Eddy Grant’s hit Electric Avenue, 40th year celebrated at super bowl
Guyanese-born international superstar, Eddy Grant, ahead of the recent 54th Super Bowl, took to his Facebook page to thank fans, adding, “I was told by the people of BMW that they’re going to use “Electric Avenue” in its 40th year, featuring Arnold and Selma, that’s lovely, he said, repeating, “Electric Avenue” 40 years, it’s going to be a hell of a super bowl, and I am going to watch it.”
Grant, a hit making musician, honored with his Forever Stamp by the Guyana Post office, and who recorded the multi-platinum hit in 1982, spoke of the German car company (Bayerische Motoren Werke, a German company) that featured movie star, and former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mexican-born actress Selma Hayek, in a script featuring the highly rated commercial, singing “Electric Avenue,” as they drove the 2022 automobile.
The singer, songwriter, smiled as he talked about his hit being used in another commercial. The advertisement started with the stars in a skit, before they got into the BMW iX electric car, befitting for the melody, and joyfully sang, “Electric Avenue, and then we’ll take it higher,” as Grant’s voice was heard singing his hit in the background.
Recorded, under his then famous Carriage House Studios in London, Ice Records, 40 years ago, “Electric Avenue” became an international sensation, and was featured in commercials by various companies to sell their brand.
Named, Edmond Montague Grant, the “Gimme Hope Jo’anna” singer, who now records under his Ringbang Label, and will turn 74, next month, once said, “Guyana is really everything, I can put Guyana against any country in the world — Guyana means a lot to me because it has given me a lot. It’s given me my mother, my father, my family, and a lot of my values.” He later tweeted “Who noticed that “Electric Avenue” got double play last night in the Super Bowl Ads? and shared, “check out a clip from the Ad for Florida Power and Light. Another advert, that used the tune.”
The singer told the media, “It’s not once that BMW has chosen me and this song. It’s twice and that must be a world record, because I can’t think of anybody else in the space of five years who had the same song used by a company for the Super Bowl. It’s a massive stage and every artiste, every writer, would like to have this opportunity.”
Born in the rural area of Plaisance on the East Bank of Demerara, Grant, whose last album “Plaisance” was released in 2017, said he enjoyed interacting with nationals when he walks the streets of his homeland, and quipped, “Where else in the world can you see your superstar, your artist on the road?”
And thanks to “Electric Avenue,” an R&B Grammy nominated song, that topped the Billboard Charts, and many of his popular songs, Eddy Grant’s name will forever be etched in the annals of phenomenal music history.
