Grammy Awards

The Grammys are going to look very different next year, and not just because of the pandemic ... Kanye's making a big move and Alex Trebek's in the fold.

Nominations for the 2021 Grammys are out, and there's lots of interesting changes to digest. Trevor Noah's hosting and he might have some fun with this -- Kanye is now officially considered a Christian artist.

Yeezy's "Jesus Is King" is up for best contemporary Christian music album ... it's the next stage in Kanye's transformation, which traces roots back to his Sunday Service.

Trebek's also got a shot at posthumous glory ... the late "Jeopardy!" host and TV icon's audiobook is nominated for best spoken word album. Ken Jennings helped Alex narrate the memoir, and would accept the award if the 'Jeopardy' duo wins.

One celeb who won't be taking home any hardware -- The Weeknd. He's shockingly snubbed even though his single, "Blinding Lights," topped the charts and his album, "After Hours," rose to #1.

Guess The Weeknd will have to settle for performing the Super Bowl halftime show a week after the Grammys.

Alan Jackson -- one of the OG kings of country music -- is ready to get dethroned ... from his castle-like pad, that is, 'cause he's selling his massive estate.

The two-time Grammy and 16-time CMA Awards winner has listed his majestic hilltop estate in the countryside of Franklin, Tennessee for a whopping $23 million. The 5-bedroom, 8-bathroom crib also has 4 half bathrooms. The house is 22k square feet on just over 4 acres.

The estate is super private ... surrounded by 120 acres of green space. The monumental stone house has a private gated entrance manned 24/7. It's also perfect for a little honky-tonk action. Party in the grand public rooms, sumptuous suites and expansive outdoor living areas ... where you'll find a pool, pool house, outdoor kitchen and terraces.

No barn here, but those with lots of horsepower should get a load of the heated and cooled garages ... big enough for 15 whips. Saddle up!!!

AJ McLean would never bust a Kanye West and pee on a Grammy ... not because he doesn't have one to pee on, but because it's just downright wrong.

We got the Backstreet Boys member leaving 'DWTS' practice this week and wanted to get his take on Ye taking a leak all over one of his Grammys stuffed inside a toilet. No matter the message Kanye was trying to send ... pretty clear AJ wasn't a fan of the move.

Check out the video ... AJ says even though the Boys don't have a Grammy -- YET!!! -- he thinks what Kanye did was way outta line.

As we reported ... Kanye whizzed all over his own Grammy statuette to underscore his message about Black people needing a seat at the table. Remember, Kanye had been ranting about African-Americans not getting their fair share of the pie and instead are being exploited by companies run by Whites. He pointed the finger at the NBA and the music biz as prime examples. He also talked about ownership of his master recordings, blasting Universal Music Group and alleging they won't even give him a chance to buy them outright.

Our photog asks AJ if artists should own their own master recordings ... and the Backstreet Boy seems to somewhat agree with Kanye.

Roddy Ricch really is ballin' now ... along with his crew cause he hooked 'em up with some diamond-studded championship rings to celebrate his first-ever Grammy win.

The 21-year-old Compton MC will soon get his hands on these incredibly-baller rings produced by none other than Hollywood's favorite celebrity jeweler, Elliot Eliantte. We're told Roddy ordered 7 rings for him and his crew. Eliantte's been working on the bling for the past few months and he just finished them, so Roddy will soon have them delivered.

All in all ... we're told the rings are worth a whopping $250k. But, gotta give the kid some credit, celebrate big after a monumental win. As you probably know by now ... Roddy brought home a Grammy back in January after winning Best Rap Performance for "Racks in the Middle." The track featured Nipsey Hussle and Hit-Boy.

Pitbull was so devastated over the tragic news of Kobe Bryant's death, he had to cancel as the headliner for a charity event ... but the show went on.

Steven Tyler held his 3rd annual private dinner and Grammys watch party in Hollywood Sunday night to benefit Janie's Fund, his mission to help girls who've suffered trauma from abuse and neglect.

Pitbull was scheduled as the event's musical guest, but sources close to the singer tell TMZ ... he was too heartbroken to take the stage.

The biggest stars in the world -- from all walks of life -- are mourning the death of Kobe Bryant ... from Mark Wahlberg to Jay-Z, The Game, Lil' Kim and more.

