Barry White Slams The Grammys

02/26/2000 7:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(2/26/00, 7 a.m. ET) - The good feelings between Barry White and the people behind the Grammy Awards have evaporated very quickly. After picking up two trophies on Wednesday(LAUNCH, 2/23) -- for best male R&B vocal performance and best traditional R&B vocal performance -- White was quoted saying, "It's nice to be recognized by my peers."

Now, however, White has lashed out at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the industry group that hands out the Grammys every year. White told Reuters, "I was thankful and everything, but it was a very short thankful, believe me." White, who's still upset at losing the best new artist of the year race to Bette Midler in 1974, then told the interviewer, "I should have got it. I was the best new artist... You don't forget things like that, man. You know there's something wrong. There's corruption or something going on." White also said he would remember what he sees as an injustice "'til the day I die. I'll never forget that, man."

It's not just Grammy voters that have drawn White's ire -- he reserves a special hatred for NARAS itself. He told Reuters, "It's not a fair organization. A lot of things determine who wins Grammys: record companies, how much money they give in their parties... it's all suspect to me. I know this industry. I know it well."

A spokesperson for NARAS responded, "We go to great lengths to ensure the voting process is secure and fair."-- Bruce Simon, New York

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