Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak to Perform on Grammys

Variety.com: As rumored, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak — who just last week released the ‘70s throwback single “Leave the Door Open,“ under the name Silk Sonic — will be appearing on the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, if this unusually playful tweet from the Recording Academy is any indication.

“.@BrunoMars & @AndersonPaak

We have been trying to call you all week,” it reads. “Have you changed your numbers? We would love for #silksonic to make their TV debut at the #GRAMMYs. Are you free this Sunday night? Follow back and we will DM for details.”

Apparently they read Variety‘s review of the song, which said it “could be a Best R&B Song Grammy winner from 1974.”

While the Grammys broke with tradition this year and announced 22 performers at once on Sunday — rather than the usual gradual reveal over weeks — reps for the show said there are still some surprises in store, and this was apparently one of them. The pair will join, in alphabetical order: Bad Bunny, Black Pumas, Cardi B, BTS, Brandi Carlile, DaBaby, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Mickey Guyton, Haim, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Lil Baby, Dua Lipa, Chris Martin, John Mayer, Megan Thee Stallion, Maren Morris, Post Malone, Roddy Ricch, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift.

Some performances will be live and some will be pre-recorded, but all took place in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The pair announced late last month that they’ve come together as a project called Silk Sonic, and “Leave the Door Open” is the first release from their forthcoming album. Even though the classic R&B sound the pair evokes is a decade older than they are, both the song and the arrangement are pitch-perfect, with swooning strings, honeyed backing vocals and even a glockenspiel — think Delfonics, the Chi-Lites and basically everything on the Philadelphia International label.

Grammy Awards take place on Sunday, March 14 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT and will air live on CBS.