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As Big Time Rush continue their comeback, the former Nickelodeon stars relive making hits like "Boyfriend," new songs like "Dale Pa' Ya" and, yes, "The Turd Song."
Just over one year since Big Time Rush announced their reunion, the TV-made boy band have proven that they weren't just made for a show. With 18 million followers across social media and a 44-date North American trek — including a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden — the group has certainly made a comeback.
The foursome — Carlos PenaVega, James Maslow, Kendall Schmidt, and Logan Henderson — were initially put together for Big Time Rush , a 'Monkees'-style Nickelodeon series that had a four-season run from 2009 to 2013. Big Time Rush released three albums that only spawned a couple of charting hits (2011's "Boyfriend," which featured a remix with Snoop Dogg , and 2012's Blur -sampling "Windows Down"), but built a dedicated fan base that couldn't wait for their return.
This time around, the band is free from the obligations of their contracts with Nickelodeon and former label Columbia Records, officially taking ownership of the Big Time Rush name and music thanks to their cheekily titled LLC, Bought The Rights. And as Henderson hints, Big Time Rush is only getting (re)started.
"We have so much music we're about to release," Henderson tells GRAMMY.com. "We're still excited and hungry to keep on finding Big Time Rush — what the sound is, what it means to us, and records that really make us tick."
They kicked off their reunion with the single "Call It Like I See It" in December 2021, which marked the first time all four members contributed to a single since their formation. They've since released four more new tracks, most recently their first Spanglish single "Dale Pa' Ya," an homage to their Latin American fans. On Aug. 25, they revealed five shows in South America for 2023 — further confirming that they're not slowing down any time soon.
As Big Time Rush wraps their U.S. tour, the guys share standout memories from some of their biggest hits, a couple of new songs, and one that, as they put it, has "taken on a life of its own."
Schmidt: I remember a rented mansion for the music video. We were joking about it because the way the video turned out, it seemed like only the guys in the video liked us — like, the way it was edited in the end, we were like "Wow, it seems like every girl in this music video hates us."
Maslow: We play that currently on our tour and it's one of the crowd's favorite songs every single night. When we put together this little section with a bunch of classic songs, including that one, we really didn't know what to expect or how much we'd even enjoy it compared to the new songs. But it's one of my favorite times in the show, because everybody's just rocking out, they know every single word, and they scream that song at the top of their lungs.
PenaVega: We made a couple of music videos for "Boyfriend," the first one was on the TV show. That one stands out to me because we were on the Paramount lot in the parking lot. They blocked off the parking lot for like two or three days and we literally brought in a carnival — ferris wheels and the spinny machines, just a full-blown carnival that they rented. They brought it on, they set it up and we shot a music video. James rode a ferris wheel with a plant.
Maslow: Highlight of my BTR journey right there.
PenaVega: That was probably the start of the epic music videos for the TV show. We hadn't done one that elaborate, and Nick really put some money behind it. That was a lot of fun. Then the second music video was obviously with Snoop Dogg.
Schmidt: Do remember, in that video, the little green man in the cup? Now that I look back on that, I'm thinking, "What is that about?"
Henderson: We had this huge dance breakdown at the very end, and we were sweating bullets because there were so many people in there and the air conditioner wasn't working. And Snoop has this huge, like, trench coat on, and I was like, "How are you not sweating? It is so hot in here." And he goes, "It's all in your mind."
PenaVega: He said, "Being cool is a state of mind."
Henderson: I was like, "Okay, well, I'm about to pass out."
Schmidt: We did the music video at the airport, obviously. That was pretty wild.
Maslow: To rent out an entire airport just for a music video, that was another step in terms of "Wow, things are growing."
Henderson: That is still our biggest song today. Even when we go to other countries, some of our fans speak very little English and that's the one song they know every word to. It really is such a special song to have with fans all over the world.
Maslow: And when it comes to live performance, it's one of our favorite moments, because we always pick one — usually four, these days — "Worldwide" girls. It's a cool opportunity to bring somebody up on stage and sing directly to a fan.
The song has aged well. Not so sure that those dance moves have.
Henderson: That song was a little complicated, because there's a lot of things going on. You have a guitar sample from Chaka Khan , Ryan Tedder is the one who produced that one.
PenaVega: That song cost us a lot of money.
Ryan has since sold this house, I heard, but it was out in Colorado. His basement was turned into a ginormous studio. It was the most beautiful studio I've ever been to, still.
Henderson: We got to see the place where Adele recorded all of those massive songs. You could feel it in the air.
PenaVega: I was actually hanging out with Justin Bieber back in the day, and I played him this record, and he was like, "Yo, they pitched that to me, and I passed on it." I was like, "Oh, really? Well, we're taking it!"
Henderson: Honestly, it works with four voices really, really well.
Schmidt: And again, getting a Blur sample, that's huge.
