"If you play music for the right reasons, the rest of the things will come. The right reason to play music is that you love it. That's why I play music."

• Born on March 22, 1943, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

• Guitarist George Benson got his start playing for jazz organist Jack McDuff in the 1960s. He made his claim to fame in the '70s as a solo artist when "This Masquerade" hit No. 10 on Billboard's Hot 100. The song was featured on 1976's Breezin', which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. 

• Benson earned his first career GRAMMY wins for 1976 for Record Of The Year ("This Masquerade"), Best Pop Instrumental Performance ("Breezin'") and Best R&B Instrumental Performance ("Theme From Good King Bad"). He made his GRAMMY stage debut at the 30th GRAMMY Awards in 1988 with a rendition of "On Broadway" for a special New York segment of the telecast.

• A child prodigy, Benson started his musical studies at age 7 on the ukulele because his hands were too small for the guitar.

• Benson's Breezin' was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2008.

• He has participated in fundraising efforts to support music education for various organizations over the years, such as donating one of his signature Ibanez guitars to support All You Need Music's collaboration with the Canada Music Academy scholarship fund.