It was a disappointment for scores of Indians that the name of legendary Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar was not included in the 'In Memoriam' section of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. The award ceremony was held at Las Vegas on Monday morning, April 4. The Academy Awards had left out Mangeshkar from its homage segment as well.
Their fans took to Twitter to criticise the Recording Academy, the institution that conducts Hollywood's biggest musical awards night, for omitting Mangeshkar's name. Calling out the Grammys for honouring only American music, a user said the event felt "futile and insignificant."
"A little unrelated, but when they were paying tributes to artists who passed away this year and there was no mention of Lata Mangeshkar - India's most loved singer, it all felt so futile and insignificant. These shows have no regard for 'global' music - only American."
A little unrelated, but when they were paying tributes to artists who passed away this year and there was no mention of Lata Mangeshkar- India's most loved singer, it all felt so futile and insignificant. These shows have no regard for 'global' music- only American. https://t.co/P0duW3SDPM
— min yoongi month⁷ (@shugi_93) April 4, 2022
Another wrote, "So both the Oscars and the Grammys failed to honor the late great Lata Mangeshkar in their respective memoriam segments? That's a shame. #GrammyAwards #Oscars."
So both the Oscars and the Grammys failed to honor the late great Lata Mangeshkar in their respective memoriam segments? That's a shame. #GrammyAwards #Oscars
— Alok Verma (@vermaao) April 4, 2022
Another user on Twitter also pointed out that it was not just Mangeshkar, but the Grammys also left out veteran music composer Bappi Lahiri. Lahiri died of obstructive sleep apnea on January 15, at age 69, days after Mangeshkar's demise.
The 'In Memoriam' segment of the Grammys paid tributes to legendary drummer of Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins, Hollywood acting greats Sidney Poitier and Betty White, singer-actors Meat Loaf, Vicente Fernandez, jazz composer Chick Corea, among many others. According to ETOnline, while the show reportedly began with a list of hundreds of names to possibly include, the length of the segment required them to pare down the final list of those to be included. A much more comprehensive list is featured on the Grammys website, which also does not mention Mangeshkar or Lahiri.
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Academy Awards, had also left out cinema icon Dilip Kumar from its 'In Memoriam' list. However, at its 2022 edition the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) featured Mangeshkar in the 'In Memoriam' segment and described the music icon as "an Indian playback singer, who recorded an estimated 25,000 songs for more than 1,000 Hindi films over a career spanning 70 years."