They say that you should never meet your heroes, but for Laufey, perhaps it’s more a case of ‘you should never play cello with one of your heroes on a slippery stage at The Grammys.’
In a recent interview with Vernon Kay in BBC Radio 2’s Piano Room, the Icelandic singer-songwriter revealed that she was part of the ensemble cast during Joel’s performance of Turn the Lights Back On, his comeback single, at the 2024 Recording Academy awards ceremony, and was delighted to be part of it.
“I played cello, and it was nice because I felt like I just got to be a musician that day,” she explains. “I was already so nervous, and to get to sit with a string quartet and play felt just… it felt like I was reminded of why I’m there and my purpose. And I felt of use, in a way.”
Indeed she was, but Laufey – who also plays piano and guitar – wasn’t quite prepared when the performance started.
“The Grammy stage changes are so fast, and nobody put a thing down for my cello [some kind of anti-skid device, we’re guessing] to stop the pin, so the whole time, if you watch closely, the cello’s slipping and I’m like pulling it up while playing. It was so embarrassing.
“I think I faked it but it didn’t sound that great.”
Watching the footage back, we can see Laufey in the background but there are no obvious mishaps, so we’d say that she managed to style it out pretty successfully. And despite her embarrassment, it seems that she looks back on her Joel jam with fondness, and remains in awe of his talent.
“Great storyteller, amazing pianist – I mean, obviously, he is the piano man – but even to get to rehearse with him, seeing him change from playing Beethoven to jazz to his new song, I was like ‘Wow, this is really cool’. I love when musicians are also really good musicians, if that makes sense.
“It’s one thing to be a really good pianist, it’s another thing to be a really good songwriter and another thing to be a really good singer, and he’s all three, and I always marvel at that.”
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