The show must go on: Recording Academy CEO on why he didn’t cancel the Grammys amid tragedy in LA

Harvey Mason Jr. and executive producer Ben Winston preview Sundays Grammy Awards.

A few weeks ago, as prep on the Grammy Awards was getting underway, tragedy hit Los Angeles. The heart of music industry was ravaged by fires, burning down the homes of thousands of people who remain displaced across Southern California. Just two days before the fires, Hollywood was in celebration mode, kicking off award season in Beverly Hills at the Golden Globes. But with fires spreading unfathomable destruction, calls to cancel the Grammys, SAG Awards and Oscars came quickly. But for Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. and the executive producer of the Grammy Awards Ben Winston, there was no other option. The show would go on. “We know we’ve got the biggest stars in the whole world that are sitting there, and we bring real awareness to what’s happened. We do some really serious fundraising for the causes that need it so much right now. We pay tribute to our first responders. We showcase LA businesses. Surely that is worth doing rather than not doing,” Winston, who calls LA home, told CNN in an interview this week. “Some of our community, from the music community, have lost their homes. They’ve lost their instruments,” added Mason Jr. “I know one guy that lost his entire studio. All his collections, all his instruments, and this is how they make a living. So, if we were to postpone the show, we wouldn’t be able to raise the money that we need to support those people.”