Daft Punk, Kendrick Lamar to play at 2014 Grammys
LOS ANGELES: French electronic dance act Daft Punk will play at the 2014 Grammys show next month, organizers said Thursday, confirming a rare performance by the elusive duo.
Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons will also take the stage at the January 26 show, music's version of the Oscars, said organizers the Recording Academy.
Daft Punk have not played since the release of their smash hit album "Random Access Memories" in May, despite persistent rumors of a tour. They cancelled a planned TV appearance in August.
It will be their first TV performance since they appeared at the Grammys in 2008, said the Academy, announcing the first group of confirmed performers for the 56th annual Grammy Awards show.
Nominees P!nk and Nate Ruess will also perform together, for the first time on network television, while there will also be a "Grammy moment" featuring veterans Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Blake Shelton.
Grammys performers are typically announced at regular intervals in the weeks before in the weeks before the show. Veteran headliners in recent years have included Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney.
Veteran rapper Jay-Z tops nominees for the Grammys with nine nods, while Lamar was in joint second place with seven nominations, along with rapper Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams. Nominations were announced on December 6.
Country music legend Kristofferson is among seven acts announced last week as recipients of lifetime achievement awards, which they will get in the week before the Grammys show. The Beatles, the Isley Brothers and electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk are also among the honorees.
Tinseltown's annual awards season got into full swing last week with the announcement of nominees for the Golden Globes, the second biggest movie prizes after the Oscars. The Globes will be held on January 12 and the Oscars on March 2.
