MARTY FRIEDMAN Clarifies His CHRIS BROWN/GRAMMY AWARDS Comments

Former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman has posted a new message on his Facebook page clarifying his previous statement regarding controversial R&B singer Chris Brown‘s appearance on this past weekend’s Grammy Awards.

Three years after viciously assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna on the eve of their appearances on the Grammys, Brown returned to the awards show to perform the song “Turn Up the Music” from his upcoming album and “Beautiful People” from 2011’s “F.A.M.E. (Forgiving All My Enemies)”. Brown, who was convicted of felony assault in connection with the 2009 incident, went on to win his first-ever Grammy Award last night (February 12), for Best R&B Album for his “F.A.M.E.”

In his original posting, Friedman — who moved to Japan in 2003 — wrote, “There were several fantastic musical moments on this year’s Grammys. BUT — the Japanese music industry would not applaud and reward any singer who criminally beat the crap out of another singer. Nor would most other countries, I would bet. This is a sad difference between USA and Japan. I SO want to be proud of my home country… but I just can’t get behind that kind of thing.”

A few hours later, Friedman posted the this follow-up message: “To clarify my last post for those who need clarification: I am in the music business. What I saw on the most important music show in the USA made me compare the music systems of the USA and Japan. In Japan, it is unfathomable to think that a male singer would go and beat the living crap out of a female singer… but in the extremely unlikely event that it did happen, he certainly would not be rewarded and applauded on nationwide TV, no matter how good his music is. This is not a political statement. As many of you know, I could not care less about politics. Nor is it about musical taste; to each his own on that. It is just one person’s observation.”