Henderson: I don't know what happened behind the scenes for that. Probably something we don't want to discuss.
PenaVega: Again, it cost us a lot of money.
That music video is probably my favorite music video that we did. The boys and I took a trip to Maui and literally spent five days there, had the best time ever. We went cliff jumping, did all this stuff, we had all this footage, and when we got back to shooting the TV show, I made a quick little 25-second trailer like, "Oh, here's us in Maui, what happens next?" I pitched it as an idea for a music video, and they said "Let's go." That next month, we went to Maui for a week, and they paid for everything.
Henderson: We were like, "Haha suckers!" and then it was billed back to us and we were like "Aww."
Maslow: It was way before the technology we have now, [where] we can have a GoPro that shoots 4k or 8k. We had to actually custom build a waterproof casing for a huge RED camera. So you had this six-figure camera with some kind of janky plexiglass thing and our cameraman would go jumping off cliffs with this huge thing splashing in water, and we just kept praying, please don't get water in it.
PenaVega: The best scenes [were when] they mounted the cameras on the front of these jeeps and we drove around, just us and our, like, "video girls," hands up, going crazy.
Henderson: Why can we not do a music video like that anymore?
Maslow: I'm thinkin' Turks & Caicos for the next one, boys, what do you say?
Henderson: That was the first one [we wrote together upon reuniting] that felt like a real Big Time Rush song.
Schmidt: There were a lot of Zoom sessions early on in the pandemic, and it just was really hard to make the connection. I know people wrote great songs during the pandemic over Zoom, but it certainly is way better to be in the room going back and forth. The same trajectory happened [as it did in] the beginning [of writing songs together], where it took a while to get to something [good]
I feel like, in the funnest way possible — and I'm joking about this — but it feels like writing a song is a bit like a battle. You know? You're waging war against a brain fart. And everyone's got an opinion, and they all matter, so it's trying to weave together something to become a beautiful tapestry. That's a couple of metaphors.
Maslow: You can pick whatever cherries out of there you want to. [ All laugh .]
Schmidt: ["Call It Like I See It"] was basically just a party at James's house.
Maslow: The record sounds like we were having a good time.
Schmidt: We felt like people needed a party, so we brought them the feeling of a party.
PenaVega: Our Latin American and South American fans have always been incredible to us. I mean, we put 30,000 tickets on sale for Mexico for this tour, and they sold out in six hours. It's seriously unreal. We always wanted to do something to give back.
Maslow: And the amount of fans said they did learn to speak English because of our songs, to your point, we always felt — ever since we first went down to Mexico and Latin America, we felt such a love for those fans. Just such a welcoming appreciation. We've always wanted to give back and show our appreciation and our effort the other way around. [ Motioning to Schmidt and Henderson ] Us three have learned a little bit of Spanish touring down there so much.
Schmidt: Carlos had a good head start.
PenaVega: The day we got in the studio with Maffio, he was just like, "Let's make a song that we can make the world dance." I feel like that song, even though it's Spanglish, it's such a universal song. I feel like the world is gonna hear it, and want to get up with us to dance.
Schmidt: "The Turd Song" has developed a life of its own. It actually wasn't that big of a thing for us back in the day.
Maslow: Until this tour, we never played that song.
PenaVega: We did it at one show, and I was just like, "Oh my god." I stopped singing, and everybody is just shouting, and I'm like, "There's freaking 10,000 people singing 'The Turd Song,' oh my god!"
Henderson: It's a little cringey, but I've just had to let Jesus take the wheel on this one.
PenaVega: We didn't do it at one show, and the next show there was a sign that said, "Justice for 'The Turd Song.'"
Schmidt: It was written in the script [for the TV show], and [when] we did the table read, none of us knew how to sing it.
Henderson: The creator of the show [Scott Fellows] is literally 12 years old.
Schmidt: He is probably just loving that his creation is taking on a turd of its own.
Henderson: You know, we actually have legitimate music that's coming out.
PenaVega: A "Turd Song" remix! With Dua Lipa !
Maslow: Probably called Doo Doo Lipa.
Schmidt: Maybe we can get another one from Pooplo!
TWICE Detail Their "Absolutely Magical" Growth And How 'Between 1&2' Expands On Their Relationship With Fans
Source Photos (Clockwise, L-R): YG Entertainment, Edwig Henson, Frank Ockenfels, Pierre-Ange Carlotti
With fall just around the corner, GRAMMY.com is highlighting the can't-miss, new albums dropping this month from Marcus Mumford, Christine and The Queens, Sudan Archives, Divino Niño, and many more.
With a too-short summer of hot, new music soon coming to a close, September is here to keep the musical heat burning. A host of new albums across all genres is set for release in the days and weeks ahead, from highly anticipated debuts to triumphant returns.
