The 54th annual Grammy Awards took place on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Here is what these Grammy winners said backstage in the Grammy Awards press room.
Winner of:
Best Country Album (“Own the Night”)
What are your memories of Whitney Houston?
Hillary Scott: I have many, many memories. It’s hard to name one. Just sitting in my room and playing her records, learning how to sing — not nearly as great as her, because she’s one in a million — but learning to sing and trying to figure out how to do runs to her songs.
Charles Kelley: She always references “The bodyguard” soundtrack.
Scott: I love “The Bodyguard” soundtrack! I would listen to that all the time. I just admired her and her craft. It’s a God-given gift. It’s just tragic.
I said it earlier, but there’s a hole in the heart of music now. And I don’t know if it will ever be filled because she was just so unique and amazing. So we will miss her.
What inspires Lady Antebellum songs?
Kelley: I think everything. It’s stuff we all go through. What we write about usually revolves around love. We don’t know how to change the world. And we write about love lost and loved gained.
Right now, we’re in a really great spot. Hillary just got married. Dave got engaged. I’ve been married.
Dave Haywood: Still married!
Kelley: I’m still married. I was the first one to be married. It kind of feels like we’re growing even close as a band and becoming more comfortable talking about the things that maybe in the first couple of records we wouldn’t talk about.
So hopefully, we’ll keep growing. I think we would all say that we felt the most proud of this third record [‘Own the Night”]. Whether it equals the success of “Need You Now,” as a record as a whole, we feel really proud of it.
How does it feel to win this year’s Grammy for Best Country Album, considering you had such tough competition?
Kelley: It is a little weird. I hugged [fellow nominees] Blake Shelton and saw Taylor [Swift]. We did think it was going to be Taylor’s night. She had won a couple of [2012 Grammys] going into it, in the pre-telecast.
And honestly, everybody [who wins] loves to say they were shocked, but we truly did not feel we had a chance this year, just because last year was so life-changing. We were like, “Well, this year, it’s nice to be nominated.” I did think Taylor was going to take it, and she would have deserved it.
Hillary, who designed the dress you’re wearing tonight?
Scott: Monique Lhuillier.
What would you tell your 17-year-old self, knowing what you know now?
Kelley: “Go for it!” Dave and I lived in Nashville. We graduated from college and worked for a year. It kind of made getting out there and waking up every day not wanting to wake up.
It’s something special to wake up and love what you do. And I think everybody owes it to themselves to give it that a shot. It may not work out. And we feel blessed every day that it did [for Lady Antebellum]. But you have to give it a shot, or you’ll always look back and regret it.
Haywood: Stay in school too. We definitely don’t regret that.
Kelley: Although Hillary dropped out of college to join the band, so I don’t know.
Scott: I wish I would have finished.
What are you doing to celebrate your Grammy win tonight?
Kelley: We’re going to the EMI party. And then we’ve got a little shindig.
Haywood: We’ve got all the rednecks in town. We’ve got Dierks [Bentley], Thompson Square.
Kelley: We’re heading back out on the road. We have a show in Salt Lake City.
Did you have a chance to talk to Adele?
Scott: We did. We gave her the Record of the Year award, and we saw her down below. You kind of walk underneath the stage, and [we] gave her a big hug. We actually had met her before because there was an Artist of the Year Award for CMT, and she and Darius Rucker performed “Need You Now” for us. We were surprised and had no idea. And so she just holds a special place in our heart, absolutely.
We were fans of hers before this huge year that she’s had. She’s just a genuine, beautiful soul and musical. And so if you’re listening, we would love it. We would love to collaborate with her. It would just be amazing.
For more info: Grammy Awards website
RELATED LINKS ON EXAMINER.COM:
Comments