Grammys 2024 | Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick rule at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy gala
The Hindu
Clive Davis held his annual star-studded pre-Grammys gala Saturday at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California
The night began with a rare sight: tennis champion Serena Williams was flustered. “I’m a little nervous... I can’t breathe,” she said through an exasperated smile. “I’m usually really good at this.”
The overwhelming task was not opening the famed Clive Davis pre-Grammys gala at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California — though that no doubt comes with some social pressure. It was introducing its opening act, one of her favorite groups of all time: Green Day.
An enthusiasm for music fueled the night, as to be expected. But it was a concluding performance by Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, and Stevie Wonder that really stole the show — for those still in the room after 1 a.m. “Music is love,” Wonder told the crowd before launching into a singalong of Warwick’s “What the World Needs Now.”
Knight first emerged to sing “The Way We Were / Try to Remember,” before being joined by Warwick for “That’s What Friends Are For,” which Wonder closed with a harmonica solo.
About an hour earlier, Jon Platt, Sony Music Publishing chairman and CEO, was honored with the 2024 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons Award at the star-studded event and used his speech to remind those in attendance that “it always takes a village,” to move the needle in the music industry. “No one does it alone.”
Across his career, Platt has been celebrated for improving the ways in which hip-hop and R&B artists are compensated as songwriters — working with Usher, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Drake, Rihanna and Pharrell Williams to name a few. “Jon cares about songwriters of all generations,” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. said in his introduction to Platt. “He’s worked tirelessly.”
Davis’ gala, the incredibly popular and equally exclusive event, returned for the first time since the 2020 pandemic last year — and in 2024, attendees were just as excited as ever.
In the first-look poster of Huma Qureshi from ‘Toxic’, her character is seen looming in a graveyard, blending glamour with an edge of danger. The film stars Yash and is directed by Geetu Mohandas
Actor Gibin Gopinath reflects on his successful 2025 and craving meaningful roles in Malayalam cinema
Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan discusses his journey, the importance of empathy, and his Oscar-shortlisted film "Homebound."
In a few days, there would be a burst of greetings. They would resonate with different wavelengths of emotion and effort. Simple and insincere. Simple but sincere. Complex yet insincere. Complex and sincere. That last category would encompass physical greeting cards that come at some price to the sender, the cost more hidden than revealed. These are customised and handcrafted cards; if the reader fancies sending them when 2026 dawns, they might want to pick the brains of these two residents of Chennai, one a corporate professional and the other yet to outgrow the school uniform
Jaideep Ahlawat has replaced Akshaye Khanna in Drishyam 3 after the actor refused to be "part of the film via a text message"
Medai The Stage brings Margazhi to Coimbatore
‘Pharma’ series review: Despite strong performances and solid premise, the narrative misses the mark
Pharma offers strong performances but falters in storytelling, making it a passable watch despite its intriguing premise.
Discover the creativity of individuals on the autism spectrum with Autism Club Ernakulam’s inspiring 2026 desktop calendar.
Screened at the IFFK 2025 recently under the Indian Cinema Now section, ‘Alaav’ is a still cinéma-vérité portrait of an ageing Indian artist caring for his real-life mother
The Kochi Biennale is evolving, better, I love it. There have been problems in the past but they it seems to have been ironed out. For me, the atmosphere, the fact of getting younger artists doing work, showing them, getting the involvement of the local people… it is the biggest asset, the People’s Biennale part of it. This Biennale has a great atmosphere and It is a feeling of having succeeded, everybody is feeling a sense of achievement… so that’s it is quite good!
How two stories named for a nightmare peel back polite veneers to expose a rot of moralities and the base human instinct to reach for tenderness anyway — here’s why ‘Monster’ (anime) and ‘Monster’ (film) belong on your watchlist
Indian cinema in 2025 reflected societal complexities, broke genre conventions, and sparked controversies as audiences engage in a two-way dialogue
Pluribus series review: Rhea Seehorn shines as a fantasy writer who might be the only person to save the world from unbridled niceness and is just one of many delights in this post-apocalyptic binge-fest