– HONORS RECORDING ACADEMY SPECIAL MERIT AWARDS RECIPIENTS
PLEASE NOTE: The GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends Great Performances program will air on PBS on October 5.
SPECIAL TO AIR OCT. 5 ON PBS WILL PAY TRIBUTE TO TONY AGNELLO AND RICHARD FACTOR, HAL BLAINE, NEIL DIAMOND, EMMYLOU HARRIS, LOUIS JORDAN, THE METERS, QUEEN, SEYMOUR STEIN, TINA TURNER AND JOHN WILLIAMS; FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY YOLANDA ADAMS, HERB ALPERT, MICKY DOLENZ, SAMMY HAGAR, LEDISI, AND TRISHA YEARWOOD; JOINED BY PRESENTERS GUSTAVO DUDAMEL AND HENRY ROLLINS
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. (SEPT. 12, 2018) — In collaboration with PBS’ “Great Performances” series, the Recording Academy™ presents “GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends®” , the third annual all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for the Academy’s 2018 Special Merit Awards recipients. The celebration and tribute concert feature rare performances by honorees and never-before-seen renditions of their classic songs by those they’ve inspired. Recorded in July at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, the event premieres nationwide Friday, October 5 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) and will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Hal Blaine, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, the Meters, Queen, and Tina Turner. Additional Special Merit Awards honorees celebrated include concert promoter Bill Graham, Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein, and five-time Academy Award-winning film score composer John Williams, who are this year’s Trustees Award honorees; Tony Agnello and Richard Factor are the Technical GRAMMY® Award recipients. Melissa Salguero is this year’s recipient of the Music Educator Award™.
Led by four-time GRAMMY-winning gospel great Yolanda Adams as master of ceremonies with GRAMMY-nominated industry icon Greg Phillinganes as musical director, the tribute concert features performances by past GRAMMY nominee Micky Dolenz alongside GRAMMY winner Diamond; eight-time GRAMMY winner Herb Alpert honoring legendary session drummer Blaine; GRAMMY winner Sammy Hagar paying tribute to Graham and Queen; past GRAMMY nominee Ledisi saluting Jordan; and three-time GRAMMY winner Trisha Yearwood performing with Harris. Presenters for the evening include GRAMMY winner and Los Angeles Philharmonic Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and GRAMMY-winning Henry Rollins. Additional performers include R&B, soul, gospel, and jazz singer Sheléa, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Quartet, virtuoso violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, film score composer David Newman, and the American Youth Symphony.
Performance List
Neil Diamond
“Holly Holy” (performed by Yolanda Adams)
“I’m A Believer” (performed by Micky Dolenz and Neil Diamond)
“Sweet Caroline” (performed by Neil Diamond)
Emmylou Harris “Boulder To Birmingham” (performed by Emmylou Harris)
“Love And Happiness” (performed by Emmylou Harris and Trisha Yearwood)
Hal Blaine
“A Taste Of Honey” (performed by Herb Alpert)
Louis Jordan Medley: “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie” / “Let The Good Times Roll” (performed by Ledisi)
Tina Turner
Medley: “What’s Love Got To Do With It” / “Proud Mary” / “The Best” (performed by Sheléa)
John Williams “
Theme from Schindler’s List” (performed by Anne Akiko Meyers, David Newman, and the American Youth Symphony)
“Air And Simple Gifts” (performed by Los Angeles Philharmonic Quartet)
The Meters
“Cissy Strut” / “Fire On The Bayou” (performed by the Meters)
Bill Graham and Queen
“Right Now” and “We Will Rock You” (performed by Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony)
The Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award honors performers who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording, while the Trustees Award recognizes such contributions in areas other than performance. Both awards are determined by a vote of the Recording Academy’s National Board of Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are determined by vote of the Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing® Advisory Council and Chapter Committees and ratified by the National Board of Trustees, and presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.
Throughout its more than 40-year history on public television, “Great Performances” has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming.
A production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, “GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends” is written by David Wild and directed for television by David Horn, with Mitch Owgang as producer, and Horn and Neil Portnow as executive producers. For “Great Performances,” Bill O’Donnell is series producer; Horn is executive producer.
This “Great Performances” presentation is funded by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, the Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Irene Diamond Fund, Rosalind P. Walter, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, the Agnes Varis Trust, the Starr Foundation, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The Abra Prentice Foundation, and PBS.
ABOUT THE RECORDING ACADEMY
The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Academy honors music’s history while investing in its future through the GRAMMY Museum®, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares®, and celebrates artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards®—music’s only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement. As the world’s leading society of music professionals, we work year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators.
For more information about the Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @RecordingAcad on Twitter, “like” Recording Academy on Facebook, and join the Recording Academy’s social communities on Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube.
ABOUT WNET
WNET is America’s flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than 5 million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as “Nature,” “Great Performances,” “American Masters,” “PBS NewsHour Weekend,” and a range of documentaries, children’s programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET’s groundbreaking series for children and young adults include “Get the Math,” “Oh Noah!” and “Cyberchase” as well as “Mission US,” the award-winning interactive history experience. WNET highlights the tri-state’s unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Theater Close-Up, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams, and MetroFocus, the daily multiplatform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender identity, “First Person.” Through multiplatform initiatives Chasing the Dream: Poverty and Opportunity in America and Peril and Promise: The Challenge of Climate Change, WNET showcases the human stories around these issues and promising solutions. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere: www.thirteen.org/passport.