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Tina Turner

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"GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" To Air On PBS Oct. 5

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The tribute concert will honor the Academy's 2018 Special Merit Awards recipients, which include Tina Turner and Neil Diamond. The all-star concert will feature rare performances by honorees and special renditions by the artists they've inspired
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Sep 12, 2018 - 3:22 pm

Watch the third annual "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" in collaboration with PBS' "Great Performances" series on Oct.5. The all-star concert will feature rare performances by honorees and special renditions by the artists they've inspired.

"GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" On PBS Oct. 5

The tribute concert will honor the Academy's 2018 Special Merit Awards that include Tina Turner, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, The Meters, Queen, Seymour Stein, Tony Agnello and Richard Factor, Hal Blaine, and John Williams.

GRAMMY-winning gospel artist Yolanda Adams will be the master of ceremonies as never-before-seen performances take center stage including a performance by GRAMMY nominee Micky Dolenz alongside Diamond, GRAMMY winner and night honoree. Herb Alpert, eight-time GRAMMY winner, will honor legendary drummer Blaine, GRAMMY winner Sammy Hagar will pay tribute to Graham and Queen, GRAMMY nominee Ledisi will pay tribute to Jordan and three-time GRAMMY winner Trisha Yearwood will perform alongside Harris.

The Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement recognizes musical artists that have made significant contributions to the recording field. The Trustees Award honors areas outside of performance. The Technical GRAMMY Award recognizes people and companies who have made outstanding contributions of technical significance to the recording field.

This year's Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Hal Blaine, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, the Meters, Queen, and Tina Turner. This year's Trustees Award honorees are Bill Graham, Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein, and Academy Award-winning film composer John Williams. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are Tony Agnello and Richard Factor. Melissa Salguero is this year's recipient of the Music Educator Award.

The concert will air at 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5 (check your local listings) and will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf.

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Tune In Tonight On PBS: "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends"

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Special performances and all-star appearances make tonight's broadcast one to watch
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Oct 5, 2018 - 4:57 pm

Each year the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards honor the music community's finest. Tonight on PBS, "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" presents musical moments and heritage not to be missed.

"GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" On PBS Oct. 5

Lifetime Achievement Award recipients for 2018 honored tonight are the Wrecking Crew's Hal Blaine, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, the Meters, Queen, and Tina Turner. Master of ceremonies Yolanda Adams and Micky Dolenz will honor Diamond. Trisha Yearwood will perform a duet with Harris. Sheléa will be honoring Turner, Sammy Hagar for Queen, and Herb Alpert honoring Wrecking Crew drummer Blaine. Ledisi is performing a medley in honor of Jordan.

The Trustees Award recognizes those whose leadership may be outside performance and this year's honorees are Bill Graham, Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein, and the 24-time GRAMMY winner, composer and conductor John Williams. Composer Gustavo Dudamel and violinist  Anne Akiko Meyers will honor Williams.

Technical GRAMMY Award recipients this year are Tony Agnello and Richard Factor, whose company Eventide made an enormous contribution to the craft. This year's recipient of the Music Educator Award is Melissa Salguero.

Check your local listings for the PBS station near you, tonight at 9p.m. "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" will later be available at PBS Great Performances online. This is an array of legends honoring legends who represent the finest in music excellence.

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Tina Turner

Tina Turner

Photo: Bill Marino/Sygma

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Tina Turner To Queen: 2018 Recording Academy Special Merit Awards

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Emmylou Harris, the Meters, Bill Graham, and John Williams are also among this year's crop of honorees who have made a lasting impression on the recording industry
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jan 9, 2018 - 6:30 am

It's time to celebrate another class of exceptional music creators with the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award.

Tina Turner Wins Record Of The Year

This year's Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Hal Blaine, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, the Meters, Queen, and Tina Turner. Bill Graham, Seymour Stein and John Williams will receive the Trustees Award. Tony Agnello and Richard Factor are the Technical GRAMMY Award recipients.

