At a time when the music industry was mourning the loss of Whitney Houston, rapper LL Cool J acted as an impromptu chaplain to those at the Grammys and millions of viewers. As the Grammys opened, many viewers were wondering how the Grammys would incorporate the tragic loss of Houston’s death.
LL opened with these words:
“Tonight, we ask ourselves: How do we speak to this time, to this day? There is no way around this – we’ve had a death in our family. And so at least, for me… the only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for a woman that we loved, for a fallen sister, Whitney Houston.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for sharing our sister Whitney with us. Today our thoughts are with her mother, her daughter and all of her loved ones. And although she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever. Amen.
That said, welcome to the 54th Grammy Awards.
