DREAM THEATER's JAMES LABRIE Says He Had To Sign A Contract Before Receiving His GRAMMY Statue

DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie spoke to The Heavy Hooks Show about the band winning its first-ever Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, which was held in April at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. DREAM THEATER was nominated for "The Alien", a track from its 2021 album "A View From The Top Of The World". DREAM THEATER's previous Grammy nominations were for the song "On The Backs Of Angels", from 2011's "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" album, and the single "The Enemy Inside" from 2013's "Dream Theater".

After joking that he "already sold" his Grammy on eBay," LaBrie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Do you know that you have to sign a waiver [before you get the Grammy statue]? They send you a contract — it's whatever, a document — and you have to sign it. And in that document, the literature reads that if you are ever… 'Cause there's a serial number with each Grammy, obviously, and if it's found that you sold that particular Grammy, you will be fined — severely… They're not saying [how much the fine would be]. I don't know. I have no idea. But I would imagine it would be severe enough, not to mention embarrassing. And why the hell would you want to? I guess with somebody like Bruce Springsteen — what does he have, like, frickin' 20 Grammys? But still, at the same time, it's something to be proud of."

Grammy-giving authority the National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences requires winners to sign a contract of sorts which forbids them to sell their prizes, though they may be passed on within the family when that particular artist dies

Several years ago, NARAS's publicist Jerry Sharell confirmed to the news site Vocativ that each Grammy statue is "legally owned by the organization" and that the artist only has the right of possession. The verbiage in that agreement explicitly states that by accepting the award, you agree that it is "for your own personal, noncommercial purposes” and that "sale, auction, public exhibition, reproduction or other public or commercial exploitation of the Statuette," without permission from the Academy, is prohibited.

A few days after DREAM THEATER won its Grammy, LaBrie told Myglobalmind about the experience: "Well, it was overwhelming, the feeling, and it was quite surreal and it took a while for it to sink in — I think a couple of days before I was, like, 'Wow. Okay. So this actually did happen. I guess the third time's the charm, 'cause we were nominees a couple of times before for 'On The Backs Of Angels' and 'The Enemy Inside'.

"When it happened and our name was called and then [DREAM THEATER guitarist] John [Petrucci] went up on stage, I thought he did an amazing acceptance speech," he continued. "He was well poised and well worded, as always; he's a very intelligent individual.

"It's an amazing feeling. I guess it's another level of recognition for us and another feather in our cap, so to speak," LaBrie added. "But, no, it's just a great feeling and it's affirmation as to the kind of band that we are and how we've been around for some time. And it's good to get that recognition from the Grammy [Awards]."