Hal Blaine
2018 Special Merit Awards Recipients

A special award presentation ceremony and concert celebrating the Special Merit Awards honorees will be held in summer 2018. Additional details regarding the ceremony will be announced.

In the meantime, why are these industry luminaries up for a Special Merit Award? Let's take a closer look.

Blaine is best known for his role as the lead drummer/founder of the Wrecking Crew studio band that backed iconic artists such as Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, and more. He worked on six consecutive Record Of The Year GRAMMY-winning tracks between 1965 and 1970, including Sinatra's "Strangers In The Night" and Simon And Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson."

Diamond's rich catalog has become a part of the fabric of America's songbook with hits such as "Sweet Caroline," "Solitary Man" and "You'll Be A Woman Soon." He earned a GRAMMY at the 16th GRAMMY Awards for Album Of Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special for Jonathan Livingston Seagull. He was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2009.

A 13-time GRAMMY winner, Harris' genre-spanning style has earned her a permanent place among the contemporary country elite. She earned her first GRAMMY at the 19th GRAMMY Awards for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female for Elite Hotel. She most recently won for Best Americana Album for Old Yellow Moon at the 56th GRAMMYs.

The late Jordan has been dubbed the Father of Rhythm & Blues and the Grandfather of Rock and Roll for his recordings from the late 1930s to early 1950s. He has four recordings in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame with his band Tympany Five: "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" (inducted 2013), "Caldonia Boogie" (1998), "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" (2008), and "Let The Good Times Roll" (2009).

The Meters — comprising drummer Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste, frontman Art Neville, percussionist/vocalist Cyril Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, and bassist George Porter Jr. — are considered to be among the founding fathers of funk with iconic tunes such as "Cissy Strut," "Good Old Funky Music" and "Chicken Strut." "Cissy Strut" was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2011.

One of the most lauded rock bands of all time, Queen — bassist John Deacon, guitarist Brian May, frontman Freddie Mercury, and drummer Roger Taylor — have made an indelible impact on the music industry with blockbuster hits such as the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame-inducted recordings "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions."

Heralded as the Queen of Rock and Roll, Turner remains a global recording star worldwide. She earned her first GRAMMY at the 14th GRAMMY Awards with Ike Turner for their rendition of "Proud Mary," which took home Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Group. She's since added an additional seven wins to her tally, most recently as a featured artist on Herbie Hancock's Album Of The Year-winning River: The Joni Letters at the 50th GRAMMY Awards.

The late manager/concert promoter Graham is credited with creating the modern rock concert thanks to his tour organization for legendary artists such as Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and George Harrison.

As a vice president of Warner Bros. Records and founder of Sire Records, Stein is responsible for ushering in the careers of some of our favorite artists, including the Ramones, the Pretenders, Talking Heads, k.d. lang, Barenaked Ladies, the Cure, Seal, Madonna, Depeche Mode, and Ice-T, among others.

Prolific composer Williams has made history for his unforgettable film scores, including Star Wars, Indiana Jones and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. He is one of the top GRAMMY winners of all time with 23 GRAMMYs to his name, most recently for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media for Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the 59th GRAMMY Awards. Star Wars — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2007.

Technical GRAMMY Awards recipients Agnello and Factor have influenced the record-making process through their company Eventide, which produces a wide variety of original audio effects devices. The company's H910 Harmonizer effects processor, whose underlying technology forms the basis of all pitch-shifting and pitch-correction devices today, impacted the sound of classic LPs such as David Bowie's Low, Kraftwerk's Computer World and AC/DC's Back In Black, among others.

"This year's Special Merit Awards recipients are a prestigious group of diverse and influential creators who have crafted or contributed to some of the most distinctive recordings in music history," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. "These exceptionally inspiring figures are being honored as legendary performers, creative architects and technical visionaries. Their outstanding accomplishments and passion for their craft have created a timeless legacy."

