Going into tonight, I believed that the best Grammy tribute to Levon Helm, the deceased drummer/singer for the Band, would be no tribute at all. The Grammys has a tendency to mean well, yet ultimately choose an awful combination of artists to honor great musicians. But credit where credit’s due: tonight’s tribute to Helm was great.
Elton John, Mavis Staples, T. Bone Burnett, Zac Brown, Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, and Mumford & Sons, who would later take home the award for Best Album of the Year, performed a stirring rendition of “The Weight,” one that ended with Mavis screaming, “YEAH YEAH YEAH” over and over again. (Meanwhile, T-Swift thinks Levon Helm is a Canadian tree.) You can watch a clip of the performance below, and the whole thing over at Deadspin.
https://dailymotion.com/video/xxfael
