The Grammy’s in memoriam segment during last night’s (February 1st) televised broadcast of the awards show has come under scrutiny by the heavy-music community for leaving out late Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds, a Grammy winner and six-time nominee during his time with the celebrated metal group.
The ceremony at Los Angeles, California’s Crytpo.com Arena did pay homage to a number of musicians who passed over the past year — notably, including an all-star jam for Ozzy Osbourne featuring Post Malone, Slash, Duff McKagan, Chad Smith and Andrew Watt.
That said, while a number of other fallen musicians’ names and photos were brought up during the night, many fans noticed that Hinds, who passed away last summer in a traffic accident in Atlanta, Georgia, was missing. These observant viewers included Alice in Chains bassist and former Mastodon tour mate Mike Inez. (Hinds is listed in the “In Memoriam” section of the Grammy website.)
“BIG party foul Grammys for forgetting the MIGHTY Brent Hinds in the In Memoriam,” he wrote later on Instagram. Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor agreed in the replies with a series of tributary fire emojis. Pearl Aday noted that they’d left out her father, iconic rock vocalist Meatloaf, during the segment in 2022.
Mastodon notched up five nominations in the Best Metal Performance category between 2007 and 2022, beginning with a nod to their Blood Mountain track “Colony of Birchmen.” They’d won the award in 2018 for Emperor of Sand’s “Sultan’s Curse,” and had been nominated that same year for Best Rock Album.