Mind on Music

Sunday, the 49th annual Grammy Awards aired on CBS. As usual, the award show was more of a popularity contest than a measure of talent. To many, it seemed that all the bases and musical genres were taken into account. I, on the other hand, pose this question: What ever happened to rock 'n' roll?

Isn't it strange that rock, once the most popular and commercially successful genre of music, has taken a backseat to just about every other category of music imaginable? Just look at the list of performances from Sunday night: Country and R&B acts ruled the evening, while only two rock bands were permitted to perform. It was exciting to see The Police perform again after being on hiatus for over 20 years, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were as good as ever. These performances, however, were brief when compared to the drawn-out, self-important spectacles put on by other artists such as Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown.

Worst of all, very few of the rock awards handed out Sunday were even televised. Instead, we had the privilege of watching the Dixie Chicks receive five awards in one night, each time gloating about how they overcame the odds and succeeded in light of controversy. It must have been difficult for the liberal entertainment industry to reward an artist that made inflammatory comments against a Republican president. Since when did country music become cooler than rock 'n' roll?

It is beyond insulting to see talented artists like Prince and Neil Young, who has never won a Grammy, be shut out while the Black Eyed Peas are winning awards for compositions such as "My Humps." Artists like Bob Dylan and Tom Petty are undeniably more important to the music world than other flash-in-the-pan artists that have monopolized media attention for the past year or two.

Rock is not dead, nor will it ever be. The industry just needs to divert its attention away from fads and shine light on bands with artists that not only play their own instruments, but also write their own songs. As Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith said after winning rock album of the year, "You kids need to start some rock bands. We need more rock bands!"