Grammys 2021: Brandi Carlile Pays Tribute To John Prine
One of the great losses in music since last year’s Grammys was the death of legendary singer-songwriter John Prine from COVID-19. The Recording Academy honored Prine today with wins in the Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance categories for “I Remember Everything,” his final song. And they continued to honor him on tonight’s telecast with a tribute performance by Brandi Carlile, a winner today as well. (Her supergroup the Highwomen won Best Country Song for “Crowded Table.”)
Carlile was a friend of Prine’s in life, as well as a collaborator. They performed together alongside Sturgill Simpson on Colbert in 2018, and she sang on his final album, The Tree Of Forgiveness. And tonight, in the midst of the In Memoriam montage, she sang the aforementioned “I Remember Everything.” The sequence featured several other performances. The new Bruno Mars x Anderson .Paak team-up Silk Sonic paid tribute to Little Richard, and Lionel Richie doing the same for Kenny Rogers. Later, Brittany Howard and Chris Martin played “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as the faces of fallen music industry favorites continued to flash by.
Watch Carlile’s performance below, and read our own tribute to Prine here.