ALL THAT REMAINS singer Phil Labonte says that he wasn't surprised to see so many of his colleagues expressing their disapproval over the fact that his bandmate Oli Herbert was omitted from the "In Memoriam" segment on this year's Grammy telecast. HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale, who was one of the presenters at the event, was particularly outspoken about the snub, also calling out the Grammys for failing to acknowledge HELLYEAH's Vinnie Paul Abbott and WE CAME AS ROMANS' Kyle Pavone. In a brand new interview with the "BREWtally Speaking" podcast, Labonte said that that he was thankful to see people like Lzzy sticking up for the metal genre at a time when hip-hop is dominating the music industry and airwaves. "There's a lot of really good people in the metal community," he said. "There's a lot of really thoughtful, warm, sweet human beings, and Lzzy is the perfect person to lead that charge. As a heavy rock ambassador, I'd follow her to the ends of the earth. I can't come up with anyone better than Lzzy Hale. And I'm not surprised that the Grammys did what they did. Not that I have any expectation to ever be nominated for a Grammy, but I think Randy [Blythe] did the right thing — Randy from LAMB OF GOD. He didn't go [to the Grammy Awards when his band was nominated], and he auctioned off [his Grammy medallion that he won for the LAMB OF GOD song 'Redneck']. Because metal is subversive. Metal is supposed to be for the people that don't want to fit in, that don't care if they fit in. So when people get upset because the metal community is shunned, to me, I'm just like, 'Screw them. Why do you care? They've crapped on us forever.' The Grammys have screwed up every single time since METALLICA and JETHRO TULL. Why would you expect them to do it right this time? So, as far as I'm concerned, I'm not surprised. And for the people that did care, I'm sorry that they were kind of bummed out. Maybe I'm a little cynical, but I don't expect the Grammys to get anything right at all — at least when it comes to metal. So, no big surprise to me. They just did what they do normally, which is blow it." This year, The Recording Academy recognized Mac Miller, who passed away last September at the age of 26, and Avicii, the Swedish DJ and EDM producer who passed back in April. The Recording Academy didn't completely forget about Abbott, Herbert and Pavone, as they were listed — along with several hundred other musicians and folks important to the industry — on the Grammy.com web site under the "Recording Academy Remembers Those We Lost: Grammy In Memoriam" section.
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