Grammy Salute to Music Legends

The Recording Academy® will honor its 2016 Special Merit Awards recipients with an exclusive awards ceremony and live tribute concert on Saturday, April 23 at The Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. The Grammy Salute to Music Legends will be produced in partnership with Thirteen as part of the Great Performances series on PBS and will air later this year. Led by music industry icon Don Was as musical director, the tribute concert will feature rare performances by honorees and never-seen renditions by those artists that they have inspired over the years.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honorees include Ruth Brown, Celia Cruz, Earth, Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock, Jefferson Airplane, Linda Ronstadt and RUN DMC. Trustees Award honorees are John Cage, Fred Foster and Chris Strachwitz; and EMT and Dr. Harvey Fletcher are Technical Grammy® Award recipients. Also being honored: Phillip Riggs, this year’s recipient of the Grammy Foundation Music Educator Award.

This event was previously held during Grammy Week, and this marks the first time The Recording Academy has celebrated the Special Merit Awards with a standalone event and musical tribute. “For many years now, we’ve wanted to honor Special Merit Awards recipients on a larger scale with an event like Grammy Salute to Music Legends, so I’m delighted to partner with Thirteen Productions and PBS to bring this worthy celebration to a bigger stage,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. “The contributions of our honorees are innumerable, and we look forward to an unforgettable evening as we pay tribute to their exceptional accomplishments.” A list of performers will be announced shortly.