Rickey Minor, the 2-time Emmy-winning musical director, is back in contention this year for spearheading the music of the 95th Academy Awards. Standout performances from The Everything Everywhere All at Once– dominated ceremony included Lady Gaga, Rhianna, and the Oscar-winning song “Naatu Naatu.” The Oscars featured 160 pieces of music—all under Minor’s direction.
Here, in an interview with Awards Daily, Minor discusses the logistics of overseeing a global awards show, his deep love of music, and the lessons he’s learned during his legendary career.
Awards Daily: Rickey, this being Awards Daily, I have to start by asking about your relationship with award shows in general. Are you a fan? Is that something that you enjoy working on and watching?
Rickey Minor: Well, music is such a gift. It’s one of the highest vibrations on this planet. And I think that the gift of music is so special that you can hear a song at any moment, and it will transform you physically and mentally. You feel like you are a part of it, and you can sing along, sing out of tune, and still be happy. If you’re sad, you can put something on and dance. If you’re feeling emotional, you can put on something, and the next thing you know, you’re crying buckets of tears because of your connection to that music. There are so many emotions that happen in music, and like Pharrell, sometimes you’re just happy, you know? I love that music can transform the molecular structure of your brain; everything works differently when you listen to music. You can’t be mad at what music can do for you. And there’s so much of it available, so there’s something for everyone.
I take it as an honor to present music, especially at this level, something is streaming internationally.
AD: You previously served as music director for the Oscars in 2020. What lessons did you take from that experience? Did you alter your approach?
RM: Always, I always look to see how I can connect better, not do better. It’s not about how great the arrangements are, how great my conducting is, or how great the show is. It’s about how I can elevate whatever project I’m working on. I always do a deep dive. I basically tear apart what I did before and see what worked, what didn’t work, and what I need to include this year. I was a coach of diversity for the television academy for seven years. And now I’m the second vice chair. And, I think that these positions, if you’re going to take them, then you have to be committed to making changes that are better for the overall community. It’s the same way with the music. I don’t want it to be ‘new day, same show.’ It should feel different. We’re in a different place. We’re always in a different space. Everyone’s constantly growing and moving. Even when you think you’re standing still, you’re not. While you’re alive, you’ll always be in various places emotionally. Music can do that. I feel like that’s the goal, at least.
This year was the 95th Oscars; that’s a lot of music that’s been in film for 95 years. There are some pieces that I think are inspiring and transformative. When you think back to where you were when this particular soundtrack or this song was written, it gives you a sense of belonging. I was trying to make sure there’s something for everyone, from all genres of music but also different parts of the world. The Oscars may take place in L.A. and in America, but film has always been for the masses. So I try to put in pieces from Zaire, from West Africa, from China, from Russia, from everywhere; in an effort to make it inclusive, I mean, imagine sitting in Italy and hearing a piece of music from your country, how wonderful it would be to feel that?
So, we tried to do that, and fortunately, we had “Naatu Naatu” representing India, and it ended up winning the Oscar. That was a fun piece to put together. All of it is just so beautiful. I mean, you can do, you can do “Live or Let Die” or Mission Impossible. There are some great songs, and you have great composers like Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, and Duke Ellington; not everyone knows that he was also an amazing composer for film and television.
AD: I wondered if, in your own words, you could describe the role of a music director. And to that end, what’s something that people misunderstand about your role or don’t realize is part of your job description?
RM: So here’s the thing, the job of a music director is to shape the presentation in partnership with whatever the talent is, or whatever the piece is, or whatever the show is. So, I’m the department head of music; anything music-related I have to look at and decide what is the best approach to it. In this case, we work with the performers directly, with producers and set designers on how the band should be set up; look at the budget and see how big an orchestra or band we can have or what that looks like. And make some creative suggestions. The tricky thing is that you can talk a big talk, but you gotta carry it out after you say it.
Some people tell me, ‘Oh, you work with all these big artists like Adele, Beyonce, and Whitney Houston, all these people. That must be a challenging job because they can fire you if you don’t agree with them. They have money. They don’t need you, so they can just fire you.’ But it’s not like that. They want people they can trust—someone to sometimes even push them out of their comfort zone and make suggestions. But the bottom line will always be whatever’s best for them.
But it’s my job to give them several different treatments, different ways that it can be done, demo it, see how they like it, and make changes.
