Music of the 12 months is all the time a giant award on the Grammys, nevertheless it was an particularly difficult race throughout the Feb. 5 ceremony, with a number of fan favorites competing for the distinction. Beyoncé might have added to her record-breaking night with a win for “Break My Soul,” for instance, whereas Swifties hoped that Taylor Swift may rating the trophy for the 10-minute model of “All Too Nicely.” (She received Greatest Music Video, however nothing throughout the Sunday evening telecast.) Adele, Lizzo, and Harry Types had been different artists with big fandoms rallying behind them. Nonetheless, Music of the 12 months went to a darkish horse: Bonnie Raitt’s “Simply Like That.”
The large win, which was offered by First Girl Jill Biden, shocked viewers — and Raitt herself. As soon as her title was introduced, the blues singer took a number of moments at her desk to know what was taking place. However Raitt acquired a standing ovation as she took to the stage. “Oh my god,” she started. “I’m so shocked, I don’t know what to say. That is simply an unreal second.”
Raitt defined that she was impressed by “the love, and the grace, and the generosity of somebody that donates their beloved’s organs to assist one other particular person reside,” she mentioned. Certainly, the “Simply Like That” lyrics inform the story of a lady assembly a person whose life was saved by her late son’s coronary heart:
“He sat down and took a deeper breath / Then regarded proper in my face / I heard concerning the son you misplaced / The way you left and not using a hint / I’ve spent years simply looking for you / So I might lastly let you realize / It was your son’s coronary heart that saved me / And a life you gave us each.”
Raitt heard an analogous story on the information in 2018, she instructed American Songwriter. “I simply misplaced it,” she mentioned. “It was essentially the most transferring and stunning factor. I wasn’t anticipating it. I vowed proper then that I wished to jot down a music about what that might take.”
As Raitt famous in her speech, the music of “Simply Like That” was additionally impressed by the late John Prine, who himself wrote a music about organ donation in 1973.
Whereas Raitt might not have been the anticipated Music of the 12 months winner, she’s had an extended historical past in music — with a few of her most acquainted songs together with “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and “One thing to Speak About.” By the way, Raitt has plenty of love for her fellow nominees. In actual fact, final yr, she praised a number of of them in an interview with Forbes.
“I feel trying on the poise that Adele and Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran have and the way comfy they’re on digital camera, Billie Eilish, it’s like they had been born on digital camera … there’s nothing to lose by being utterly clear, and I like that tremendously,” she mentioned.