Adam Blackstone

The Man Behind the Music

Charlie Puth & John Legend Piano Performance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards

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“John Legend and Charlie Puth put their skills to the test in a dueling piano performance at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards. 

Facing off with back-to-back pianos, the pair performed some of each other’s biggest hits, with Legend giving his own rendition of “See You Again,” the first song he heard from Puth. The latter returned the favor, doing his own take The Voice coach’s hit “Ordinary People.” 

The duo performed a back-and-forth medley of some of their other hits, including Puth’s “We Don’t Talk Anymore” and “Attention” and Legend’s “Tonight” and “All of Me.” Not only are the two musicians superstars in their own right, but they are also writing partners. They took a break from the duel to debut their news track, “Dope,” before ending with Puth’s latest single “Light Switch.””

-Sarah Tate

Check out the full performance HERE.

Adam Blackstone Named Music Director of 2022 Oscars

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“Adam Blackstone joins the Oscars production team as the show’s music director. He has worked on individual performances on previous Oscar telecasts, namely Justin Timberlake’s show-opening performance of “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from Trolls five years ago and Keala Settle’s performance of “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman four years ago.

Will Packer, producer of the 94th Academy Awards, announced 13 key members of his production team on Wednesday (March 9).”

–Paul Grein 

Check out the full article by Paul Grein HERE.

Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, And Kendrick Lamar Bring Hip-Hop To Super Bowl LVI with Musical Director Adam Blackstone

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Hip-Hop made its mark on the history of Super Bowl halftime shows. The highly-anticipated performance came to reality on Sunday night (Feb.13) at Inglewood, Calif.’s SoFi Stadium as the L.A. Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals played for the NFL championship title. You can watch the halftime show  with Musical Director Adam Blackstone and executive produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment, on the NFL’s official YouTube channel.

‘That’s My Jam’ Premiere

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After a well received sneak peek in November, That’s My Jam will premier for the season tonight at 9 pm on NBC. NBC’s new series That’s My Jam, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, will have its timeslot premiere on Monday. The hour-long show features celebrities competing in musical-themed challenges and is based on the music-themed segments of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

-Justin Carter

SNL 2021 with Ed Sheeran

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Adam Blackstone joins Ed Sheeran as Music Director for his performance on Saturday Night Live. They perform hits “Shivers” and “Overpass Grafitti.” They didn’t miss a beat as this flawless performance was full of energy and excellence. Check it out below!

NPR Tiny Desk Concert with Ed Sheeran

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Decked in a hoodie, cargo pants and coveted sneakers, a slimmed-down and clean-shaven Ed Sheeran stands surrounded by bookshelves and a host of world-class musicians. He’s flanked by music director to the stars, Adam Blackstone, who assembled the band and handled bass guitar duties. After opening this Tiny Desk (home) concert with his latest single, “Shivers,” Sheeran introduces himself and proceeds with more hits, new tunes, and a surprise throwback.

Willingboro’s Got Talent

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Some of the best talent Willingboro has to offer is on display in WHYY’s first-ever virtual talent showcase, judged by celebrity musicians – and Willingboro natives – Adam Blackstone and Rashid Williams, along with WHYY’s Joy Soto. Willingboro’s tap-dancing mayor, Dr. Tiffani Worthy, kicked off the show. 

The rest out the article can be found HERE!

Billboard Exclusive feat. Adam Blackstone

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Adam Blackstone sat down with the good people over at Billboard to discuss the importance of hiring a Music Director

When we’re prepping for a tour or concert, we’re thinking of a linear space. How does song one transition into song two, all the way through to song 16?” says Blackstone. “With virtual shows, you’re thinking about one song only, and what experience do I want to tell during this one song so that it stays on your mind?”

Check out the full interview HERE!

Emmy Watch 2020

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Brueggemann: I think what we do between Lenny, Leon [Pendarvis], and myself, it’s really unlike any other television show. We got a taste of what our fellow nominees go through in 2018 when we music-directed the Emmy awards. A lot of times the music direction nominees are from award shows or the Super Bowl or something like that, but what we do at SNL is really a different animal. It’s such a tight ship and everything is created, start to finish, from Tuesday to Saturday, so it’s a total honor being nominated alongside all of these amazing musical directors. I’ve always felt that what we do is not easily compared to what an Adam Blackstone does for the Super Bowl; it’s a completely different gig.

Check out the rest of Eli Brueggemann’s interview on Below the Line

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