Even in drenching rain there are Grammy parties galore all over LA this week.
On Wednesday night we hit the Billboard Power 100 party at Neuehouse, where Taylor Swift was crowned powerful person in the record business
Swift was a no-show but singer Noah Kahan was, introducing Republic Records leaders Monte and Avery Lipman. Also on hand were the three members of hot group boygenius including Phoebe Bridgers. Everyone got to meet newish Billboard editor Hannah Karp, who emceed the event with aplomb and may be the most stylish EIC the magazine has ever had.
I got my picture taken with Flava Flav.
The centerpiece of the evening was the bestowing of the Clive Davis Visionary Award by SZA, who was introduced by the legend it was named for. It’s the first of many Clive Davis events and sightings over Grammy weekend, and he spoke eloquently for the music biz. SZA then eloquently gave the visionary award to her very canny label chiefs and managers, Terrence “Punch” Henderson and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. I think they were knocked out that the most famous music man in the world toasted them!
Later, some people went over to the popular spot Bar Lis, where Republic and the Lipmans celebrated being the biggest record label in the land. (That was Wednesday. The next day UMG announced a lot of organizational changes that are still being sorted out.) Shania Twain and Kim Petras were among the artists who made the scene.
Here’s the scoop on Cher’s ice cream: Thursday brought the Warner Music party, with performances by Teddy Swims (he sang a raw R&B cover of “Don’t Stop Believing”) and by Charlie XCX. But the big news of the night was the arrival of Cher, who set up an ice cream stand featuring her Cherlato in four flavors. You can’t actually buy this stuff anywhere. Last summer Cher sent a food truck around town for people to try it. Because of the weather, the truck isn’t running right now.
I wanted to get a picture of Cher scooping ice cream, but she and 28 year old boyfriend Alexander Edwards took a throne position in the club — called Citizen News (owned by the Bar Lis people) — with David Guetta and ten bodyguards. I don’t know if the great pop songstress and Oscar winner tasted the product, but it was quite yummy and a big hit.
So was the Warner party, where I ran into Warner chiefs Tom Corson and Aaron Bay Schuck, as well the company’s owner, Len Blavatnik., film director Brett Ratner, Josh Groban, Bebe Rexha, the very colorful Lauren Daigle (great voice and cool oufit), and hot younger singer Gael, who’s still only 19 and has had a couple of hits. (She’s going places.)
