Prince, The Clash and Frankie Valli were among those who received Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Grammys’ Special Merit Awards.
The ceremony took place on Saturday night (February 1) at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles, one night before the main Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
Hosted by the Recording Academy, the honour is given to artists who have made significant contributions to the music industry, and this year the award was also presented to funk artist Frankie Beverly, gospel singer Dr. Bobby Jones, prog blues musician Taj Mahal and rapper Roxanne Shante.
Recipients of the Trustee Awards were composers Erroll Garner and Tania Leon and producer Glyn Johns, while acoustic pioneer Dr. Leo Beranek picked up this year’s Technical Grammy Award.
Among those honouring Prince at the ceremony were Jimmy Jam, formerly of The Time, a Minneapolis band closely associated with the Purple One in his early career. “He had the best work ethic of anybody I ever met,” Jam said. “What that lesson taught me was that he saw me as better than I saw myself. I want to enlighten other people to their greatness.”
Public Enemy’s Chuck D was on hand to accept the award for punk icons The Clash, who read out a message from the band’s surviving members Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon. “As you heard our voice, we also heard yours,” concluded the message.
The 67th Grammy Awards go down tonight (February 2) at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Comedian Trevor Noah will host the event for the fifth consecutive year and Beyoncé leads the way with 11 nominations, making her the most nominated artist in the awards’ history.
See the full list of this year’s nominees here.
The show will air live on CBS from 8pm EST in the US. Paramount+ subscribers with the Showtime add-on can also stream this year’s Grammys live at the same time. Fans in the UK will need to tune in from 1am on Monday, with Paramount+ streaming the ceremony live internationally.
Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter are all scheduled to appear. British artists Cynthia Erivo, RAYE, and Coldplay’s Chris Martin will also be joining the lineup.
Music legend Stevie Wonder will be leading a tribute to the late Quincy Jones alongside Janelle Monáe. This year, the ceremony will be helping to raise funds for those who suffered due to the recent Los Angeles area wildfires.
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