Nirvana, Heart and The Supremes to receive Lifetime Achievement Grammys
The Grammys are just a month away, so naturally, it’s time for the music industry to begin celebrating some of its key figures (and itself, as is the case with award ceremonies). This year’s nominations are already solidified, so before the ceremony airs on February 5th, the Academy is preparing to hand out some non-competitive awards.
The Academy has already announced their MusiCares Person of the Year, which will be split between Motown figures Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson. Today, they also announced who would receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the pre-Grammys ceremony this year.
Nirvana, the Supremes, Nile Rodgers, Ma Rainey, Slick Rick, Bobby McFerrin, and Heart’s Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson are the artists who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award this year. Most of the recipients are alive to see their contributions recognised, but some notable posthumous award recipients include Kurt Cobain, Ma Rainey, and Supremes members Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard.
Interestingly, this will be the second Lifetime Achievement Award that the Grammys have given Diana Ross. The legendary singer had previously been awarded a Life Achievement Grammy for her solo career back in 2012. Nirvana has one Grammy to their name, awarded to them for the album MTV Unplugged in New York. Of course, by that time, the band had broken up after Cobain’s suicide in 1994.
The Supremes never won a Grammy during their time together, while Rainey’s career preceded the Grammys by two decades. Slick Rick is also missing a competitive Grammy from his trophy shelf. Heart has been nominated four times but has yet to take home a competitive award. Rodgers has three Grammys, all of which came from his collaboration with Daft Punk on the 2013 album Random Access Memories.
The Academy favourite is McFerrin, who has nabbed ten wins out of 18 nominations. McFerrin works in a less competitive field than his peers, being one of the few jazz vocalists well-known enough to get consistent recognition by the Academy.
The Academy will present the Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony. That ceremony will be held on February 4th, the day before the main Grammy Awards ceremony.
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