September sees the much-anticipated return of K-pop queens BLACKPINK with their second album, BORN PINK , while on the musical flipside, Marcus Mumford , of folk rock trio Mumford & Sons , releases his debut solo LP, (self-titled) . The rest of the month revs up with a dose of bachata music ( Romeo Santos ' Formula Vol. 3 ), emotionally probing pop ( Noah Cyrus ' The Hardest Part ), boundary-pushing Afrofuturism ( Sudan Archives Natural Brown Prom Queen ), dreamlike electronics (Franc Moody's Into the Ether ), rousing country ( Maddie & Tae 's Through The Madness Vol. 2) , and so much more.
Below, check out a stacked lineup of new albums dropping in September 2022, just in time to soundtrack your upcoming fall activities. After all, there's nothing cozier than the company of a brand-new, good album.
Who better to grace the first day of the month with a new album than the "King of Bachata" himself, Romeo Santos? Back in February, the Dominican American artist released the sultry "Sus Huellas" as the first single from Formula Vol. 3 . True to form, it shot to No. 1 on Billboard 's Tropical Airplay chart and has since clocked up 47 million views on YouTube. Formula Vol. 1 (2011) earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Tropical Latin Album, while Formula Vol. 2 (2014) is certified 27-times multi-platinum and featured the Billboard Hot 100 hit "Odio," featuring Drake . "I'm competitive with myself and my material," Santos told Billboard in 2014 , so expect a big splash from Formula Vol. 3.
Related: "From Puerto Rico To The World": 5 Moments From Bad Bunny's Historic Yankee Stadium Show
London electronic duo Franc Moody made a strong first impression on their debut album, Dream in Colour , released in February 2020. Soon after, the pandemic brought the world — and Franc Moody's tour plans — screeching to a halt. Rather than despair, the duo escaped into music.
"It was during those months our longing to be out on the road with the band playing live shows developed into a dreamlike state, conjuring up imagery of us and the band traveling through the desert on a journey to find whatever it was that we were craving," the band explained in a statement . That yearning, dreamlike state reverberates throughout Into The Ether, with nods to the film scores of Ennio Morricone . Rest assured, though: Franc Moody's latest single, "I'm In A Funk," is still fit for dancing.
Related: The Rise Of Underground House: How Artists Like Fisher & Acraze Have Taken Tech House, Other Electronic Genres From Indie To EDC
September heralds the return of genre-bending shapeshifter Santigold with Spirituals . Mostly recorded during the 2020 COVID lockdown, a defining theme behind the making of the album, and released independently through her own Little Jerk Records, Spirituals is Santigold's first album in six years.
In a statement , Santigold described "losing touch with the artist [in] me" while caring for her three children during a pandemic. "Recording this album was a way back to myself after being stuck in survival mode," she said. Preceded by the energizing singles "High Priestess" and "Ain't Ready," Spirituals finds Santigold collaborating with producers like Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs , Boys Noize , Dre Skull, and SBTRKT, all while staying true to her own boundary-pushing vision.
Related: It's Blitz! At 10: How The Dancefloor Classic Marked A New Era For The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Signed to tastemaking label Stones Throw Records, Sudan Archives has been pushing the boundaries of electro and R&B since her self-titled 2017 debut EP. This month, she returns with Natural Brown Prom Queen , which has all the signs of her most out-there project to date. The album's advance singles, "Selfish Soul," "Home Maker" and "NBPQ (Topless)," have already earned widespread praise for their originality and wild flourishes. Sudan Archives heads out on the Homecoming Tour this fall, where she'll bring the futuristic sound of Natural Brown Prom Queen to life.
Related: Ravyn Lenae's Hypnos Is A Cosmic R&B Contemplation
You don't need to be a K-pop expert to know that a new BLACKPINK album is a very big deal: Anyone knows an album is highly anticipated when even its 30-second announcement trailer clocks 23 million YouTube views. BLACKPINK's BORN PINK follows the group's 2020 debut, The Album , which featured several high-gloss hits, including "Bet You Wanna" with Cardi B and "Ice Cream" with Selena Gomez .
Already, BLACKPINK's latest single, "Pink Venom," excitedly sets the stage for BORN PINK , with a music video that has "Blinks" in raptures.
Read More: Everything We Know About BLACKPINK's New Album, Born Pink
One of the most distinctive new voices in pop, Noah Cyrus will release her debut album, The Hardest Part , at long last this month. With music in her family genes (case in point: father Billy Ray and sister Miley ), the Nashville-born singer/songwriter has carved out her own path with raw, emotionally honest songs that showcase her distinctively smoky vocals. The Hardest Part follows a run of promising singles, including "Every Beginning Ends," a tender duet with Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie . Cyrus, who was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2021 GRAMMYs , is set to showcase the songs this fall on an extensive headlining North American tour.
