The Recording Academy has shared the list “Special Merit Awards” recipients set to be honored at the annual industry awards show at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on January 26th, 2020.
The list of Grammy “Lifetime Achievement Award” recipients announced on Thursday includes Chicago, Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, Iggy Pop, John Prine, Public Enemy, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Additionally, longtime Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich, composer Philip Glass, and Frank Walker will receive the “Trustees Award,” with pioneering audio engineer and designer George Augspurger set to 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,” says Recording Academy President/CEO Deborah Dugan. “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 Academy also announced on Wednesday that Sean “Diddy” Combs will receive the “Industry Icon Honor” at the Pre-GRAMMY Gala in Los Angeles the night prior to the awards show.
The list of 2020 Grammy nominees was shared last month and includes some of our favorite acts in various categories including Brandi Carlile, Lettuce, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Southern Avenue, and more.
The televised Grammy Awards show reached slightly more viewers in 2019 than it did the previous year, but managed to fall to a record low in viewership among adult viewers (ages 18-49), according to The Hollywood Reporter. The year prior, in 2018, The Oscars, Grammys, and Emmy Awards each reached all-time lows in the ratings in at least one category, revealing that most Americans are indeed bored with watching industry suits give trophies to musicians like this is all supposed to be a competition or something.
Head to the Recording Academy website for more information on this year’s Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipients.