Musicians with Philadelphia ties win big at the 2024 Grammy Awards
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The nation's most talented musicians are still celebrating their wins from the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Among them are several musicians with strong roots in the Philadelphia area.
Tye Tribbett, a Camden, New Jersey, native, won in the category for Best Gospel Album for his "All Things New (Live in Orlando)." One of Tribbett's family friends who has known him since he was young, Fred Blain, was watching from home.
"I saw Tye get up and walk down the aisle and go up on that stage – I was like, 'yes!'" Blain said. "Yes, so proud of him."
Blain, who also hails from Camden, is the host of the Gospel Highway 11, a decades-old radio station that is now exclusively online. It was through that station that he first met Tribbett.
"[Tye Tribbett] actually calls me 'Uncle Fred' because his mother...worked at the radio station with me," Blain said. "She was my afternoon host."
Blain, who has been playing gospel hits for four decades, believes Tribbett is a good steward of the gospel genre in this contemporary age.
"He's taken the music to a whole new level," he said.
It's that same musical innovation that has catapulted another Philadelphia legend to global musical success. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the artistic and musical director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, also took home a Grammy for his role conducting Terence Blanchard's "Champion" with the New York Metropolitan Opera. Though his win wasn't associated with his role with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the organization's president and CEO, Matías Tarnopolsky, said the Philadelphia Orchestra is thrilled for Nézet-Séguin.
"Yannick is an icon, not just in the classical music world and far beyond, but also an icon in Philadelphia," Matías Tarnopolsky said.
Tarnopolsky said Nézet-Séguin, who won a Grammy with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2022, has a big community impact off of the conductor's podium, as well.
"He is a passionate advocate for human rights," Tarnopolsky said. "Of course, diversity, equality, and access for gay rights as well. There's so much that he does."
Blain, too, believes Tribbett has a message that extends beyond his gospel melodies.
"He loves giving people what they need to encourage them to make it through life another day...making sure we stay on the path that's been designed for us," Blain said. "It's a message of hope."