Of course, everyone happened to be in L.A. for the Grammys ... but Kobe was clearly on everyone's mind.

Some of the stars remembered Kobe as a hero. Others focused on the tragedy that caused his death.

Ex-NBA player Al Harrington -- who was friends with Kobe -- couldn't believe the helicopter crashed so close to Al's Calabasas home. Al says he's still trying to process everything.

Swae Lee, French Montana, Offset and Michael Blackson also talked about Bryant and his daughter, GiGi.

Conor McGregor -- who was also in town for the Grammys -- admitted he never met Kobe, but clearly drew inspiration from the NBA star and talked about the huge impact Bryant had in Ireland, despite the fact nobody over there really cares about basketball.

It was a monumental night for Billie Eilish and it's pretty obvious everyone was ready to continue the party with her after she got the final Grammy of the night.

Billie and scores of other music stars on Sunday night hit up Grammy after-parties scattered all over L.A. She showed up to Universal Music Group's party at Rolling Greens Nursery in L.A. The 18-year-old singer hauled in 5 Grammys ... including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist.

Billie was dressed for her big moment -- rocking Gucci from head-to-toe. Lewis Capaldi joined her at that party too. His "Someone You Love" was nominated for Song of the Year.

Another huge bash went down for Republic Records' party at 1 Hotel in WeHo. Channing Tatum and Jessie J showed up for that shindig.

Kobe Bryant loomed large in the minds of all the musicians at the Grammy Awards -- which was evident in Alicia Keys' touching opening tribute to the late NBA legend.

This year's host started Sunday night's show with some solemn words for the crowd, acknowledging Kobe's death right off the bat by saying that everyone there was feeling "crazy sadness" ... adding that L.A., the U.S. and the world had lost a great one.

She went on to say, "We're literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built." The Grammys are being held at the STAPLES Center ... so she's correct there. The building even lit up his two jerseys in the rafters as AK spoke.

Alicia asked the audience to hold Kobe, Gianna and all the other victims in the helicopter crash in their thoughts, prayers and spirits as their families mourned. Then came a huge moment ... she brought out Boyz II Men and sang "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye."

Just outside, fans were paying their respects to their hometown hero ... but some weren't so happy the Grammys were continuing at all. You can hear several people shouting, "F**k the Grammys!" in what appeared to be a spontaneous protest of sorts.

Demi Lovato made an emotional return to music in a performance that brought tears to the singer's eyes and the audience members to their feet.

Demi premiered her new single "Anyone" Sunday night at The Grammy Awards. Lovato needed to restart the song as she got choked up during her first attempt. She was then able to power through the performance to a standing ovation.

TMZ broke the story ... Demi wrote "Anyone" just 4 days before her overdose and hospitalization back in 2018. The song's lyrics are powerful and mention how Demi was in a tough state, reaching out for help ... but couldn't get it.

Sources close to Demi tell us the single is just the tip of the iceberg for her plans in 2020. We're told an entire album is on the way, and there have also been talks for a tour.

Nipsey Hussle was honored at the Grammys by some of music's biggest stars ... a tribute that also included a shout-out to Kobe Bryant.

DJ Khaled, John Legend, YG and others took the stage Sunday to remember the rapper with an emotional performance. YG, who was arrested Friday in L.A. made his first public performance since the incident ... but did not make any mention of what happened.

At the end of the tribute, a graphic of both Kobe and Nipsey was projected on the stage and DJ Khaled took the mic to remember Kobe.

TMZ broke the story ... Kobe, his 13-year-old daughter and 7 other people were killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in L.A. Bad weather conditions are a possible cause of the crash. The impact of his death has been felt across the world ... and Grammy host Alicia Keys took a moment to honor Kobe at the beginning of the show.

It's Grammy day, and before Hollywood accepts their golden gramophones ... they wanted to stunt a little bit on the way in. And stunt they certainly did.

The best in the music biz were all on hand Sunday at the STAPLES Center, where stars like Lizzo, Rick Ross, Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell, Ozzy Osbourne, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Skrillex, Ariana Grande, Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, Iggy Pop, YBN Cordae, Sophie Turner, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra, Billy Porter, Chris Brown and more.

A lot of the outfits were safe -- standard award show garb -- but others were out there. Among the more non-conventional/political looks ... Joy Villas "Trump 2020" dress, Megan Pormer's "No War 💖 Iran" gown and Ricky Rebel's "Impeach This" ass cheek statement.

