Recording Academy To Honor Music Industry Icons With 2024 Special Merit Awards

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The Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards Ceremony celebrating the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award, Technical Grammy Award and Best Song For Social Change Award recipients will return during Grammy Week on Feb. 3, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.

Tammy Wynette is among the 2024 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award honorees, which also include Laurie Anderson, the Clark Sisters, Gladys Knight, N.W.A and Donna Summer. 

In 1968, Wynette released “Stand By Your Man,” which sold more than five million singles and became the largest-selling single ever recorded by a female artist. By 1970, she racked up five No. 1 hits, was named the Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year three times, and won two Grammys. Wynette was the first female country music singer to sell over one million albums and has sold more than 30 million records grossing more than $100 million, earning her the title “The First Lady of Country Music.”

Peter Asher, DJ Kool Herc and Joel Katz are the Trustees Award recipients. Katz has shaped the entertainment industry through his work in facilitating entertainment-related corporate acquisitions and mergers and consulting multi-national and multi-media entertainment companies. Katz was ranked Billboard magazine’s No. 1 entertainment attorney in its “Power 100” list of most powerful executives in the music business. At Kennesaw State University, Katz endowed and began a commercial music program—one of the largest music education programs in America with over 500 students. In honor of his work, the University of Tennessee College of Law dedicated its library in his name, the Joel A. Katz Law Library.

“The Academy is honored to pay tribute to this year’s Special Merit Award recipients—a remarkable group of creators and industry professionals whose impact resonates with generations worldwide,” says Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. “Their contributions to music span genres, backgrounds and crafts, reflecting the rich diversity that fuels our creative community. We look forward to honoring these music industry trailblazers next month as part of our week-long celebration leading up to Music’s Biggest Night.”

Lorie Hollabaugh
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