Read More: Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Noah Cyrus On Continuing Her Family Legacy & Why She's Happier Than Ever
While folk rock believers already know Marcus Mumford as the lead singer of Mumford & Sons, the artist steps out on his own this month with his first solo album, (self-titled) . Mumford has already revealed the singles "Better Off High," "Cannibal " and "Grace," which find the singer/songwriter baring his soul via his signature mix of sensitivity and grit. While the album is very much Mumford's own, (self-titled) also features Brandi Carlile , Phoebe Bridgers and Monica Martin as guests. He's on tour across the U.S. this fall, with a smattering of shows already sold out.
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Back in February 2020, Christine and The Queens released the La vita nuova EP, featuring one of his most affecting songs to date, "People, I've been sad." This month, Christine and The Queens returns under the mysterious alias Redcar with R e dcar les adorables étoiles , the French artist's first full-length album since 2018's Chris . Lately, Christine and The Queens has kept busy as a featured artist, appearing on Charli XCX 's "New Shapes," alongside Caroline Polachek , and 070 Shake ("Body"). As evidenced on lead single, "Je te vois enfin," R e dcar les adorables étoiles is a September gift for synth-pop-loving Francophiles.
Read More: Christine And The Queens On Chris : "This Is A Record That Talks About Being Too Much"
Coming out of the fertile Chicago scene, Divino Niño's music is as vibrant and diverse as its five members. You can hear their kaleidoscopic range on "Tu Tonto" — the lead single off Last Spa on Earth, the band's first new album in three years — which channels the energy of neoperreo , a subgenre of reggaeton that's close to their hearts.
Led by Javier Forero and Camilo Medina, who grew up together in Bogotá, Colombia, Divino Niño are now a five-piece band, with the addition of multi-instrumentalist Justin Vittori. After the mellow, blissed-out vibe of Divino Niño's 2019 debut album, Foam , Last Spa on Earth promises to be dancier and more adventurous, with the majority of the album's songs performed in Spanish. You can catch Divino Niño on tour with Mexico's Little Jesus starting this month.
Related: Chicano Batman Talk Creating Visibility For Invisible People , Representation Of Latinos In Media & Repping Los Angeles
Country-pop singer/songwriters Maddie & Tae are back this month with Through The Madness Vol. 2 , a new collection of songs co-written by the duo alongside some of Nashville's most esteemed songwriters. The release is the second installment in the group's beloved Through The Madness series, which debuted at the top of this year.
Maddie & Tae, best known for their country hits like " Die From a Broken Heart " and " Girl In A Country Song ," will celebrate their very prolific year by headlining the CMT Next Women of Country Tour Presents: All Song No Static Tour this September and October.
Everything We Know About Taylor Swift's New Album Midnights
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
As Billie Eilish accepted her second gramophone of her five that night, the "bad guy" singer celebrated the listeners who made her career happen.
The 2020 GRAMMYs marked a massive night for Billie Eilish. She arrived as a first-time nominee, and ended up winning five of the six awards she was nominated for — including a sweep of the General Field categories, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist.
But the latter was extra special for Eilish, because she kept the focus on the fan base that made her such a successful act in the first place.
In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind , go back to January 2020 for Eilish's powerful acceptance speech. The "Happier Than Ever" singer was visibly emotional as she took the stage, still reeling over the fact that she was winning her second GRAMMY award of the night — and of her career.
Eilish had plenty of people to thank, including her touring team, but she reserved her most heartfelt gratitude for her fan base.
"Mainly, I think the fans deserve everything," she said. "I feel like they have not been talked about enough tonight. Because they're the only reason that any of us are here at all. So thank you to the fans."
Eilish also shared messages of support and love for her fellow nominees in the category, which included Lil Nas X, Tank and the Bangas, Yola, Lizzo, Rosalia, Maggie Rogers and the Black Pumas. She celebrated each of them as a deserving contender, and once again brought her focus back around to the loyal fans.
"I know your fans are hardcore and they're gonna fight for you guys and they love you, and they're gonna talk s— about me for years for this," Eilish laughed. "I love all fandoms. Thank you to the fans. You guys make this worth it."
Press play on the video above to watch Eilish's full speech, and check back to GRAMMY.com every Friday for more episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.
Ed Sheeran's Collab-Crazy 2022: All Of The Artists He's Paired With, From Taylor Swift To Russ
Genesis in 1972. (L-R) Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel & Steve Hackett
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
On the 25th anniversary of Genesis' final album 'Calling All Stations,' GRAMMY.com celebrates 15 of the most majestic and ambitious tracks in the group's catalog.
This month, Calling All Stations — the 15th and last studio album by British group Genesis — turns 25. It offers an intriguing (yet somewhat underwhelming) conclusion to the discography of a band that infused popular music with poetry and theatricality. Genesis enjoyed two careers in one; first as prog-rock pioneers in the '70s, then mainstream hitmakers throughout the '80s and early '90s. Both chapters share a common element: songwriting that surprises at every corner and defies expectations.
