Gregory Porter reveals Beyoncé’s security guards shoved him into an Isley Brother when he tried to meet her at the Grammys
The 6ft 3ins jazz singer, 45, maintains the Crazy in Love singer is 'the sweetest' despite her heavy handed team pushing him into Ron Isley
JAZZ star Gregory Porter revealed Beyoncé's security detail pushed him as he tried to meet her at the Grammys - but insists the singer is "the sweetest".
Despite standing at an imposing 6ft 3ins, the former American football player, 45, says he was shoved into Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers at the star-studded ceremony by men "double his size".
Speaking to The Sun Online to promote upcoming LP Nat King Cole & Me, the double Grammy winner said: "There are a whole bunch of things that happen behind the scenes [laughs]. Beyoncé is the sweetest I'm sure. I didn't get the chance to meet her. I tried to and her body guards pushed me.
"I'm a big dude, but they were massive. They're like twice as big as me. They pushed me to the side into Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers. He's an idle of mine as well."
Gregory discovered he had some high profile fans of his own at the ceremony, with singer Bonnie Raitt and rapper Wiz Khalifa introducing themselves.
"Sometimes you have no idea who's listening to your music," he said. "Bonnie Raitt came up to me and said 'Hey Gregory, I love the...' I was like 'come on, Bonnie Raitt?' that was cool.
Then Wiz Khalifa was like 'What's up, man? I've seen you before.' I was like that's crazy. It's interesting the whole mix, there's kind of no barrier between genres. It's cool to see a country artist next to Rihanna and myself."
The Sun Online has contacted a representative for Beyoncé for comment.
However, he insists connecting with his fans through music is more important to him than any awards, even though they do give him a reason to admire his shelf at home.
Recorded with a 70-piece orchestra, Gregory describes Nat King Cole & Me as ";a dream".
He explained: "I had two dreams really: to record the music of Nat King Cole and to record with a great orchestra, and that's happened. It's also personal in the way it's the music of my mother and my household. It's encouraging music to a child and to a man growing up. It influenced my career and style of writing.
"I've talked about Nat King Cole for years. And some of my fans were like 'and where's the music?' They hear it in my music, in the ballads and some of the treatments I've done on past records and they were waiting for this project and so am I.
"I think Nat's music will follow me throughout my career. I don't plan to record everything he's ever done but I'll do some more music. There are songs I didn't touch. I didn't record 50 songs but I could have, and I would have [laughs]."
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The singer picked out Nature Boy as his favourite from the collection for its lyrics: "the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return."
He said: "That song more than anything influences my career. I'm always writing about optimistic things, about love, irrepressible love. I think I probably retell the story of Nature Boy again and again in my songs."
Gregory admitted he would love for his catalogue to eventually be just as revered as Cole's but accepts it is a tall order, referring to the musical legend as a "master".
"I can only hope for such a thing," said the star. "He's still a giant and a master to me. I hope a child maybe in a similar situation will listen to my record and hear something in my music that inspires and encourages them as much as Nat's music does for me.
"I hope my music helps and brings some solace to somebody. I sometimes get social media messages that it does that. I know Nat's music does that to me."
Familiar to UK audiences, Gregory is almost always seen wearing a dapper suit and a trademark hat, however, he admits he regularly bares all back at home.
He told us: "I kind of have this big yard and a tall gate so I don't have a ton of contact with my neighbours. If you see me at home you may be lucky to find me... I have to be careful what I say [laughs]. I'm very casual, very relaxed. I play arrows and basketball and all this silly stuff all the time."
Nat King Cole & Me will be released on October 27 via Decca Records
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