You win some, you lose some: Ricky Kej

Despite a disheartening loss at the 2025 Grammy Awards yesterday, Bengaluru-based musician, three-time Grammy winner and padma shri awardee Ricky Kej and first-time nominee Varijashree Venugopal are resiliently forging ahead
You win some, you lose some: Ricky Kej
Ricky Kej
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After attending 11 Grammy Awards ceremonies, being nominated for four and winning three, the glamorous evening is still an exciting time for musician and environmentalist, Ricky Kej (43). Inspite of this being his first Grammy loss, with a nomination for the album Break of Dawn in the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album category, Ricky is not disheartened but determined to continue working on ensuring the message of his album reaches more people.

“Of course, you win some, you lose some — the album was not made for a Grammy but to promote mental wellness. I’m going to carry on promoting this through the album. The journey of music will continue as always but maybe with a little more vigour,” says the musician, who is still basking in the glory of being selected for the padma shri 2025.

Ricky soaked in the experience of attending the Grammy Awards — watching performances by top performers from all over the world — with Sabrina Carpenter, Chris Martin, The Weeknd and Béla Fleck performing this year. “You just have to come to the Grammys and you’ll know what is going on in the world of music, the world of live performances and live performance technology because it’s the very best of the best.

It’s very exciting to learn how the industry is moving forward,” says Ricky proudly, who literally wore his heritage on his sleeve. On a Grammy red carpet dominated by evening gowns and black suits, he sported an outfit celebrating traditional Indian wear by Bengaluru-based designer Bharath Jain of 108 Bespoke. “He designed a beautiful bandhgala jacket and dhoti for me. I also wore a handloom shawl made in Belgaum and earrings inspired by Rajasthan. So it was a beautiful, very Indian ensemble and I was honoured to wear it and represent my country.”

It takes a lot of effort to even be seen: carnatic singer and flautist Varijashree Venugopal

Bengaluru-based carnatic singer and flautist Varijashree Venugopal (33) was nominated for the first time for her collaboration with Anoushka Shankar and Jacob Collier on the latter’s track A Rock Somewhere. The singer, who was hoping to win in the Best Global Music Performance category, is set to return home with a nominee medal.

“It’s a matter of pride to represent such a diverse and rich music culture like India’s. There were about five or six people of Indian origin who had secured nominations this year and being one of them is definitely a matter of honour,” she shares from Los Angeles.

Varijashree Venugopal
Varijashree Venugopal

For her, the highlight was meeting her musician-friends and collaborators, the who’s who of independent music. “I did have some time that I could spend with Anoushka (Shankar), Jacob (Collier) and a few other very dear friends including incredible artistes like Hamilton de Holanda, who is an amazing mandolin player from Brazil; Michael League from the band Snarky Puppy. All of these people were also nominated in other categories; and Béla Fleck, an extraordinary and legendary banjo artist from Nashville. It was great meeting up with them,” she says.

Apart from feeling pride at representing her country internationally, Varijashree sees the nomination as a personal milestone too. She says, “It marks a very special milestone in my journey, especially as an independent female Indian artiste. I come from a very humble background of carnatic classical music with both my parents being musicians who inducted me into it when I was four years old. It’s been a fulfilling three decades of learning, expanding, exploring global genres and trying to experiment with my voice,” she shares, adding, “The independent music scene is not easy. It takes a lot of effort, not just to make music, find your own sound and protect your artistic identity but even to be seen. Amidst all of this, I feel things like this are a reassuring and beautiful reminder that great things happen, good things exist, and hard work will never go unnoticed.”

Written by: Mahima Nagaraju

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