Trent Reznor Feels 'Disrespected' by the GRAMMYs
By Shannon Carlin
For last night's (Jan. 26) GRAMMY finale, Nine Inch Nails teamed up with Queens of the Stone Age, Lindsey Buckingham and Dave Grohl for a hard rock finale. Viewers at home only got a tiny taste of music's biggest night's final act, since it was cut short by a word from the sponsors -- something NIN leader Trent Reznor is not too happy about.
Related: The 2014 GRAMMY Winners List
After the show, Reznor took to Twitter to express his ire towards the GRAMMYs and, most likely, its parent network CBS for switching to credits and a commercial before their performance was all said and done. (Full disclosure: Radio.com is owned by CBS Radio.)
In the tweet, Reznor simply writes: "Music's biggest night... to be disrespected. A heartfelt F*** YOU guys."
The GRAMMYS were expected to run for three and a half hours, but like most awards show, it went over the allotted time. This left very little time for the finale, which, based on what did air, was an arena-sized rock show that brought together some exciting and unlikely characters from all corners of the genre. (A quick shout-out to Buckingham, who rocked out to NIN's "Copy of A" and QOTSA's "My God is the Sun" like he was playing "The Chain.")
Photo Gallery: Live at the 2014 GRAMMY Awards
But, as SPIN points out, the GRAMMYs have been known to cut the final performance short if time does not allow. In 2011, they cut Arcade Fire short as they played off the show, immediately after winning Album of the Year none the less. They've also faded to black on Stevie Wonder and a supergroup that included Chuck D, Tom Morello, Z-Trip, Travis Barker and GRAMMYs host LL Cool J.
Overall, it wasn't a great night for Reznor and his band. NIN lost the prize for Best Alternative Album to Vampire Weekend. Not that Reznor should care too much, being that in 2011 he told The Hollywood Reporter, "Why don't the GRAMMYs matter? Because it feels rigged and cheap — like a popularity contest that the insiders club has decided."
Check out Radio.com's complete coverage of the GRAMMYs here.