Last week, the Recording Academy added Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as arrangers of the classical-shaded treatment of The Rolling Stones’ rock classic “Paint It Black,” which was recorded for a memorable cello scene in the first episode of Netflix’s Wednesday. Jagger and Richards are now listed alongside Esin Aydingoz, Chris Bacon and Alana Da Fonseca, who had been listed as the arrangers of the track when the nominations for best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella were announced on Nov. 10.
Wednesday, which debuted on Netflix in November 2022, has also aired cello renditions of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and Dua Lipa’s “Physical.”
This is the first Grammy nomination as arrangers for Jagger and Richards. The rock legends have shared 15 nods over the years; Jagger has achieved two more on his own. Jagger and Richards are also nominated this year for best rock song for co-writing “Angry,” which was the lead single from Hackney Diamonds, the band’s first studio album of new material in 18 years.
The Stones’ original version of “Paint It Black” was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1966. (The title was originally shown as “Paint It, Black,” apparently due to a typo.)
This is the second time Jagger and Richards have been nominated for a Grammy on account of a new recording that borrowed from a Stones classic. At the 41st Grammy Awards in February 1999, they were nominated for best rock song for The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” which was based on a sample from a version of The Stones’ “The Last Time” by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” reached No. 12 on the Hot 100 in April 1998.
The Verve had obtained rights to use the sample of “The Last Time” from the copyright holder, Decca Records, but were denied permission from The Stones’ former manager, Allen Klein. Following a lawsuit, The Verve relinquished all royalties, and Jagger and Richards were added to the songwriting credits, alongside The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft. In 2019, a decade after Klein’s death in 2009, Jagger, Richards and Klein’s son ceded the rights to Ashcroft. The Grammy nods for Jagger and Richards (alongside Ashcroft) remain, however.
The Stones’ original versions of “The Last Time” and “Paint It Black” weren’t nominated for Grammys. In fact, The Stones weren’t nominated for a Grammy in any category until 1978, when their Billboard 200-topping album Some Girls was nominated for album of the year. How to explain the Grammys snubbing such all-time classics as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Brown Sugar”? The Grammys were resistant to rock in the 1960s, and didn’t have genre categories exclusively dedicated to rock until 1979. The Academy attempted to make amends with the band in 1986 when it presented them with a lifetime achievement award.
