KEANE ON GRAMMYS, AVOIDS CURSE

Keane lost the Best New Artist Grammy Award last year to John Legend, and the band is nominated again and talks about their previous Grammy experience.

Keane is back in the mix for the forthcoming Grammy Awards to be held in February in Los Angeles. The band is nominated for the Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for the song “Is It Any Wonder?” The tune is up against songs from The Fray, Black Eyed Peas, Death Cab For Cutie, and Pussycat Dolls.

Keane said that some bands may seem blase about the Grammy Awards, but singer Tom Chaplin said that it’s a big deal to him.

“To get an acolade like that is a…would be amazing. It would be brilliant. I don’t think any band would deny that. Any band that says they don’t care about being recognized by fans or whoever it is, is lying to themselves, because it’s important, you know?”

Keane was previously nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy, but they lost out to John Legend. It is just as well as there’s an alleged curse that winners of the Grammy for that category don’t go on to furher success.

[Richard Hughes] “Yeah, there’s a curse of best new artist.” [Chaplin] “You can’t believe any of that stuff though. At the end of the day we didn’t win it, but I think we just get on with it and make music and hopefully… I don’t think it really matters in a way. It didn’t make us upset, but it would have been great to win.”

Win or lose if it’s anything like their last experience it should be fun. The band said their Best New Artist Grammy experience was one of the most surreal of their careers.

[Hughes] “Actually coming over to the Grammys was quite an experience just because like most things American, it’s just like everything to the max. I remember being interviewed by Joan Rivers while standing next to Terri Hatcher who was wearing something quite see-through, and I was thinking this is possibly the most surreal moment of my life.” [Chaplin] “Yeah there’s a kind of level of ambition and glamour that you don’t get at [the U.K.’s] Brit Awards in the way that everyone who turned up on the Green carpet, as soon as the camera started going you could see this amazing, perfect, white smile pose. The thing I found funniest about it was that everytime someone got out of a limo they had this collection of people slightly off to the side of the Green carpet who were paid, employed, to cheer and scream.” [Hughes] “Our manager got a huge cheer. He’s so popular out here.” [Chaplin] “He was dressed like John Legend so, I think that’s pro

At press time there was no word as to whether Keane would return to the awards this year. Meanwhile, Keane’s Chaplin is out of rehab and the band has rescheduled all the dates postponed due to his addictions. The band is touring in support of their latest album Under The Iron Sea.