Grammy Awards

Beyonce and Jay-Z made the crowd go nuts Saturday night in New York City as they left Clive Davis' Pre-Grammy party.

Davis throws the bash every year -- this one was the Sheraton in Times Square. Among the other guests, Jamie Foxx, DJ Khaled, Mariah Carey and bunch of others. Other present include Jennifer Hudson, Martha Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Chrissy Teigen, Cardi B, and Barry Manilow, who performed.

Jamie goofed around as he left, taking pics with New York's finest.

Lorde is now the second nominee out of 5 for Album of the Year who won't be performing at the 'Grammys' Sunday, and it's all because the offer she got from producers was a slap in the face ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Lorde tell us ... the singer decided not to play after a heated back and forth with the Grammys about her involvement in the show. We're told Lorde wanted to perform one of her songs from her nominated album, but she was only offered the option to sing as part of a Tom Petty tribute ... during the late rocker's tune, "American Girl."

The 2 sides couldn't come to an agreement ... so Lorde pulled the plug on performing altogether and we're told she won't be on the Red Carpet either.

It's interesting -- our sources say the other 4 nominees, all men, got offers to perform their own tracks solo, and while Jay-Z declined ... the other 3 nominees -- Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino and Kendrick Lamar -- are all slated to perform.

Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes were not hiding Saturday night ... staying close to each other and circulating among the celebs at Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy party.

Clive's been hosting bash every year since 1976, and this year didn't disappoint. As we've already shown you, Jay Z, Beyonce, and a slew of other celebs hit up the Sheraton in New York City.

We're told Jamie and Katie had a few drinks and were super tight the whole night. As you know, they've been together for years now but with a few exceptions they've kept things on the QT ... not anymore.

None of the Grammy nominees will be going home empty-handed, because the Grammys gift bag is filled with thousands of dollars worth of swag that's perfect for the traveling musician or pop star, especially if they're an animal lover or just lonely and want to talk to someone dead on the phone.

Nominees like Lorde, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, SZA and more will be getting the bags filled by Distinctive Assets. They include a Wi-Fi pet feeder to a phone reading with a dead loved one, valued at $150 for a 45 minute session. The most expensive thing is SmileDirectClub's invisible teeth aligners, which cost $2,170.

Here's some other swag in the bag:

-- Finger companion monkey toy ... $14.99
-- Ear wax removal kit ... $34.29
-- Handbag poncho ... $20
-- Wireless eye massager ... $24.99
-- Handheld steam inhaler ... $179
-- Book of the Month Club .. $150

The white rose movement at the Grammys has florists scrambling to fill TONS of orders ... the demand is so overwhelming they've had to turn away business.

We talked to a bunch of NYC flower shops who tell us they've fielded a crazy number of requests for white roses that Grammy attendees plan to wear Sunday at Madison Square Garden. As you know ... guests are wearing them to show solidarity with the Time's Up movement. It's music's version of the black gowns at the Golden Globes.

Kelly Clarkson, Halsey, Cyndi and Rita Ora are among the many artists who plan to take part. We're told Warner Music Group alone ordered 100 white roses for their Grammy festivities.

Business is so good one shop owner tells us they've sold out. Another shop owner tells us it received a request for a whopping 50k white roses ... but the short notice doomed their ability to fulfill the order.

Fiona Apple insists the movie industry's got nothing on the music biz when it comes to rampant sexual misconduct -- which explains her shocked reaction to us even asking.

We got the singer at LAX Thursday and asked her about the planned protest at the Grammys -- guests wearing white roses to show solidarity with the Time's Up movement. It's music's version of the black gowns at the Golden Globes.

Fiona's all for it, and says it should come as no surprise powerful men wield their power in the music biz the same way they do in Hollywood.

Justin Bieber isn't gonna show his mug at the Grammy Awards again -- or any other award shows for that matter -- until he's got something new to show for it ... HIS NEXT ALBUM!!!

Sources tell us Bieber is skipping the 2018 Grammys -- just like he did last year -- despite the fact a hugely popular song on which he was featured last year is up for a number of awards.

Bieber will not perform alongside Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee Sunday for their performance of "Despacito" -- which has been nominated for 3 Grammys ... Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

We're told Bieber loves Luis and Daddy, but he's passing on the performance because he doesn't want to make appearances until he finishes his new album.

That's big news. We didn't know Bieber had new music in the works, but he does. He'll presumably use award shows like the Grammys to promote the new tracks when they're ready, but not before.

Justin previously was a no-show at the Grammys because he didn't think it was relevant or representative of the music fans really liked. But hey ... business is business.

U2 won't really be performing live from a remote location during the "60th Annual Grammy Awards" ... but it will seem that way thanks to some TV magic.

Sources close to production tell TMZ ... the band is set to record their Grammys performance Friday night on a barge in the Hudson River. When the show airs Sunday night -- live from Madison Square Garden -- cameras will cut away from MSG to U2's pre-recorded performance

It'll look like it's live, but now you won't be fooled. To be clear, the boys from Dublin aren't lip syncing -- just playing live to tape.

It's not uncommon for huge live TV events to prerecord segments, especially when a stunt shot's involved. Remember Lady Gaga's nose dive into the Super Bowl?