If you thought their entrance was something, get a load of how they used their fashion behind the scenes. Definitely more movement than the usual posing on the way in.

Of course, Sunday's proceedings come right on the heels of the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant ... and it's being held at the same place he played for years, no less.

A bunch of fans have gathered outside of STAPLES and created makeshift memorials for him. Definitely a solemn day in the sports world and beyond, but the Grammys must go on.

The show must go on for YG ... according to his lawyer, anyway, who says the guy WILL perform at the Grammys after all, this following his arrest and release.

YG's attorney, Joe Tacopina, tells TMZ ... YG is moving forward with his Grammy Awards performance Sunday night, which had already been in the books before he got hauled in by cops last week on suspicion of robbery and bonding out the same day on $250k bail.

The rapper's performance is supposed to be in honor of the late Nipsey Hussle -- which Tacopina and others, including The Game, thought might've been behind the arrest.

We still don't know what the robbery allegation stems from, but YG's Escalade was involved in a high-speed chase back in July that left a 65-year-old man dead. The MC denied he was anywhere near that scene at the time ... it's unclear if the two cases are related.

Looks like YG's following in the footsteps of his fellow artist Young Thug -- who was also put in cuffs last year right before his Grammys performance, but was then released.

Cardi B looked amazing at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy bash Saturday night, and her hubby was more than happy to sample the goods!

Cardi hit up the annual bash at the Bev Hilton Hotel and wore a super NSFW dress, to Offset's resounding approval.

Offset and Cardi are nominated for Best Rap Performance for "Clout."

She's won a Grammy last year for Best Rap Album, and she definitely won at Clive's party.

Diddy railed on the Grammys Saturday, saying it's turned a blind eye to black artists ... notably, hip-hop artists.

Ironically, Diddy unloaded on the Grammys during his acceptance speech for receiving an Industry Icon award. It all went down at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

As you know, TMZ broke the story ... Whitney Houston died the evening of the same annual party back in 2012 when she was found in her bathtub at the Beverly Hilton, dead from an OD.

As for Diddy, he gave an acceptance speech that was interminably long -- 50 minutes, seriously. It ended at 12:30 AM, and toward the end is when Diddy set his sights on the folks who run the Grammys.

Among many other things ... Diddy said, "Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys. Black music has never been respected by the Grammys."

As for Diddy's record ... 3 Grammy wins and 13 noms.

Ne-Yo is feeling a little less proud of the Grammys he believed were well-earned -- because much as it pains him, he admits the recent claims of vote-rigging are entirely possible.

We got the R&B superstar at LAX and with this year's award show -- the 62nd annual -- about to go down, we had to ask about the new controversy sparked by ousted Recording Academy president and CEO Deborah Dugan.

If ya missed it, she blew the whistle on what she claims is a deeply broken process of selecting Grammy winners. In a formal complaint, she claimed it's all rigged and accused Recording Academy committee members of throwing bones to certain artists due to personal or business relationships.

Ne-Yo didn't pull punches and told us exactly why it seems plausible to him. That said, he made it clear he hopes there were NO shady dealings behind his 3 Grammys.

Ne-Yo won two Grammys for his song "Miss Independent," and another for his 2008 album, "Because of You."

Jay-Z and a ton of other stars showed out for the annual Roc Nation Brunch this weekend -- but there's one person who's noticeably missing so far ... Lauren London.

Celebs like Jay, Diddy, DJ Khaled, Megan Thee Stallion, Miguel, Meek Mill, Winnie Harlow, Ella Mai, Usher, Kelly Rowland, June Ambrose, Robert Kraft, Mike Rubin, G-Eazy, Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Rel Howery, La La Anthony and several others were in attendance Saturday for the pre-Grammys shindig. They held one last year too ... it was also star-studded.

It looks like folks are still trickling in, but so far ... there's no sign of the late Nipsey Hussle's girlfriend, who came with him last year before his untimely death about two months later.

She's kept a relatively low profile in the wake of her partner getting gunned down in cold blood -- but LL has surfaced online with a few clothes and sneaker campaigns.

Speaking of that, we're seeing the colors of the event match Beyonce's ADIDAS x Ivy Park drop. Oh, and one other person, we're not seeing quite yet ... Bey herself.