Train Say Grammy Snub 'Felt Like A Practical Joke'

Even if you are the most casual of music fans, there's still a pretty good chance you know (and probably even own) Train's "Hey, Soul Sister," the most omnipresent (and best-selling) song of 2010. No matter where you turned, it truly seemed like the song was there ... except, strangely enough, the Grammys.

Earlier this month, when nominations for the 2011 Grammy Awards were announced, "Hey, Soul Sister" was oddly absent. It failed to score a nod for either Record or Song of the Year — both of which seemed mortal locks, given the single's general inescapability — and ended up with just one nomination: for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals. And that was for a live version of the song.

The fact that Grammy voters snubbed "Soul Sister" was even more shocking considering that Train were invited to perform at the annual Grammy Nominations Concert, a move which usually guarantees a plumb nod or two. And if you were surprised that Train left the telecast (largely) empty-handed, well, you weren't the only one.

"You know, it was a strange night for us, to be real honest with you," Train frontman Pat Monahan told. "Playing the nominations show, being seated in the front to watch all the performances, and then to not be nominated for any of them during that show. I don't really know what the take is, to be real honest. It kind of felt like a practical joke at the time.

"I mean, a guy even came around, he was like, 'You guys are going to be really happy tonight,' " drummer Scott Underwood added. "And we were like, 'Oh, really? OK, cool!' "

Monahan admitted that part of the reason "Soul Sister" was shut out of the Grammy's big categories was because of a technicality: The song was released digitally in August 2009 — within the eligibility window for the 2010 awards — but added that the "live" version that picked up a nom probably should've sufficed for consideration, given the song's success this year.

"I'll just speak for myself. During the ceremony, my feelings were hurt," Monahan admitted. "I felt like we were being set up for something kinda big and it didn't go down," he said. "And I was like, 'Wow, that was weird, because if I hadn't been here, I'd just be psyched that we're nominated, instead of disappointed that we weren't nominated for the big several [awards]. But, you know, it's cool to be nominated at the same time, so I'm pretty appreciative. It was just that one moment was a little bit hurt feelings."

And to that end, Monahan said he's already put the Grammy incident behind him. In fact, he's even learned a lesson from the whole thing.

"It's a great reminder that that's not what we're here for. Really what we're here for — and we keep proving it over and over again — is, we're here because there's some Train fans out there, and somehow they keep growing instead of shrinking," he said. "And there's some music that we're supposed to provide people to maybe make their lives a little bit better and, you know, that's really why we're here. All the rest is just whatever, as the song 'If It's Love' says."

What do you think of Train's Grammy experience? Were they wrongly overlooked? Sound off in the comments!