Wayne's Words

Call me old-fashioned, but my favorite part of the Grammy awards was the Lynyrd Skynyrd segment, a roaring "Free Bird" followed by an impassioned "Sweet Home Alabama." It was good to see the country acts—Tim McGraw, Gretchen Wilson and Keith Urban—getting a chance to rock out, to break with the stifling radio format they have to navigate in their day jobs. And I thought the tux-and-gown live audience was moved by it too: a reminder that a great rock and roll guitar music still has the capacity to move even the most jaded.

I also enjoyed Queen Latifah, the always amiable, never pushy host. And watching her sing some big band blues made me realize that she's yet another rapper who played the role in order to get the chance to express a much larger talent. (Mos Def is most definitely another).

In fact, I'm going to go along with the noted Irish rock critic Bono, who said at one point something like, "this is a really good show." It really was.