Distinctive Assets founder Lash Fary, a swag veteran who has curated the Grammy Awards gift bag for 22 years, said the Recording Academy wanted this year’s offerings (gifted to performers and presenters) to reflect the current times.

What they will get is the Grammys’ most inclusive and diverse gift bags to-date, “representing companies owned and operated by individuals across race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, persons with disabilities and beyond.” It’s a gesture Fary said his team has been naturally shifting toward over the past five or so years as companies and brands have centered social responsibility.

While many of the goods and products inside come from BIPOC-led brands, others come from corporations that have made philanthropic commitments to relevant causes. For example, inside the bag recipients will find new Ruffles Flamin’ Hot BBQ potato chips. Ruffles owner Pepsico recently committed $400 million as part of a five-year plan to advance and support Black communities.

Fary declined to specify the value of the gift bags and would only say that the “real value is that we’re elevating and shining a light on these diverse brands.” He would say that the value is commensurate with previous years and that close to 100 will be doled out to VIPs. (WWD reported that the bags are valued at more than $5,000 each.) And speaking of delivery, to honor COVID-19 protocols and keep contact at a minimum, the bags will be delivered or mailed to show participants rather than exchanged in a suite, as is typical.

Grammy Awards host Trevor Noah is also represented in the bags via a Bonfire and Trevor Noah Foundation collaboration that features a T-shirt and tote bag set. Featuring designs by South African artists and currently for sale by the Trevor Noah Foundation on Bonfire.com, 100 percent of proceeds help the Trevor Noah Foundation in its mission of bringing education to children in South Africa.

With dozens of products included, it’s a challenge to list them all, but highlights include: luxury tea essentials from Cup of Té, a tea company founded by Taylor Lindsay-Noel, a disabled Black entrepreneur who was a world-class gymnast in her teens before a life-altering accident; handmade bath and body products from luxury brand Hotsy Totsy Haus, a company founded by deaf single mother Christi Leonardi; pumpkin and peanut butter handmade dog cookies from Wags Cookies made by Emily Ainsworth, who battles dysautonomia and chronic pain; and HGC Apparel’s “Respect Protect Love the Black Woman” scarf, which serves as a celebration of Black culture from founder Marcia Smith. Plus, PETA partnered with Save the Duck for a high-tech, down-free vegan coat; Once Upon a Blume’s Change Maker Village, an anti-racist children’s book whose sales support the NAACP; and Unis Brand’s 3D-printed sneakers that feature entirely recycled materials like water bottles and refurbished linens.

“Giving gifts is always a lovely thing, even in the worst of times,” Fary explains. “With the coronavirus pandemic, systemic racism and the Black Lives Matter movement, there’s so much going on in the world, it would be irresponsible of us to put together a gift bag for a global music event like the Grammys and not acknowledge what’s happening in the world. … From the outside looking in, it looks like an amazingly fun gift bag, and then when you look closer, it’s so heartwarming.”

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

Willie Nelson’s new Frank Sinatra-inspired album That’s Life opens at No. 1 on Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart (dated March 13). It’s his third leader on the list. The set also bows atop the Traditional Jazz Albums tally — his fourth No. 1 there. (On both charts, Sinatra himself is runner-up at No. 2, with his popular 2015 hits set Ultimate Sinatra.)

That’s Life launches with just under 12,500 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 4, according to MRC Data. Of that sum, 12,000 are in traditional album sales.

The Jazz Albums and Traditional Jazz Albums charts rank the most popular jazz albums, and traditional jazz albums, respectively, of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Nelson’s That’s Life is his second jazz covers set of songs made famous by Sinatra, following 2018’s My Way. On the all-genre Billboard 200, That’s Life bows at No. 58, marking Nelson’s 81st chart entry.

That’s Life features familiar favorites like “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “You Make Me Feel So Young,” “Luck Be a Lady” and “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning.”

Of That’s Life’s 12,500 units earned, 12,000 comprise album sales, 500 comprise SEA units (equating to 626,000 on-demand streams of the set’s songs in its first week) and a negligible number comprise TEA. Of the album’s 12,000 copies sold, 8,000 were via CD and 2,000 came via vinyl LP. The remaining 2,000 were digital albums. That’s Life also debuts at No. 18 on the Vinyl Albums chart and No. 20 on the Tastemaker Albums chart. (The latter list ranks the top-selling albums of the week at independent and small chain record stores.)

Nelson previously hit No. 1 on Jazz Albums with Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin (three weeks at No. 1, 2016) and Two Men With the Blues (with Wynton Marsalis, four weeks at No. 1 in 2008). On Traditional Jazz Albums, he topped the tally with Summertime (five weeks), Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles (with Marsalis, featuring Norah Jones, five weeks at No. 1 in 2011) and Two Men (four weeks).

