NEW YORK -- Bryan Adams may have nabbed his first Grammy nomination in over two decades, but he won't be at the ceremony. He's got a gig that night.
The Canadian rock star had committed to a concert in Las Vegas on Sunday and he didn't want to disappoint his fans or his crew by cancelling.
鈥淲ork is work. I mean, I've got 40 people in my tour, so I want to make sure I keep them in hot food and shoes, you know?鈥 he said earlier this week.
Working hard is a theme for Adams, who last year released four albums - his 15th studio effort, 鈥淪o Happy It Hurts,鈥 the cast album for 鈥淧retty Woman: The Musical鈥 and 鈥淐lassic鈥 and 鈥淐lassic Pt. II,鈥 which saw him re-record songs from his catalog and handle most of the instruments.
On Sunday, he's up in the category of best rock performance for 鈥淪o Happy It Hurts,鈥 the title track, which includes the lyric 鈥淚'm so happy it hurts/I'm so glad, it's outrageous.鈥 His last nomination came in 1998 with the song 鈥淚 Finally Found Someone.鈥
鈥淚'm absolutely gobsmacked to be nominated, especially after such a long time. But, I mean, I'm really appreciative. I don't think I'm going to win it, but I'm happy to be nominated,鈥 he said.
To win, Adams must beat Beck and his cover of Neil Young's 鈥淥ld Man鈥; 鈥淧atient Number 9鈥 by Ozzy Osbourne featuring Jeff Beck; The Black Keys' 鈥淲ild Child;鈥 Brandi Carlile's 鈥淏roken Horses鈥; Idles' 鈥淐rawl!鈥 and Turnstile's 鈥淗oliday.鈥 Adams suspects 鈥淧atient Number 9鈥 will win to honor Jeff Beck, who died earlier this year.
If Adams does win, the trophy will join the Grammy he won in 1992 for best song written for a motion picture for 鈥(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,鈥 which was used on the 鈥淩obin Hood: Prince of Thieves鈥 soundtrack.
This is a remarkably rich period for the 63-year-old singer-songwriter. He says ideas were coming all the time as he crafted 鈥淪o Happy It Hurts鈥 and he recorded more songs than usual. Faced with the pandemic, he ended up playing most of the instruments by himself.
鈥淚'm not a particularly good drummer, but I sure love giving it every everything I have to try and make it great,鈥 he says, laughing.
The album is filled with gratitude and mature love, with optimistic titles like 鈥淵ou Lift Me Up,鈥 鈥淚've Been Looking for You鈥 and 鈥淟et's Do This.鈥 On the song 鈥淭hese Are the Moments That Make Up My Life,鈥 he sings 鈥淚 like to make the kids breakfast/I like the family way/I like the sound of their laughter/While I plan out my day.鈥
鈥淚 think one of the things as a songwriter which we should actually tap into is our truth,鈥 he says. 鈥淚f you can start writing songs that really are about your truth and being able to really open up in a way that you can relate it to your life without giving too much away, I think people will connect with it.鈥
He also dug up his old amps, guitars and equipment and began re-recording all his hits, like 鈥淪ummer of '69,鈥 鈥淩un to You鈥 and 鈥淓verything I Do (I Do It for You).鈥 He did it after Universal Music Group refused to return his original masters and drew inspiration from Taylor Swift, who has begun re-recording her catalog, too.
鈥淚t brought back a lot of memories. It brought back memories of, first of all, where I was, who I was recording with, the amount of work that went into making those records and sort of the appreciation generally of what I was doing back then,鈥 he said.
鈥淭here's sort of minor alterations to things, but generally I stay true to the original recordings because I felt that's what people would recognize,鈥 he added. 鈥淯nless it was a live recording, it needed to have the same structure and emotion.鈥
This year will find Adams in familiar territory - working. After a spring tour of Asia, he hits 26 cities across the U.S. this summer, kicking off in Baltimore in June with stops in New York City, Boston, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco and more. Joan Jett is opening.
He also plans a 鈥淐lassic Pt. III鈥 and has recorded three of his early albums live at the Royal Albert Hall in London that he hopes to release - 鈥淐uts Like a Knife,鈥 鈥淚nto the Fire鈥 and 鈥淲aking Up the Neighbors.鈥
鈥淚t's super exciting,鈥 he says, and then has to go. After all, he has a gig on late night TV to prepare for.
