Johnson awestruck by Grammy nominations
Star-Bulletin staff
"It's crazy. I can't believe it."
Hawaii's Jack Johnson was reacting to his first-ever Grammy Award nominations announced last week.
Johnson is nominated in two categories: Male Pop Vocal Performance for his song "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing," and Pop Collaboration with Vocals, for "Gone Going," sung with the Black Eyed Peas.
"I just hope this means I get to meet Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney," Johnson said in a press statement. "If nothing else, I hope I get that out of this deal."
Wonder, McCartney, Rob Thomas and Seal share the pop vocal category with Johnson.
In the collaboration category, other nominees are "Virginia Moon," by the Foo Fighters and Norah Jones; "Feel Good Inc.," by Gorillaz and De La Soul; "A Song for You," by Herbie Hancock and Christina Aguilera; and "A Time to Love," by Wonder and India.Arie.
A friend of Johnson's called him the morning the nominations were announced and gave him the good news. "He knows my style, so the first thing he was joking about was asking me if I had a suit or not," Johnson said.
"This is definitely the biggest recognition I've ever gotten for music," he said. "And to have it on my third record ('In Between Dreams'), I think, makes it feel like I've earned it a little more.
"It's nice for me to know I get to keep on doing this for a little bit. I guess this means that, hopefully, I'll get to put out another record after this."
The awards ceremony will be held Feb. 13 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Three days before that, Johnson's music score for the film "Curious George" will be heard nationwide in theaters.
The computer-animated film features the voices of Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore and Eugene Levy.