Nelson’s chart history continues to be wide and varied across Billboard’s charts. Of course, the country king has logged a staggering array of hits on the Top Country Albums and Hot Country Songs chart (with 17 and 20 No. 1s, respectively). In addition, he’s logged No. 1s on Jazz Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums, Reggae Albums and Americana/Folk Albums. He’s also notched top 10 efforts on Kid Albums, Blues Albums and the Billboard 200.

Multiple writers have been added to the Grammy submission for Roddy Ricch’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “The Box,” which is nominated for three honors including best rap song and song of the year, one of the show’s top prizes.

When the Recording Academy announced its nominees in November, only Ricch and Samuel Gloade (aka 30 Roc) were listed as the writers of the megahit, which is competing for two Grammys specifically reserved for songwriters.

But later four additional writers — Larrance Dopson, Adarius Moragne (aka Datboisqueeze), Khirye Anthony Tyler and Aqeel Qadir Tate (aka Zentachi) — were added to the Grammy submission for “The Box.”

The submission was altered a second time, with Zentachi removed as a co-writer and Eric Sloan added.

It was not clear why the writers were originally left off the song, or why Zentachi was removed and Sloan was added. Ricch’s representative at Atlantic said the label had no comment.

Sloan is the only one of those who is listed as a writer of “The Box” with the Grammys but is not credited on Spotify, BMI’s website or Atlantic Records production notes about the song.

When the ballots went out for the first round of voting — to determine Grammy nominees — only Ricch and 30 Roc appeared as writers of “The Box.” It is unclear if the two names, or the current six nominees, were listed on the ballot for the final round of voting, which determines Grammy winners.

Three of the added writers of “The Box” — Datboisqueeze, Tyler and Sloan — are first-time nominees. Dopson won the best R&B song Grammy in 2019 for co-writing Ella Mai’s massive hit “Boo’d Up.”

The 63rd annual Grammy Awards will air live on Sunday (Mar. 14) at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS, Paramount+ and Grammy.com. Online viewers can also stream CBS with free trials on fuboTV and Sling TV. (Billboard may receive affiliate commission through links on our site.)

Adele will share custody of her 8-year-old son and won’t be paying child support to her now-ex-husband Simon Konecki, according to divorce documents obtained Wednesday (March 10) by The Associated Press.

The couple separated in August of 2019, and Adele filed for divorce the following month. A Los Angeles judge finalized the divorce last week.

According to the documents, the 32-year-old Adele and the 46-year-old Konecki used mediation to amicably reach the terms of the split. Both waived the right to seek spousal support, and both agreed to joint legal and physical custody of son Angelo, who was born in 2012. The papers say they will seek to resolve any issues without litigation.

Adele kept her original legal name, Adele Adkins, during her marriage.

The British singing superstar married Konecki, co-founder of Life Water, an eco-friendly brand of bottled water, in May of 2018, according to court documents. But she referred to him as “my husband” during a Grammy acceptance speech in 2017, and the two had been a couple for several years when they wed.

Alice Cooper crowns Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 13) as the rock legend’s latest studio album Detroit Stories debuts at No. 1. It’s the first chart-topper for Cooper in the 29-year history of the Top Album Sales chart.

Detroit Stories leads a very busy Top Album Sales chart, where seven albums debut in the top 10.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now MRC Data. Pure album sales were the measurement solely utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Detroit Stories sold 13,000 copies across all available formats (CD, vinyl LP, digital download) in the week ending March 4, according to MRC Data. Of that starting sum, 9,500 were sold via CD and 2,000 came via vinyl LP. The remaining 1,500 were digital albums.

The album also starts at No. 1 on the Tastemaker Albums chart, which ranks the top-selling albums at independent and small chain music stores. Thirty-eight percent of the album’s first-week total sales (5,000) came via indie and small chains.

On the all-genre Billboard 200, Detroit Stories bows at No. 47, marking the act’s 27th chart entry, stretching back to 1969’s Pretties for You. (From 1969 through 1973, Alice Cooper charted six albums as a band. Then, from 1975 onwards, Cooper charted as a soloist.)

Detroit Stories also debuts at No. 2 on Hard Rock Albums, No. 5 on Top Rock Albums, No. 7 on Independent Albums and No. 18 on Vinyl Albums.

