‘It’s very surreal’: Midland artist James LaBrie’s band Dream Theater wins Grammy Award

Dream Theater honoured for best metal performance

By Andrew Mendler

April 7, 2022

For Midland artist James LaBrie, the third time was the charm.

The 58-year-old singer/songwriter and lead singer of the progressive-metal band Dream Theater finally has a Grammy Award.

Dream Theater’s song ”The Alien” won a 2022 Grammy for best metal performance. The ceremony was held April 3 in Las Vegas.

“I’ve been talking to my bandmates and they are all saying the same thing: It’s very surreal,” said LaBrie.

This was the band’s third Grammy nomination and first win. After failing to win in 2012 and 2014, LaBrie made sure to keep his expectations in check this time around.

“I didn’t psych myself out. I was excited, but I didn’t want to set myself up for disappointment,” he said.

Inspiration for the lyrics of the award-winning song came from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s appearance on a podcast where he discussed terraforming other planets.

The song is the first track on Dream Theater’s latest album, ‘A View from the Top of the World’, which was written and recorded during the pandemic.

LaBrie stayed home in Midland and collaborated with his bandmates over Zoom throughout the creative process before travelling to New York to record the album.

“When I had ideas, I could mute them and sing my ideas into my phone, wait for them to work out a section, then come back on and (make a suggestion),” said LaBrie.

Dream Theater has been criticized for its lengthy songs, unique time signatures and frequent guitar solos — reasons some felt would hold them back from winning a Grammy.

“The Alien” is more than nine-minutes long, and the album’s title track tops 20 minutes.

“We have always stayed true to ourselves. We are not trying to get on any bandwagon or flavour of the month,” said LaBrie. “We always go with what we feel we want to achieve musically. If it hits and it resonates, great. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t matter.”

Luckily for LaBrie, “The Alien” resonated.

He is now getting ready for the release of a solo album ‘Beautiful Shades of Grey’, which comes out May 20. The first single, ”Devil in Drag,” can be found on YouTube.