Last weekend played host to the 67th Grammy Awards, during which the likes of St Vincent, Andrew Watt, Gojira and other guitar acts all scored big wins.
Aside from the glittering awards and emotional speeches, the evening’s itinerary also included a number of stand-out performances, with Joe Bonamassa, Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars and more all taking the stage at various points.
Perhaps the most intriguing performance, though, came from Grace Bowers and Chris Martin, as the rock/funk/blues electric guitar wunderkind teamed up with the Coldplay frontman for an awe-inspiring performance of All My Love.
The song – lifted from Coldplay’s 2024 record Moon Music – was performed without Martin’s bandmates, and its Grammys run-out was dedicated to the memories of a number of musicians we recently lost, including late punk pioneer Steve Albini and One Direction frontman Liam Payne.
Bowers, her Gibson SG and her spell-binding solo chops were on hand to help a piano-positioned Martin – and a string section – navigate the powerful memorial moment, and although a full clip is yet to be posted online, a snippet from Bowers’ Instagram shows off a snippet of her lead passage.
Leaning away from the out-and-out rock licks for which she’s become so revered over the past year, Bowers instead showed a more cinematic side to her playing, conjuring up anthemic, reverb-soaked and delay-tinged runs that tug at the heartstrings.
The experience and sheer prestige of playing the Grammys stage with Chris Martin surrounded by the music world’s most influential names was not lost on Bowers, who explained in the accompanying Instagram caption that the performance took her somewhat by surprise.
“A few days ago I got a text from @flytetymejam (Jimmy Jam, producer) asking me if he could send my name over to an ‘artist’ for a ‘show,’” she wrote. “Long story short it ended up being Chris Martin from @coldplay who graciously invited me to play the Grammys.
“The honor is not lost on me, and being in a room with all these amazing artists was insane. Thank you Chris and Jimmy for giving me this opportunity, I’ll never forget it!”
It was perhaps Bowers’ most high profile performance to date, and yet another milestone in her skyrocketing guitar career. It certainly gets her 2025 off to a flying start, after she spent much of 2024 establishing herself as one of the finest young guitar talents of her time.
“I feel like an old soul in a young body,” Bowers told Guitar World when discussing her whirlwind year. “People tell me I was born in the wrong era, but I think the reverse is true.
“I love music from the ’60s and ’70s, and I want to update it for current times. I see people my own age in the audience, and their minds are blown. I’m making this stuff sound new to them.”
As mentioned, the 67th Grammys proved to be a successful night for those flying the flag for guitar music. St. Vincent bagged Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Song and Best Alternative Music Performance, while Gojira went home with the Best Metal Performance award thanks to their showing at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
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