Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich extends role to 2020

Image: Ken Ehrlich

Ken Ehrlich, who has been executive-producing and co-writing for the Grammy Awards for almost 40 years, has told the Recording Academy he will remain in the role through to 2020.

Grammys President and CEO Neil Portnow said, “Ken is not just a producer, but a true creative visionary who summons the power of live music and television in a way that allows him to transport audiences, both in the house and in their living rooms.

“He has played a critical role in shaping the Grammy Awards over the past 37 years, and we’re proud to announce our continued partnership, and excited to see what he’ll do next.”

At his first Grammys in 1980, Ehrlich famously teamed Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond to perform a duet of You Don’t Bring Me Flowers. The pairing created such a response that similar unexpected one-off collaborations became a unique part of the Grammys draw.

This has included Eminem and Elton John on Stan in 2001, Beyonce and Prince’s medley in 2004, as well as Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Joe Walsh.

This year’s 59th awards at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, will see The Weeknd and Daft Punk perform together, presumably his hit single Starboy. Daft Punk’s last live performance was at the Grammys, when they won Album of the Year in 2014.

Best New Artist nominee Maren Morris is slated to perform alongside Alicia Keys. However, an announcement that Dave Grohl would join A Tribe Called Quest has since been withdrawn by the Recording Academy as “premature”.

This week as Grammy excitement grew, rumours were that Beyonce would appear. Other confirmed performers include Adele, Metallica, Bruno Mars, John Legend, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. Katy Perry was added overnight.

A1-listers Drake, Justin Bieber and Frank Ocean earlier declared they’d be a no-show as they felt that the Grammys were irrelevant when it came to recognising young black talent. Kanye West also declared a boycott, explaining he’d only won in previous years if he was not up against a white performer.

More recent additions to the performers’ list have been Chance The Rapper, Sturgill Simpson, William Bell, Little Big Town and Gary Clark Jr.

The 2017 Grammys, on Sunday February 12, sees James Corden hosting for the first time.

Last year, the Grammys was watched by 25.3 million viewers in the United States, televised on the CBS network. It was a slight dip from 25.3 million in 2015, while the 18—49 demographic held the highest viewership.

In Australia, where it was screened on Fox8, the live broadcast drew an overnight metro 37,895 (a 44% drop from 2015) while the evening repeat drew 58,162 (a 19% rise) and was the second most watched show of the night on subscription TV.

In addition to the Grammy Awards telecast, Ken Ehrlich has also produced a number of Emmy-winning tribute specials presented by the Recording Academy, AEG Ehrlich Ventures and CBS.

These were Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life – An All-Star Grammy Salute, The Beatles: The Night That Changed America – a Grammy Salute and Sinatra 100 – An All-Star Grammy Concert.

For 2017, Ehrlich is putting together Stayin’ Alive: A Grammy Salute To The Music Of the Bee Gees. It takes place on February 14, two days after the Grammys, and is set to be screened on CBS later in the year.