Late musicians John Prine and Little Richard were honored with special performances during the in memoriam segment of the 2021 Grammy Awards.
Folk-rocker Brandi Carlile – herself a multi-Grammy winner – handled the tribute to Prine, delivering a solo acoustic performance of the singer-songwriter’s final song, “I Remember Everything.” The two musicians had collaborated on Prine’s 2018 album The Tree of Forgiveness.
Earlier in the evening, “I Remember Everything” earned Prine two posthumous Grammys, the fourth and fifth of his impressive career. The song was released in June, just two months after the singer died following a battle with COVID-19.
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak led the tribute to Richard, delivering emphatic renditions of two of the rock pioneer’s most beloved tracks: “Long Tall Sally” and “Good Golly Miss Molly.”
Mars handled vocals during the performance, emanating the kind of boogie-woogie swagger that helped make Little Richard a king. Meanwhile, .Paak delivered powerful drums, sitting being a kit emblazoned with Little Richard’s name.
Later, Lionel Richie performed “Lady,” the 1980 hit he wrote for Kenny Rogers, who died in March 2020. The final performance saw Brittany Howard and Coldplay’s Chris Martin dueting on “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in tribute to Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers.
All of the aforementioned performances were part of a larger in memoriam segment, where the Grammys honored members of the music industry who died in the past year.
Notably, Eddie Van Halen was also honored during the segment, though not with a performance. Instead, the legendary guitarist was seen riffing in archival footage, while a spotlight shone on his iconic red, white and black guitar.