GRAMMY's "In Memoriam" Montage Snubs Slayer's Jeff Hanneman
The GRAMMYs made a few overtures to metal fans this year—both Metallica and Queens of the Stone Age got on-air performances—but the Recording Academy made a serious blunder during the "In Memoriam" segment. Slayer's Jeff Hanneman—who passed away last May after suffering liver failure—was nowhere to be found in the montage of late music legends.
That's a major oversight. Not only was Hanneman a co-founder of Slayer—one of the "Big Four" bands who pioneered thrash metal—and an incalculably influential metal guitarist, but he won two GRAMMYs before dying at age 49. Generally speaking, the GRAMMYs include people who've won GRAMMYs in the montage.
Whether the producers of the show overlooked Hanneman or curiously decided not to include him is irrelevant. It's a slap in the face to metal fans who've long criticized the GRAMMYs for undervaluing the genre.
As for this year's Best Metal Performance GRAMMY, Black Sabbath took the award for "God Is Dead?" from 13 (it was their second GRAMMY ever). Prior to the ceremony, Anthrax—who were up for the same award—told us they were totally fine losing to Sabbath. Because by their own admittance, there might not be an Anthrax without a Sabbath.
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