After producer Jonathan King discovered the group in the late '60s, he suggested the name Genesis, implying the promise of something new. It was a time of turmoil and growth for the English music scene, as the explosion of psychedelia, acid-folk and art-pop eventually coalesced into the heyday of progressive rock.
Genesis began as a teenage pop group, and after changing a couple of members, emerged in 1971 with its definitive lineup: singer Peter Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist Mike Rutherford, guitarist Steve Hackett and drummer Phil Collins. Lauded for representing the limitless imagination of prog, the GRAMMY-winning band quickly ventured beyond the confines of the genre.
Gabriel left in 1975, Hackett in '77, and Collins in '96. With Banks and Rutherford as core members, the group found resilience in change, eventually selling over 100 million records worldwide across their nearly three-decade run. Their final reunion tour, with Collins back on board, ended in March of this year.
Omitting the obvious hits, this list of 15 essential tracks highlights the Genesis songbook at its most majestic and ambitious.
The opening track of Genesis' third album Nursery Cryme , this 10-minute mini-opera features the newly arrived Collins and Hackett. It also showcases the quintet's fully formed obsessions: a preoccupation with nocturnal moods and odd time signatures, pastoral passages and lyrics that merge Lewis Carroll-like whimsy with the surreal and macabre. The story's grand finale — the aged spirit of a murdered child returns from the dead to unleash a lifetime of pent-up desire — allowed 21 year-old Peter Gabriel to create a memorable onstage moment by wearing a creepy mask resembling an old man while performing.
At the beginning, Genesis sat comfortably next to like-minded bands such as King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator. It was perhaps the staggering individual talent of its members that allowed them to transcend their prog roots and become one of the most popular rock bands in history. A deep album cut like "Harlequin" brims with promise — its vulnerable, luminous energy has aged particularly well.
Together with "Close to the Edge" by Yes — both released the same year — "Supper's Ready" sums up the beautiful madness of the British progressive school, its attempt to elevate rock 'n' roll into a level of complexity and ambition that was unimaginable until then. The song features music-hall extravagance, cozy folk harmonies and 12-string guitars, cutting edge 9/8 drum patterns, and the apocalypse itself ("as sure as eggs is eggs"), its 23-minute run time occupying the entire side B of the Foxtrot LP. The ending crescendo, with Gabriel in stunning vocal form, evokes the rapture of a classical symphony.
Keyboardist Tony Banks was inspired by Rachmaninoff for the hyper-romantic piano intro to this Genesis stage favorite. Only five albums into its career, the band had achieved full artistic maturity — a rare state of grace that wouldn't last long. The melodies are particularly rich on this solemn rock hymn, and Hackett's byzantine electric solo became a point of reference for generations of future guitarists like Eddie Van Halen and Brian May.
A proposed album based on The Little Prince was canned in favor of Gabriel's patchy narrative about a disaffected Puerto Rican teen in New York City. Eerily predating the punk revolution, double LP The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway found the band overreaching for the first and only time. Still, it boasts many spectacular moments — and a Brian Eno contribution — such as this dreamy ballad with nonsensical lyrics and a spectral, spiraling piano pattern. Perhaps prematurely, Gabriel decided to leave the band while playing the entire album live across America.
They considered carrying on as an instrumental unit, then held auditions in search of a new vocalist. But in the end, Genesis decided to give Phil Collins a chance as lead singer, with Yes virtuoso Bill Bruford joining behind the drum kit on tour. Released in 1976, the first two post-Gabriel albums — A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering — include some of the band's finest work; the revamped sound direct and pristine. "Dance on a Volcano" reflects the influence that the then-popular jazz-rock fusion had on Collins.
Genesis shone the brightest whenever they explored the more delicate, mournful shades of their sonic palette. From 1980 onwards, pop balladry would be the framework of choice. Before then, songs like "Ripples" combined the band's folk-rock vein with the influence of classical music. There are hints of Debussy and Ravel in the floating instrumental bridge — a passage seeped in longing, which arguably stands as the quintessential Genesis moment.
One of those rare instances when an album's title and cover sum up the specific aura of the music inside, Wind & Wuthering is misty and autumnal to the core. It is the one Genesis session most influenced by Hackett — his complex acoustic guitar contributing to the haunting mood. This was his last record with the band, followed by a string of brilliant solo albums.
Hitting a sweet spot between art-rock density and mainstream vigor, Duke showcased Genesis as champions of eccentricity — sweeping instrumental workouts next to sad ballads about getting divorced. "Duchess" uses a primitive drum machine pattern as launching pad for a saga about the inevitable decline of a veteran singer. Years of nonstop touring had opened up Collins' vocal chords, resulting in performances that sounded positively soulful.
