The Grammy Awards are making a lot of enemies lately.
First, it was The Weekend, who called out the Recording Academy for snubbing him in the nominations. Then, people were upset with Naya Rivera being left out of the In Memoriam segment.
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And now, Eddie Van Halen’s son has expressed disappointment with his father’s tribute.
This year’s Grammy Awards was truly something else.
In addition to these awkward (yet sorta wonderful) moments , there were quite a few missteps in fans’ eyes.
This largely included Glee star, Naya Rivera, being left out of the show’s In Memoriam segment, which they have every year.
If you remember, the actress tragically passed away this past July in a drowning accident.
She was out boating with her son, Josey, when she went missing.
Lake Piru staff later found the four-year-old on board the boat, sleeping and wearing a life jacket. Meanwhile, Naya’s life jacket was still on the boat.
Given this, fans were upset over her being excluded from the segment, which remembered the lives of Little Richard, Kenny Rogers, and Charley Pride.
It wasn’t like Naya hadn’t been part of the Grammys before, either.
In 2010, she was nominated in 2010 with the Glee cast for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for their cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin.'”
Soon, fans took to Twitter to call out the Grammy snub and to honor the late star themselves.
“So disappointed in the #GRAMMYs for not including @NayaRivera who gave so much to the music industry so let’s all just take today remembering Naya the way the Grammys couldn’t,” added another .
Now, another person who has a bone to pick with the awards show is Wolfgang, Eddie Van Halen’s son.
The legendary guitarist and co-founder of Van Halen sadly passed away in October 2020 after a long and courageous battle with lung cancer. He was 65.
During the Grammys, Eddie Van Halen was mentioned during the In Memoriam segment of the show. His Frankenstrat guitar was also shown.
But on Monday, Wolfgang took to Instagram to critique his father’s short tribute.
“The GRAMMYS asked me to play Eruption for the ‘In Memoriam’ section and I declined. I don’t think anyone could have lived up to what my father did for music but himself,” he began.
“It was my understanding that there would be an ‘In Memoriam’ section where bits of songs were performed for legendary artists that had passed,” Wolfgang continued.
“I didn’t realize that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of 4 full performances for others we had lost.”
This year, several artists including Bruno Mars, Lionel Richie, and Chris Martin performed musical tributes to deceased singers.
In his Instagram post, Wolfgang then shared what disappointed him the most.
“What hurt the most was that he wasn’t even mentioned when they talked about artists we lost in the beginning of the show.”
The former Van Halen bass player continued:
“I know rock isn’t the most popular genre right now, (and the academy does seem a bit out of touch) but I think it’s impossible to ignore the legacy my father left on the instrument, the world of rock, and music in general. There will never be another innovator like him.”
He then clarified that he’s not looking to start “some kind of hate parade.”
“I just wanted to explain my side. I know Pop would probably just laugh it off and say “Ehh who gives a [expletive]?” He was only about the music anyway. The rest didn’t matter.”
He concluded his emotional post with this: “I’d love to get the opportunity to speak with The Recording Academy not only about the legacy of my father, but the legacy of the Rock genre moving forward.”
Several comments on his post agreed with him, with people writing “your father’s a legend” and that “rock is simply being ignored by the main stream media.”
What do you think of Eddie’s tribute? Was it too short? Let us know in the comments!
