Isaac Hayes, Public Enemy And More To Receive Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
On Thursday (Dec. 19), the Recording Academy unveiled their 2020 class of honorees for their Lifetime Achievement Award, and a number of venerable Black music legends made the shortlist.
Jazz-pop-soultress icon Roberta Flack, renowned singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes, one of hip-hop’s earliest progenitors Public Enemy, and soul icon, the late Sister Rosetta Tharpe, were among the honorees named by the Recording Academy to receive Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards in the announcement.
This specific award recognizes those “who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording,” according to the organization’s website.
Alongside the aforementioned artists, the full list of honorees include: Chicago, Iggy Pop, and John Prine. Ken Ehrlich, Philip Glass and Frank Walker will receive Trustees Award honors while audio engineer George Augspurger will receive the Technical GRAMMY Award.
“Our industry is one that prides itself on influence and paying it forward, and each year the Recording Academy has the privilege of honoring a select group of visionaries whose creative contributions have rippled throughout our culture,” said Deborah Dugan, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “Our Special Merit Awards recipients have molded their musical passion into pieces of history that will continue to influence and inspire generations of music creators and music lovers to come.”
The Recording Academy will present recipients with their awards at the 2020 Special Merit Awards, according to the organization’s website, which will take place at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 18.