Beginning with Abacab , Genesis abandoned individual song credits and started writing from scratch in their newly built home studio. They infuriated longtime fans by adding a brass section to a couple of hits, experimenting joyfully with noise and booming drums, and incorporating Collins' hitmaking recipes once his solo career took off. It was undoubtedly a different band, but the subterranean prog tendencies were still there. There's a new-wave polish to "Dodo/Lurker," but the grandiose melodrama of years past shines through.
Perhaps the biggest strength of the trio's commercial heyday was its ability to begin with a small idea like a riff or melody and allow it to blossom into a pop miniature. A B-side from the Abacab sessions, "You Might Recall" underscores the grit in Collins' voice — all those Motown records that he loved growing up — as well as the ease with which Banks and Rutherford became succinct and economical, without sacrificing the magic in their songwriting.
Pittsburgh '76. Zurich '77. London Lyceum '80. Some Genesis concerts became the stuff of legend among fans, boosted by breathtaking light shows and the drum duets between Collins and former Weather Report percussionist Chester Thompson. Lifting a song from The Lamb and connecting it with various instrumental sections and the somber "Afterglow," the "In The Cage Medley" was always the high point of their concerts. This version from the double album Three Sides Live is electrifying.
With electronic drums and a new arsenal of keyboard patches, this is the tight, quirky edition of Genesis: a trio of wealthy rockers in their '30s who played four sold-out shows at Wembley in 1987. Some of their creative choices were baffling during this period, but when the magic worked, it was the very "pictures of delight" referenced in the lyrics of "Home by the Sea." The instrumental section in the middle sums up the best of '80s Genesis — grand, funky and cohesive. Vari-Lites were invented for songs such as this one.
At the end of their journey together, Genesis excelled in a stark brand of minimalism. The trio found precious harmonic nuggets and maximized their emotional impact through the art of orchestration. This tribal percussive workout — almost like the theme to an imaginary movie — builds up subtle variations on the same lush melody and offers a striking coda to Invisible Touch , an album filled with massive pop singles.
From 1981's "In The Air Tonight" until his departure from the band, Collins juggled solo stardom with his Genesis commitments. As a result, the despondent breakup ballads for which he became famous started infiltrating the group material. Still, the contribution of Banks and Rutherford to perennial radio favorites like "Hold On My Heart" added subtlety and sophistication. The result was openly commercial, but also possessed an indelible, peculiar beauty of its own.
Living Legends: Elvis Presley's Friend, Confidante & Business Partner Jerry Schilling On His Lifelong Relationship With The King
Photo courtesy of Jerry Schilling
Jerry Schilling's tender friendship with the King is a core component of his identity, but his story wouldn't mean much if he wasn't a fascinating character in his own right. In this interview, he goes deep on how Elvis Presley irrevocably shaped him.
Living Legends is a series that spotlights icons in music still going strong today. This week, GRAMMY.com spoke with Jerry Schilling, who enjoyed a decades-long friendship and business relationship with Elvis Presley — and has worked as a manager of other pillars of American music, like the Beach Boys and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Jerry Schilling holds a rare distinction in the music business, and in the human race writ large: he's possibly the one living person closest to Elvis Presley without being bonded by blood.
But as compelling as that story is — as Schilling lovingly detailed in his 2006 memoir, Me and a Guy Named Elvis — it's just as fascinating to wonder what Schilling would be doing had he never met the King, or if Elvis had never existed.
By the time he was quarterbacked by Presley at a 1954 touch-football game, Schilling had been throttled by circumstance. His mother died when he was a baby. A succession of illnesses stymied him at school. But he got physically and educationally back on track, with dreams of being a football coach and a history teacher.
All the while, the sounds of rhythm and blues inspired and galvanized him, charting the course for a life in music that would provide deliverance from his circumstances.
In other words, Schilling was made of stern stuff — which the perceptive Presley arguably picked up on early. That quality is partly what made Schilling a compelling character in his own right, rising from very little to work so closely with a foundational American figure. And after Elvis passed in 1977, he continued to carve out his unique place in music history.
Schilling went on to have fruitful business relationships with Jerry Lee Lewis , the Beach Boys and Lisa Marie Presley, and was depicted by Luke Bracey in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 film Elvis . (Note: this interview took place prior to the film's release.) But if you're curious about what it was really like to be around the King at pivotal points in his career, pick up Me and a Guy Named Elvis , which provides an exquisite glimpse into the King at his most human and vulnerable.
For a crystallized version of that story, read on for an interview with Schilling about his hard-knock origins, what it felt like to meet Presley and how he continues to carry the King around in his heart and mind.
This interview was edited for clarity.
Meeting Elvis was a fundamental pivot point in your life. But I'm curious: if you'd never met him, or if he never existed, where do you think your life would have gone?
