The top names in pop music turned out on Saturday night for Sony music exec Clive Davis‘ annual pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hilton.
Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am acknowledged all the talent in the room while trying to rouse the crowd during his group’s performance. “These are the elite mother[bleep]ers of the music industry, but y’all are acting like some mother[bleep]s!” he said to laughs, adding that he was enthusiastic about the future of the industry despite the financial “horrors of the biz.”
“There ain’t no Tower Records, ain’t no Sam Goody, but I don’t give a [bleep],” he ad-libbed while singing. “We gonna keep making music.”
“American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest‘s toast to Davis fell a little flat. “Not a single thing he said got a laugh,” said a spy. “He made a lame joke about how Clive Davis’ ears look like the actual Grammy statue. It was awkward.”
When Fergie took the stage to perform a cover of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” with guitarist Slash, Jamie Foxx leaped to his feet to shoot video. He later denied to Page Six that he was going to take over Simon Cowell‘s gig at “American Idol.”
“I’d love to, but I don’t think I have the time, man,” Foxx said. “I don’t think I could fill that guy’s shoes.”
Also holding court in the front of the room were Jay-Z, Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chace Crawford, and newly engaged couple Katy Perry and Russell Brand. Brand declined to offer any details about his upcoming nuptials, telling Page Six that things were still “up in the air.”
Foxx himself had a busy weekend: The night before, his own pre-Grammy bash at the L’Ermitage Beverly Hills drew Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal and Gerard Butler.
“They had to move the party from the roof to the hotel lobby because it was so packed,” said a spy. “Gerard must not be dating Jennifer Aniston that seriously, because he was swarmed by girls all night” — including “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Stacy Keibler. “He was chatting her up all night,” said our spy.