Here's how the final product looked for that.

Sir Elton John scored a better view than Miley Cyrus at the Grammys ... scheduled duet be dammed.

Here's a look at the seating chart for Sunday's Grammys at Madison Square Garden in NYC ... where Elton's sitting right in front of Miley. Their duo is one of several scheduled for that night. Bruno Mars and Cardi B are also slated to perform.

Billie Lourd could be shopping for a Grammy night outfit soon ... now that her late mom Carrie Fisher's been posthumously nominated.

We got Billie in Bev Hills Tuesday, hours after Carrie's 2016 memoir, "The Princess Diarist," earned a spoken word nom. She was beaming about the honor, and wouldn't rule out accepting the award for her mom ... if she wins, of course. Use the Force, Billie.

Speaking of which, we tried to get some 'Last Jedi' scoop from Billie, but apparently being Princess Leia's spawn isn't even enough for Disney to risk spoilers getting out.

Q-Tip isn't holding back about what he calls a huge Grammy snub for A Tribe Called Quest, and it sounds like he's partially blaming mega producer 9th Wonder.

Q went off on the Recording Academy for not nominating Tribe's 2016 album "We Got It from Here ... Thank You 4 Your Service." He points out it was good enough for the Grammy folks to invite them to perform at last year's ceremony, but now they're getting stiffed.

While he does give props to the other nominees like Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar ... Q's calling BS on ATCQ's final album getting left out in the cold.

Taylor Swift's fave director -- who did her latest music video along with her "Bad Blood" vid -- has some bad blood with a former employee who now has to stay 100 yards away and stop harassing him online ... according to new legal docs.

"Look What You Made Me Do" director Joseph Kahn got a temporary restraining order against a man who he claims has been sending him disturbing emails and tagging him on angry posts off and on since 2009. According to the docs, the man briefly worked for Kahn but was let go in 2008 because he found him "unstable and unreliable."

Kahn claims the man began relentlessly harassing him afterward via email by talking to him like a dog, making comments about his penis, insulting his character, and sending "pornographic emails depicting [the man] being sodomized."

Kahn says the emails started up again in September, with a creepy message saying "Now sit and wait for your treat" followed by explanation/apology a couple days later saying ... "I am insanely chemically unbalanced even when sober."

The music vid director asked the judge for the restraining order because he feared for his safety, and the judge agreed.

Joseph won a Grammy in 2015 for "Bad Blood" and also 2003 for Eminem's "Without Me." He's also worked with artists like Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Chris Brown and U2.

4:00 PM PT -- The Recording Academy tells us it has no "secret committees," and adds there's plenty of info regarding the Nominations Review Committees (to which our post refers) on its website.

A spokesperson says members of the Review Committee "are not disclosed to ensure fairness and neutrality." This prevents them from being lobbied.

A secret committee for the Grammys is in place to undermine the rank-and-file voters if they choose to give plum awards to black artists like Beyonce ... so claims the original lead singer of Village People.

Victor Willis sent a

to the President of the Recording Academy, demanding he "come clean" over the existence of a clandestine group that was supposedly formed after Lionel Richie beat Bruce Springsteen for the 1985 Album of the Year.

According to Willis, the committee's purpose is to "override the decision of Grammy voters in the event the select committee does not like who the Grammy voter has chosen" for the 4 top awards.

He goes on to strongly suggest a racial element, saying, "The question is how many African Americans are on that committee?" He says in the letter, "If certain people at the Grammys don't like who the voters have chosen, a Grammy committee will simply override the voters and subsequently select who they think should win. Like Adele, maybe?"

CeeLo Green says he was nowhere in sight at the Grammys ... even though we all could have sworn that was him in the gold martian suit.

We got CeeLo Tuesday night leaving Delilah in WeHo, where he denied being the little gold man turning heads on the red carpet Sunday.

He is known to rock alter egos every now and then ... sounds like this could be his latest.

Lil Yachty paid more to put a fresh grill in his mouth on Grammy night than most women spend on designer gowns for the event.

Icebox Diamonds & Watches tells us Yachty reached out last Tuesday and requested a grill to match his vibrant personality. That's exactly what he got. We're told each tooth is a different jewel -- white, blue and yellow diamonds, red rubies, and green emeralds.

It was $35,000 for the pair of grills ... and yes, that includes delivery. Icebox says a rep flew to L.A. on Sunday to hand off the rainbow-colored grill to Yachty just a few hours before the show.

He was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Performance but lost to Drake.

It wasn't a Grammy, but he still got some nice hardware out of the evening.

The Metallica duet with Lady Gaga at the Grammys was doomed by a stagehand who got reckless with James Hetfield's mic ... seconds before they went live.

Sources connected to the production tell us everything was fine right before the "Moth Into Flame" collab was about to begin. Gaga and the band's line check, right before the performance, went off without a hitch.

However, between the mic check and their act ... a wire under the stage got unplugged. We're told a stagehand did it by accident, but the damage was done -- Hetfield's mic was dead through most of the performance. They eventually fixed the unplugged wire with seconds left in the song. We reached out the Grammys, but no word back yet.

James handled it all like a pro, 'cause that's rock 'n' roll.

Insult to injury? Laverne Cox forgot to mention Metallica in her intro.