestigious and iconic Grammy events, the legendary Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala. It is everything a Grammy party in Beverly Hills should be — glamorous, chock full of bold-face names in music, film, TV, sports and more, and most importantly a celebratory and always memorable night showcasing some of the best artists in music.
Additionally, in 2017 DKC was hired by Spotify, and with that came working what has rapidly become one of the other hottest tickets in town, the Spotify Best New Artist party, which always spotlights the Best New Artist nominees from that year.
Alongside my Grammy week (and Spotify) co-captain Eva Ross, the week started out with a barrage of press interviews to secure, red carpet details to coordinate, teams to prep and outfits to sort out.
As the week progressed, there was a continuous flow of breaking news of all sorts that affected the atmosphere in LA. Fortunately, both Spotify and Clive Davis focused on hosting incredible events for artists, industry and press that delivered great musical performances.
Spotify’s party was held on Thursday January 23 at The Lot Studios, a massive soundstage in West Hollywood, which served as the perfect backdrop to showcase all eight of 2020’s extremely talented Best New Artist nominees. Performers included Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Rosalía, Maggie, Black Pumas, Tola, Tank and the Bangas, and Lil Nas X, whose infectious hit “Old Town Road” with Billy Ray Cyrus had the whole room dancing.
With New York and Los Angeles members of DKC’s Spotify team on hand, the red carpet opened and was quickly packed with celebrities, invited guests and media who turned out and stayed all night as the artists performed unforgettable sets. The fabulous young Spanish music star Rosalía was one of my personal favorites — she mesmerized the room with a truly stunning and unique performance. Here is a quick snippet of her performance.
The DKC team was back and ready for Grammy week event #2 with the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday night January 25. Each year, Davis invites a list of legendary artists and newer stars to perform and always keeps the lineup a surprise until the show starts.
Before the evening begins, the performers gather for the annual exclusive class photo for The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, and rest assured wrangling and managing this photo is always quite the challenge but it is equally rewarding when we see the final result. Within the span of 20 minutes, our team had assembled a powerhouse room, from icons such as Janet Jackson, Santana, Cyndi Lauper and Wyclef Jean to younger stars, including Brandi Carlile, Cynthia Erivo, Beck and Miguel to join Clive for another spectacular photo.
Once finished, everyone cheered and began trickling out when one of music’s most beloved legends, Joni Mitchell, who arrived late and was eager to see her good friend Clive, was escorted in — THAT was a high point of the night for Clive personally, who was elated by her presence, and as you can see in the photo below, it certainly was the icing on the cake!
Once the Pre-Grammy Gala kicked off, Clive served as the evening’s emcee, acknowledging some of the big names in the room, from Nancy Pelosi to Beyonce and Jay -Z, and the highly anticipated secret performances began. The night was a three-hour music extravaganza with the entire room singing and dancing, and this year’s lineup kept the A-list crowd on their feet. Lineup highlights included Santana jamming with Wyclef Jean and Miguel to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his smash hit album SUPERNATURAL, Brandi Carlile and Cyndi Lauper teaming up on Lauper’s classic “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” while standing barefoot on Usher’s table, a great tribute for this year’s Icon honoree Diddy, and a closing set by Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo paying homage to the one and only Janet Jackson- NEED WE SAY MORE!!!
Team DKC rocked another jam-packed Grammy Week.
Check out video from the CLIVE PARTY — mic drop!!
