Shankar Mahadevan says he completely blacked out at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com auditorium when his band Shakti’s “This Moment” was announced as winner for best global music album and he bagged his first Grammy.
Winning a Grammy Award for Indian music is a matter of privilege, he said a week after the global music event that saw five Indians bag the coveted prize this year.
“These kinds of feelings can’t be described in words because it’s a matter of honour and privilege.
“The Grammys stage is the epitome of world music recognition. I was very happy and blessed to be a small part of this recognition and the fact that Indian music was appreciated worldwide. That’s a great feeling. I’d like to thank god for giving me this opportunity,” the vocalist told PTI in an interview.
Shakti also includes founding member, guitarist John McLaughlin, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram.
“You’re completely blacked out when the name is announced. You have to walk that whole passage and go up the stage,” Mahadevan, part of the music composer trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, said.
“And over here (at the Grammys), it’s got all kinds of mixed feelings. As the award function is going on you’re analysing, ‘This will happen, that will happen. Oh maybe, maybe not!’ It’s crazy. But it was a feeling of absolute elation and joy. We were just celebrating from the word go,” he added.
It was also sheer coincidence that Mahadevan’s Grammy win and his authorised biography “The Musical Maverick released the same day on February 5. The book is penned by Ashis Ghatak and published by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
“I was so happy that these two dates merged together and my dear friend Ashis Ghatak’s hard work finally saw the light of the day…
Veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar, a frequent collaborator of Mahadevan’s since the hit indie-pop album Breathless”, has penned the foreword of the biography. (PTI)
