NYC Rolls Out the Red Carpet for the 45th GRAMMYS
The 45th Annual GRAMMY Awards will return to New York City next year, it was officially announced today after a weekend of rumors. On February 23, 2003, Madison Square Garden will host the event, which is expected to have an economic impact on the city estimated at $35-40 million. The awards draw a worldwide television audience in excess of 1.5 billion in addition to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences‘s more than 20,000 members who will be at the Garden that night.
Academy President/CEO Michael Greene was joined in making the announcement by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a host of CBS, Madison Square Garden, and New York City representatives. Greene expressed his enthusiasm for bringing the awards back to New York, “our other home town” and a city that “taught the world to celebrate humanity” in the wake of September 11. Greene recalled how after just a few days in office Mayor Bloomberg, with “passion, spirit, and humility” expressed to him the importance of bringing the GRAMMYS back to New York next year.
Bloomberg thanked Greene and the Academy for their display of solidarity and spoke confidently that New York, a place that is “still the capital of culture, and certainly the capital of music,” would do everything to make “this the place you want to be.”
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) also added his thanks for the Academy’s moral and economic support, concluding, “Welcome back. The red carpet is waiting.”
GRAMMY Fest, a month-long celebration prior to the evening’s award ceremony, will include140 community events and activities produced by music and arts organizations from the New York area.
At the conclusion of the event, pop star Marc Anthony presented Bloomberg with a guitar donated and autographed by the legendary Les Paul that was painted with a 9/11 scene by retired NYC fireman Peter Ortel. The guitar will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Widows and Children Fund.
The 45th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast Sunday, February 23 from 8-11p.m. on CBS. This will mark the first time that the GRAMMYS will be broadcast on a Sunday–the night that captures the most television viewers. Leslie Moonves, CBS President/CEO, pointed out that “it all adds up to one exciting event: The music industry’s biggest showcase will be broadcast on television’s most watched night from the country’s largest city and from the world’s most famous arena.”
Nominees for the 45th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be announced in January 2003.