My early childhood was so bad. Not having a mother, being sick all the time, missing so much school in the first grade that I had to repeat it, which was embarrassing. My grandparents were poor, just very poor — lower class, white, but just wonderful human beings.
I met Elvis about the time that my older brother had kind of forced me into football. I was playing grade-school football and I made the team in the fourth grade — fourth to eighth grade. And I don't know what's the chicken or the egg, but it's about the same time as when I met Elvis.
All of this is when I was 12 years old, between getting into sports, getting healthy, and becoming a friend of Elvis, before he was Elvis . Which, I guess, gave me a lot of confidence, too. That this guy took off immediately — the week that we met was the same week he recorded his first record.
So, if I hadn't met Elvis, to answer your question, I think because I became good at football through school, my scholastic [career got] better. I was president of the class for all four years of high school. I always wanted to go work for Elvis back in the '50s, but I was in grade school and high school. He went on the road and we kept a relationship.
When he came back to Memphis, we'd hang at the movie theater at night. When he bought Graceland, I was always welcome at Graceland at nighttime. I kind of went on with my own life. Forgot about working for Elvis. I got a football scholarship at Arkansas State University and majored in history. I was planning to be — hopefully — a football coach and history teacher.
You know, nothing wrong with that life either.
No, no, but I think I made the right choice. I got hurt in my junior year playing football, so I came back to Memphis and went to the University of Memphis for about a year and a half to finish my education.
I was chosen to practice teaching. They take one student out of education, and you practice teaching the last semester, a grade-school class. So, I was chosen to do that. I was loading trucks at night. I worked at the airport at the ticket counter in the daytime because my family didn't have money to send me to college.
So, when I would go home from the trucking company — which was 9:00 at night, or whenever — I would pass by the Memphian Theater. If Elvis and the guys were in town, I would go to a service station, change [out of] my trucking clothes, and act like I just showed up for the movie.
One night, Elvis was at the screening. He just looked really tired. He was down in front of the screen — these private showings at night. I walked in and thought, "You know what? I'll see them tomorrow. I'll come back tomorrow night." I didn't want to bother him.
One of the guys that worked for him said, "Jerry, do you want to go back to the film exchange with me, and then we'll have an early breakfast?" Elvis had access to the mid-South film exchange, and he could pick movies.
We got to the film exchange, and Elvis called Richard and said, "You know where I can find Jerry?" He says, "Well, he's here with me." He said, "Would you ask him if he'd come out to the house?" We never called it Graceland. It was always "the house." I go out there; Rich is living at Graceland. He goes to bed, and Elvis and his father walk down from upstairs.
His father leaves, and Elvis and I are out on the front porch. He said, "I need you to come work for me."
Elvis Presley and Jerry Schilling. Photo courtesy of Jerry Schilling.
Yeah. I said, "When?" He said, "Well, now." I thought for about 10 seconds, and said, "Well, can I go home and get some clothes?" He said, "Sure."
The next day, I had to quit two jobs. I had to tell the university that I wasn't going to practice to teach. I had to tell my father, respectfully, and he was so proud that I worked my way through college — because he only got through grade school.
He said, "Well, I've always trusted your judgment. You sure this is what you want to do? What are you going to do with them?" I said, "I don't know."
That night, I rush back to Graceland. Everybody's sleeping all day because they're very nocturnal — and what's now called the Jungle Room was a screened-in porch. I stood out there all day, and then people started loading up this little bus that Elvis drove. A Winnebago, believe it or not. And we set out for the 2,000-mile journey from Memphis to L.A.
That pretty much changed my life. We stopped at truck stops at nighttime. And when there were lights, Elvis would throw football passes to me, and we slept at the motels in the daytime. I went from the poor section of Memphis, and when we got to L.A., I was living in Bel-Air.
I couldn't go to sleep when we got there. There was a pool in the backyard There was this indirect lighting, and stuff I'd never seen in my life — not even at Graceland. That was the start.
And to flash back to that first football game, it seems like Elvis's personality and drive were immediately on display. The guy you would know for the rest of his life was right there.
Absolutely. I was unconsciously looking for a role model. I was a big fan of James Dean and [Marlon] Brando. When I went to the park by myself on a Sunday afternoon, the park was nothing but dirt, a little wading pool, and horses. A very poor part of Memphis.
I was there by myself, and one of the older guys, Red West, I knew was a big high-school football player. He said, "Hey, Jerry, do you want to play?' They only had five guys and needed a sixth player. They were all six or seven years older than me. So, I said "Yeah." It was three-on-three, go into the huddle.
Jerry Schilling and Elvis Presley. Photo courtesy of Jerry Schilling.
I had been listening to Dewey [Phillips'] "Red, Hot and Blue" since I was 10 years old, because he played rhythm and blues records — which was exciting. It was dangerous in the '50s, in the South, [and this was] Black music.
