Many Dave Matthews Band fans were angered when Leroi Moore, the recently deceased saxophonist for the band, was left out of the Grammy Awards’ “Encore” segment, which pays tribute to famous musicians who have died in the past year. The snub was made worse by the fact that Moore was also a Grammy winner. Today, The Recording Academy issued a statement on the issue, blaming time constraints. Here’s the full statement:
“Nearly 250 members of our music community have passed in the last year, and all of them have been listed in the program book for the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards, including LeRoi Moore. For the “Encore” segment of our annual GRAMMY Awards telecast, unfortunately we are unable to include all of the talented and wonderful people within the allotted timeframe. The Academy recognizes Moore’s contributions to music and music education, and we are deeply saddened by his premature passing.”
The Recording Academy also left Ron Asheton, the recently deceased guitarist of The Stooges out of their tribute, so I guess they didn’t have an extra couple seconds for either a former Grammy winner or one of the most influential guitarists in rock.