Trainor: All about those Grammys
Recently, Meghan Trainor checked Instagram to remember what her life was like a year ago.
That’s understandable for someone whose meteoric success gave her one of 2014’s top music hits — “All About That Bass’’ — and now has her in the running for two of the industry’s main honors. As performer and (with Kevin Kadish) co-writer, she’s nominated for record of the year and song of the year in The 57th annual Grammy Awards, which CBS televises at 8 p.m. Sunday from Los Angeles’ Staples Center. LL Cool J returns as host for the fourth consecutive year.
“I remember asking my manager, ‘Is this how every new artist starts? Very, very busy?’” the unaffected, friendly Trainor recalls. “He was like, ‘No. You work 10 years, then you get a hit song ... maybe. This is very fast, but all your dreams are coming true right now.’ And I was like, ‘Wow. This is amazing.’ I mean, it’s only been a few months.’’
The 21-year-old Trainor has been singing since she was 6 and writing songs since 11, but her performance of “All About That Bass’’ for L.A. Reid — on the ukulele — got her signed to Epic Records and placed on a career fast track last year.
Trainor claims her Grammy bids are “the last things I didn’t have. I had the No. 1 song in the world, and everybody knows me as an artist now. And my parents, we’re all just buggin’ out! They’re actually handling it very well. I’ve never seen them happier. I think all their dreams are coming true, too. They were always very supportive, but my mom told me, ‘I didn’t know if it was just because I love you so much that I thought you were really good.’’’
“All About That Bass’’ also contains messages about body image and self-acceptance that Trainor rejects criticisms of.
“All the people saying I wrote it to bash skinny people and all that other stuff, that only helped it,’’ she reasons, “because then, people were actually talking. At first, it all seemed like only hate, and I wondered if there was anything positive. Then, my friends said, ‘Meghan, they’re talking about you. That’s huge!’ I thought, ‘Yeah,’ and then I started retweeting: ‘Everyone, discuss.’”
“All About That Bass’’ and Trainor’s follow-up single, “Lips Are Movin’,’’ are on her recently released debut album “Title.’’ She’s proud to be part of a musical Class of 2014 that also saw big marks made by such talents as Sam Smith and Iggy Azalea, both up for best new artist at the Grammys.
Trainor also is happy to get news about her achievements from close to home. “My mom always tells me the records I break,’’ she said.
