This may be one of the biggest snubs by the Grammys!
The organization called on Beyoncé to perform "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" for their 'Selma' tribute during Sunday night’s 57th annual Grammy Awards, ousting 42-year-old R&B veteran Ledisi.
Ledisi, who played gospel great Mahalia Jackson in the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, delivered a beautiful and empowering rendition of the song in the film, but it seems the producers of music’s biggest night went with popularity instead.
“I don’t have a clue,” Ledisi says about why she wasn’t chosen to perform the song prior to John Legend and rapper Common delivering their Golden Globe winning duet, “Glory.”
Now, in no way are we slighting Beyoncé, we love Bey, but this was one of those moments where the Grammys could have asked her to sing something else, so that Ledisi could garner her well-deserved recognition.
We get it, Beyoncé is more popular, and if we start thinking business-wise, she provides a wider reach, but how can you pay tribute to a film and a movement if you're doing the same kind of back door politics?
Nonetheless, Ledisi, took the snub with a grain of salt, and remained professional.
“What I will say and what I’m excited about is that I had the pleasure of playing an iconic figure in Selma, and the song, ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord,’ it’s been going on forever – starting with the queen Mahalia [Jackson], the queen of soul Aretha Franklin,” Ledisi told ET’s Kevin Frazier on the Grammy carpet.
She continued: “I was able to portray and sing my version of the song, and now we have Beyoncé. Her generation will now know the song, so I’m a part of history.”
Well said!
According to John Legend, Beyoncé requested to perform "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," which was personal, because it was the first song her mom used to sing to her.
“We were actually approached by Beyoncé. She wanted to do an intro to our performance and introduce us," Legend told Kevin. "You don’t really say no to Beyoncé if she asks to perform with you."
Beyoncé also beat out Ledisi for the Grammy in the “Best R&B Performance” category.
Founder and Creator of Singersroom.com and IncredibleWork.com. Follow me on Instagram at @gary.gentles.
