As part of the 67th Grammy Awards ceremony at Crypto.com arena, Los Angeles, the annual ‘In Memoriam’ segment paid tribute to musicians who passed away in the past year. The segment honored the likes of Liam Payne, Kris Kristofferson, Cissy Houston, and Tito Jackson.
Joe Chambers, Jack Jones, Mary Martin, Marianne Faithfull, Seiji Ozawa, and Ella Jenkins were not left out either. However, many more notable musicians were omitted from the tribute, continuing a pattern observed in previous years.
Which celebrities were omitted from the Grammys ‘In Memoriam’ 2025?
The In Memoriam segment did not include several significant figures from the music industry. Four-time Grammy winner Zakir Hussain — an acclaimed Indian tabla virtuoso known for his contributions to world music and collaborations with artists like Ravi Shankar and George Harrison, was notably absent from the honors. Slim Dunlap, the guitarist for The Replacements who also contributed to the band’s influential sound in the 1980s, was missing too.
Additionally, DJ and producer Mister Cee, who discovered The Notorious B.I.G. and shaped the hip-hop scene, was not mentioned. The original lead singer of Iron Maiden, Paul Di’Anno, who also played a significant role in the band’s early success, was not called.
Fans react to the omission of a four-time Grammy Award winner in the Grammys ‘In Memoriam’ 2025
Fans expressed their displeasure over the exclusion of Zakir Hussain from the ‘In Memoriam’ segment. Hussain passed away from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis last December after an impressive career that included winning three Grammy Awards that same year.
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One user said it was shameful that the Grammys would forget someone who won that many awards the previous year. “How come no mention of Zakir Hussain in Grammy obituary #Grammys2025 he was a winner last year,” they protested. “Shame not to see 4 time winner and multiple times nominee Zakir Hussain in the Grammy tribute to artists lost recently. Real shame,” another posted.