I mean, literally, the night before a performance, they can go, ‘I’m a little hoarse. I don’t know if I can hit that power note at the top. Can we change the key?’ And no artist I know of wants to hear, ‘No.’ So when it comes to making changes they need, not want, but need; they want to hear you say, ‘Yes.’ The answer is yes because if you can’t do it, somebody else out there can. So you have to be bendable, not breakable, but bendable.
AD: Is there a sort of Rickey Minor stamp that you put on your various projects?
RM: There are 12 notes in music; no one has any new notes. It’s the same 12 notes. I make a plan and work with my team. Mostly I just get out of the way and let the magic happen because it happens when everyone is contributing at such a high level.
AD: Bringing it back to this year’s Oscars, take me behind the scenes of your preparations. Were there any unforeseen challenges?
RM: I mentioned the performance of “Naatu Naatu.” That really needed to feel authentic, and the piece was very challenging because it was a heavy rhythm with indigenous instruments and vocals. And everything had to be authentic. We were able to contract all the players from here in L.A., And a lot of them were the top session players with composers like Hans Zimmer and John Williams. So, we got the best players. That’s the thing about Los Angeles; it’s a huge city and a huge melting pot for all kinds of music. I’m proud of my contractor for bringing in the right musicians for each piece.
The orchestra is what the orchestra is, but for special performance numbers for the nominated songs, we changed the instrumentations and changed the players, and added a choir. That’s difficult because we basically have about four days or so to do over 160 pieces of music—from pre-records, live performances, and live play-on— it’s a lot of moving parts. The thing is that sometimes you don’t get the material from the talent soon enough. Lady Gaga came in at the last minute and came in just self-contained because it was almost the day before the show, so there was no time for rehearsal. And Rihanna came in later, and her piece was done with her guys. So that gave me two things that I didn’t have to do. Those were the only two music pieces of the three and a half hours of music we didn’t handle.
This year, I thought it very creative to use packages coming back from commercials each time with best picture nominees so that at the end of the show, you don’t have to watch ten separate clips before you find out who won. And it gives you a little more insight into the films. The producers said, ‘We’ll shoot the packages, and you can make the music afterward. You can use whatever music you think fits.’
When we got the call, the nominations weren’t out yet. You can’t do anything but start putting your team on hold. That’s when I begin sifting through years and years of stuff that I might or might not have heard, just to ensure a balance and energy. What I find is that you’re playing someone on the stage; you can’t play very dramatic music because they don’t walk that slow. But, you get someone who is a legend, and you want them to take their time coming out, so you want something majestic. That’s where I start, conceptually, seeing what size orchestra budget I have and dealing with logistics. We had creative meetings every week. The set was gorgeous, and they really used the room nicely. So we had to find out where the band would be physically and how can I position them. Those are the details we look at before the show. The four days before the Oscars, we were in the studio rehearsing and recording.
AD: Do you have a preference for the kinds of projects you like to take on? Is there something that really makes your heart sing, as they say?
RM: Well, I love them all, but there’s nothing like being live and in the moment where anything could happen. You can always fix and tweak the vocals if you’re doing a record. I could sound like Beyonce with all the technology; you don’t need to be excellent all the time. But I like live performances because anything could happen. And it does. That’s where the real magic is because it’s a conversation, like you and I are having. If you had a conversation by yourself and I had a conversation by myself, then it doesn’t really mean anything. There’s no connection.
For me, I’ve always loved being live; that’s the fun part. We did a Paul Simon tribute called “Homeward Bound: A GRAMMY Salute To The Songs Of Paul Simon.” It was just so much fun just playing with other musicians because you don’t know what to expect. You listen back; it’s like, ‘Wow, we were connected.’ That’s what music does.
AD: Rickey, any final thoughts before I let you go?
RM: To return to your first question, I enjoy the awards because you get to see your idols and the people that inspired you. For that reason alone, I think it’s great because otherwise, people would just work in their own studio and never leave.
Then, afterward, you have a bite to eat or have a drink and congratulate each other on feeling the call of music and then answering it. And being able to do it for a living, especially in this huge world where there are so many people who want to do it and never even have the confidence to even try it. Like, ‘I could never do that. I could never be like this person.’ You compare yourself to other people, and it’s just a beautiful thing to realize that you can answer the call, whatever that is. It’s really powerful to give yourself a chance to try it. And if it works, it does. If it doesn’t, then you can move on.
My prayer or my meditation is to just let go of doubt, worry, and fear. They don’t serve you. I try to live my life and just be present, you know? Because so often, we miss it, whatever it is, because we’re thinking about the next thing and not actually being present and right where we are.