Queen and the awards.

I've just found out a piece of data that really shocked me. But first of all, let me start off with the recognition of a very professional and honest people inside The Recording Academy and other stuff, some of them my personal friends, by the way. However, I have to make a point in spite of that.

Do you know, dear musicians and readers in general, how many Grammy nominations had the super band Queen? Yes, the same Queen of "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Bicycle Race" and dozens of other mega hits. 10 times? 20 times? ...Let me inform you, that Queen has been nominated to the Grammy just one, only one time in 1980, thanks to "Another one bites the dust", not one of the material which the band is known for (by the way), and you know what happened? They lost to Bob Seger's "Against the wind" (Have no idea what song is that, by the way). Can someone explain me what in the world is happening, that an icon of modern music, a symbol of Rock, a band which was a defining element of entertainment; basically, a hub of music, artistry and inspiration, a group of musicians that have spent 27 years continuously in the UK charts, more times than The Beatles and Elvis Presley, a band that has sold so far more than 300 millions copies worldwide, the only band in which every member has composed more than one chart-topping single, the same band that was voted in 1999 the 2nd greatest band in music history. How is it possible that those guys were nominated for the arguably most important music award of the entire world only one time? I know, it happened also with Jorge Luis Borges and the Nobel Prize and a lot of actors and actresses with the Oscar or The Guild.

My point is, the value of an artist, whatever field it happens to be, is the value itself of his/her effort and career, whatever it may be, as long as it is a clean and somehow a "spiritual productive" career (I know personally a lot of that kind of artists), and not because of a particular acknowledgment; and for some reason, people are transforming, tweaking the chain of facts and putting the acknowledgments before the artistry and unfortunately or fortunately, it is the other way around, meaning that any award you may have is not what defines you. I know, we all need, as artists, recognition, acknowledgement, that's part of the deal when we become artists or entertainers, we actually need it in order to continue our journey, we need motivation, I know that and I agree, but what we must not become is a bunch a award-looking freaks that are looking for the award per-se instead of the actual accomplishments of any given artist.

People, let's see and appreciate the real things, the real virtues, the art itself and let's try not to be blinded by any little golden statue that at the end of the day, doesn't necessarily mean how much any creative artist has given to the audiences, even in a small rotten bar in the suburbs or in large arenas, because at that very moment, when an artist is performing, that subtle trance we get involve with, is what really defines the outcome of a real artist.

So, next time you meet with an artist, try to find out his/her really artistry and not how many Grammys, Oscars, Nobels, or whatever award he/she may have hidden in their pockets.

Remember, at the end of the day, the goal is just have fun.