The new top 10 of the Top Album Sales chart is crowded with debuts from veteran acts and chart legends Willie Nelson (No. 2, That’s Life; 12,000 sold), Bob Dylan with George Harrison (No. 4, 1970; 11,000), Neil Young With Crazy Horse (No. 5, Way Down In the Rust Bucket; 9,000) and NOFX (No. 7, Single Album; 7,000). Nelson’s Billboard chart history dates to 1962, while Dylan made his chart debut in 1963. Harrison first dented the charts as one-quarter of The Beatles in 1964. He notched his first solo hit in 1969. Young initially reached Billboard’s charts as part of the band Buffalo Springfield in 1967 and later as a soloist in 1969. NOFX has a comparatively shorter chart history, as the rock band first hit the Billboard charts in 1994.

Nelson’s That’s Life is his second jazz covers set of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, following 2018’s My Way. That’s Life also debuts at No. 1 on Traditional Jazz Albums and the overall Jazz Albums chart, Nelson’s fourth and third No. 1s on the tallies, respectively. On the Billboard 200, That’s Life bows at No. 58, marking Nelson’s 81st chart entry.

At No. 3 on Top Album Sales, singer-songwriter Julien Baker bows with her third studio album, Little Oblivions. The set launches with nearly 12,000 sold and marks her first top 10 and biggest sales week yet. It also enters at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 — her first top 40-charting effort on that list. Little Oblivions also debuts at No. 1 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart, and at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart (8,500 sold — 73% of the album’s overall first-week sales).

Little Oblivions also makes a splash on a number of other charts, including debuts at No. 2 on Tastemaker Albums, No. 4 on Top Rock Albums, No. 5 on Alternative Albums and No. 5 on Independent Albums.

Dylan’s 1970 compilation is part of his ongoing archival release series of previously unreleased recordings, and starts with 11,000 sold. Harrison is billed as a special guest on the project, as it boasts nine tracks recorded with Harrison in 1970. The album also starts at No. 3 on Tastemaker Albums, No. 4 on Americana/Folk Albums, No. 10 on Top Rock Albums and No. 76 on the Billboard 200.

Young With Crazy Horse’s live album Way Down in the Rust Bucket starts at No. 5 with 9,000 sold. The set captures the act’s Nov 13, 1990, concert at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, Calif. Way Down also debuts at No. 4 on Tastemaker Albums, No. 5 on Americana/Folk Albums, No. 15 on Top Rock Albums and No. 109 on the Billboard 200.

BTS’ Be falls from No. 1 to No. 6 with just over 7,000 sold (down 74%), following the album’s surge back to the top of the list a week ago. It jumped back to No. 1 after the 2020 album was issued on Feb. 19 in a new deluxe CD package.

Rock band NOFX captures its first top 10 on the Top Album Sales chart with the No. 7 arrival of Single Album (7,000 sold). The set is the group’s 14th full-length studio album, and first since 2016’s First Ditch Effort. The new effort also debuts at No. 2 on Vinyl Albums, No. 13 on Alternative Albums, No. 29 on Top Rock Albums and No. 26 on Independent Albums.

The Black Crowes’ smash debut album Shake Your Money Maker re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 9 following its 30th-anniversary reissue on Feb. 26. The 1990 album was re-released and remastered in multiple formats bolstered with unreleased songs, B-sides and live tracks. All versions of the album are tracked together on the chart. In total, the album sold just under 7,000 copies in the week ending March 4 — up 4,107%.

Shake Your Money Maker debuted on the Billboard 200 chart dated March 24, 1990, and peaked at No. 4 (on April 6, 1991) and was last on the chart dated May 15, 1993. It spent 165 weeks on the list in that span of time.

Shake Your Money Maker has sold 5 million copies in the U.S., according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The set launched five hit singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart between 1990 and 1991: “Jealous Again” (No. 5), “Twice as Hard” (No. 11), “Hard to Handle” (No. 1 for two weeks), “She Talks to Angels” (No. 1 for one week) and “Seeing Things” (No. 2).

Shake Your Money Maker re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 110, and debuts at No. 5 on Tastemaker Albums, No. 6 on Hard Rock Albums, No. 16 on Top Rock Albums and No. 12 on Vinyl Albums. (It debuts on those latter four charts as all of them were launched many years after Shake completed in its initial run on the charts back in the early 1990s.)

British rock band Architects debuts at No. 9 on the Top Album Sales chart, as the group’s new studio set For Those That Wish to Exist bows with a little under 7,000 copies sold. It’s the ninth studio effort for the band and first top 10. The set also bows at No. 4 on Hard Rock Albums, No. 11 on Top Rock Albums, No. 11 on Independent Albums, No. 17 on Tastemaker Albums and No. 80 on the Billboard 200.

Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album rounds out the new top 10 on the Top Album Sales chart, as it falls 3-10 with 6,500 copies sold (down 4%).