Queen

Queen

Photo: Richard E. Aaron/Getty Images

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Queen, Tina Turner, Neil Diamond Among "GRAMMY Salute ..." TV Special Honorees

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Emmylou Harris, the Meters, John Williams, and more will also be honored at the third annual awards and tribute concert to air as part of the "Great Performances" series on PBS
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jun 12, 2018 - 7:22 am

The Recording Academy has unveiled plans to honor its 2018 class of Special Merit Awards recipients with the upcoming "GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" television special. The third annual awards ceremony and tribute concert will take place in Los Angeles at Dolby Theatre on July 14, and is set to be broadcast as part of the "Great Performances" series on PBS.

Shirley Caesar Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

The Academy's Special Merit Awards include the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award, all of which recognize music's most impactful creators and innovators. This year's Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Hal Blaine, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, the Meters, Queen, and Tina Turner. Trustees Award recipients include Bill Graham, Seymour Stein and John Williams.

The Technical GRAMMY Award is being presented to Tony Agnello and Richard Factor while the 2018 Music Educator Award recipient is Melissa Salguero.

"GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends" will feature rare performances by select honorees and never-seen renditions of their discographies performed by those they've inspired. GRAMMY-nominated industry icon Greg Phillinganes will serve as musical director, and scheduled appearances include GRAMMY winner Herb Alpert, who will honor Blaine, and GRAMMY nominee Micky Dolenz, who will be honoring Diamond. GRAMMY winner Sammy Hagar will pay tribute to Graham, while GRAMMY nominee Ledisi who will salute Jordan. GRAMMY winner Trisha Yearwood will pay tribute to Harris.

Presenters for the evening include actress Angela Bassett and GRAMMY winner Henry Rollins.

The special will be produced by the Recording Academy in partnership with Thirteen Productions and is set to air on PBS later this year. In addition to the tribute concert, guests will enjoy never-before-seen video packages celebrating each of the honorees' contributions to the music industry and our cultural heritage.

"We are thrilled to once again partner with Thirteen Productions and PBS to bring our 'GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends' awards show and tribute concert to life at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. "We look forward to celebrating the tremendous contributions of our Special Merit Awards recipients and honoring their outstanding accomplishments."

Additional performers and presenters will be announced shortly. Tickets for the event will be on sale via Ticketmaster beginning June 12.

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Jimi Hendrix

Photo: Ed Caraeff/Getty Images

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New Bill Seeks To Name Post Office In Washington State After Jimi Hendrix

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The bill is supported unanimously and proposes the post office on the street Hendrix grew up on be renamed in his honor
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Nov 27, 2018 - 5:38 pm

Legendary GRAMMY-nominated guitarist Jimi Hendrix's legacy lives on long after he's gone. Now, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) has introduced a bill that would bring his rock and roll spirit to a post office in his hometown of Renton, Wash.

If the bill passes, the post office located at 4301 Northeast 4th Street would be renamed to "James Marshall 'Jimi' Hendrix Post Office Building. Smith introduced Bill H.R.6628 in July, which has gained the support of all eight Washington representatives in Congress and has since moved on from its initial review by the House Committee On Oversight And Government Reform, according to Consequence Of Sound. The street, as the music site notes, is the one Hendrix grew up on. It is also close to the cemetery where he is buried.

"The Puget Sound region is home to a museum that showcases Hendrix's life and work, a park dedicated to his memory, and several memorials visited by thousands every year, " Smith said. "This designation will further honor this iconic artist and his Seattle roots."

READ: Jimi Hendrix's 'Electric Ladyland' Turns 50

The iconic guitarist's legacy lives on outside of Seattle too. In 2015, his 1966 Fender Stratocaster was one of the instruments featured in the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Lives' Rare Guitar Exhibit. Hendrix's iconic interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the 1969 Woodstock Festival earned him a GRAMMY nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance. 

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