Super Bowl Ad Features Music Of Guyanese Star

By NAN STAFF WRITER

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Feb. 14, 2022: BMW again choose the music of Guyanese superstar, Eddy Grant, for its Super Bowl ad Sunday.

The ad for the BMW iX electric crossover starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Greek god Zeus, and Salma Hayek as the goddess Hera. The humorous commercial depicts the deities retiring and moving from Mount Olympus to Palm Springs, California.

Unfortunately, the modern world isn’t a good fit for Zeus. While he enjoys lazing by the pool, the Greek god struggles to use the microwave and light switches, which is odd for a deity that controls electricity.

However, things get better when Hera shows up with a new BMW iX. Zeus loves the vehicle, and the couple enjoys the classic Grant song, Electric Avenue, while taking a drive.

Grant tweeted: “Who noticed that “Electric Avenue” got double play last night in the Super Bowl Ads?” And: “Who’s up for Carpool Karaoke with Zeus and Hera in Their Electric @BMW iX.”

See the ad HERE

Back in 2015, Grant’s iconic “Electric Avenue” was also featured in BMW’s Super Bowl commercial for the i3 electric car as America’s best known television presenters at the time, Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric, were seen dancing to the song at the end of the ad.

Electric Avenue became an international hit, first in England and Europe in 1982, then went on to take America and Canada by storm – No.1 on the Cashbox Charts and No.2 on the Billboard Charts in America – and was nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Song category.

Grant, 73, was born in Plaisance, Guyana before migrating to the UK. His father, Patrick, was a trumpeter who played in Nello and the Luckies. While at school, his parents lived and worked in the United Kingdom, sending back money for his education.

In 1960, he emigrated to join his parents in London and lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park, where he learned to read and write music.

Grant became a big fan of Chuck Berry, and after seeing him play at the Finsbury Park Astoria decided on a career in music. He became a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound; his music has blended elements of electronic pop, reggae, British rock, African polyrhythms, soul, funk and Latin samba, among many others.

In addition to this, he also helped to pioneer the genre of ringbang and was a founding member of The Equals, one of the United Kingdom’s first racially integrated pop groups. His subsequent solo career included the platinum single “Electric Avenue,” which is his biggest international hit.

He now lives in Barbados. In 2016, it was announced that Grant would receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the government of Guyana. He was previously honored with a postage stamp featuring his likeness and Ringbang logo by the Guyana Post Office Corporation in 2005.