That night, before this day, Dewey played this record from a boy from Humes High, where my cousins went and my mother had gone. From my grade school, you could physically see Humes High, and vice versa. Dewey said "A boy from Humes High" when he played the record, to distinguish that Elvis wasn't Black.
The record kept getting requested, so Dewey got in touch with Sam Phillips, and they made a connection with the Presley family. Elvis knew they were playing the record that night. He was very nervous, so he went to this little movie theater in north Memphis. When this fellow went to interview him — that people liked his record — he just kind of stuttered, which was cool.
When I went into the huddle — me, Red and Elvis — I went, "Wow, that's the boy from Humes High. He had the rebel-ness of James Dean. If I remember correctly, he was in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. There weren't the rhinestones or anything. He didn't have a hit record.
Elvis didn't even have a hit record in Memphis. But he was somebody that I went, "Wow, I want to be like that guy." He would laugh if he heard me say that today. He had Dean, Brando, and a quiet little smile that was on the warm side, so you could like him. "OK, I know you're the young kid. Can you catch the ball?"
He made me feel comfortable. That was my first impression, and over the years, I got to meet, work with, be friends with a lot of well-known entertainers and actors and whatever. Elvis was the only one without credentials.
(L-R) Richard Nixon, Sonny West, Jerry Schilling, Elvis Presley. Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
As a figure, Elvis has been unfortunately been flattened with time, but I think that's changing. Can you talk about how he was an absorber and fuser of disparate styles?
He was so eclectic. He got stuff from everybody, and then he made it his own. He was the most eclectic human being I ever met in my life.
He could see somebody walking and go, "Hey, Jerry, look at that guy!" It might have been on a movie set. Now, I'm remembering this specifically. He said, "I'm getting ready to do the '68 special. I'm going to use that guy's walk." It was a good actor named Billy Murphy, who was quite a character.
By the way, Elvis loved characters to be around sometimes. You can think of a person that would get something from a famous person, right? But, a person that gets something from somebody that's not famous and puts it into his whole makeup? That was Elvis.
What about him would you like to correct? What do we get wrong about him today?
I think, most importantly, his genius in music. He was a very smart guy. I think what he didn't get were the opportunities to fully be the entertainer and actor he could have been.I've said this before — and I don't like to say the same thing twice — but I think I lost my friend at an early age because of creative disappointments.
I'm not blaming Colonel Parker. Being a manager is a big part of my career. If somebody can come in and make a deal with your artist, you're not going to be a manager for very long.
[Elvis] wasn't in good shape before the '68 special. Nobody would know that, but with that special, he went into training like Muhammad Ali and he looked great. Lost 25 pounds, got a suntan. Obviously, there were other problems, but they were caused by his embarrassment by some of the stuff he was doing.
He was 19 years old when all of this started to happen. By the time he was 21, he was the biggest star in the world. When he came back from the army and wanted to do meaningful stuff, the machinery was set up. He really didn't have an attorney; the attorney was controlled by the Colonel. The film companies, RCA, and the publishing companies were all controlled by the Colonel, who was doing what he thought was best.
The Colonel's going to get trashed, and has been. He was controlling, he was manipulative, but he was honest and hardworking and he had a lot of polish. No doubt about it.
Jerry Schilling in 1981. Photo: George Rose/Getty Images
Colonel Parker gets painted as the source of these disappointments and angst, but the more I read, I realize he was a genius who had the lion's share of the responsibility for all this success in the first place.
You're one of the few people that get that, Morgan, and you're right on it. I'm hoping everybody's going to get that at some point. I hope Peter Guralnick can do a book on the Colonel someday, since he got to know the Colonel quite well.
The Colonel's wife said that I was the closest person to him for the last 20 years of his life. The Colonel felt he could talk to me because I was the manager later on. Yeah, I miss the old guy very much.
You're reading my book, and it was one of the things that I'm so glad somewhat worked out. Loanne, his wife, had a problem with the book. I flew to Vegas just to meet with her, and she was a really good, smart lady. She said, "Jerry, I love your book, but when you talk about the creative disappointments, the fans will tend to think that the Colonel killed him." I said, "That was not my intent. That's not how I want it. We spent a whole day, and that was a really rough one."
I've spent a lot of time more recently with Tom Hanks, who played the Colonel. [The film] explains the other side of the Colonel. He was a good friend. If it was your birthday, he'd call and sing "Happy Birthday." Remember the answering-machine days? It was the Colonel singing "Happy Birthday" to you.
I was a loan-out to the Colonel one day a week, which I used to dread. It was just so different from my life with Elvis. He got up early and there were meetings. But every time I did that, I realized I really enjoyed it. It was really interesting.
I probably got a lot of who I am from Elvis, and from the Colonel — and a little bit from Sam Phillips, as well, who was the original genius.
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