Legends Live On Opera diva
Jessye Norman, blues pioneer
Robert Johnson and the late
Richard Pryor are among the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Awards honorees presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc – the governing body of the Grammy Awards.
Also included on the list are legendary rocker
David Bowie and country music star
Merle Haggard. Music producer and record mogul
Chris Blackwell, credited for putting the likes of
Jimmy Cliff,
Bob Marley,
Jethro Tull, and
U2 on the map, will also be honored with a Trustees Award, while Atlantic Records longtime engineer
Tom Dowd – who worked with
Ray Charles,
John Coltrane, and
Eric Clapton during a 40 year career -- will receive a Technical Grammy Award.
"This year's honorees are a prestigious group of diverse and influential creators who have contributed some of the most distinguished and influential recordings," said Recording Academy President
Neil Portnow, during the announcement of the awards. "Their work exemplifies the highest artistic and technical standards, creating a timeless legacy that has positively affected multiple generations, and will continue to influence generations to come." An exclusive ceremony will take place on Feb. 7 in Los Angeles, where the acknowledgments will be made.
A Closer Look“It is with joy and humility that I accept the Lifetime Achievement Award for Classical Music at this year's Grammy celebrations,” Ms. Norman said on Friday evening. Considered one of the premier sopranos of all time, Norman is a prominent opera, recital and collaborative singer of the highest order. Born in Augusta, Ga. in 1945, she made her debut in Berlin in 1968 after winning an international music competition. Once recognized in the United States, she became a vocal powerhouse who has been an advocate for many humanitarian efforts. In 1997, Norman became the youngest person to receive the Kennedy Center Honor. She has received approximately 30 decorations and awards, and was appointed an honorary U.N. ambassador in 1990. “At a time when music education, which encourages and builds the very foundation of our audiences, is disappearing from the general education of our children,” she added, “it is especially gratifying to have this attention given to classical music.” Norman is the recipient of four previous Grammy Awards in Classical categories.
“It’s great but they should’ve given it to him while he was alive,” comedian
Paul Mooney– who was a close friend and frequent collaborator of Pryor’s-- told Black Voices. “Those are my thoughts on it. I think it’s wonderful that they can have that kind of admiration for him… but I would’ve preferred for them to give it to him while he was alive…then I would’ve been impressed. See I’m not impressed with all of this Academy Awards, Grammy Awards stuff. That’s all that white people stuff…. Niggers are always looking for white approval. I’m not into white approval.”
Pryor, born in Peoria, IL, is known as one of the most daring and groundbreaking talents in the comedy arena. Starting off clean in the late 1960s and following in the path of mainstream funnyman
Bill Cosby, Pryor broke free of the safeness and went all the way blue in the early 1970s by only playing small black clubs – and subsequently garnering a cult following. A string of uproarious comedy albums followed, including the “n-word” shtick that became his trademark. Pryor took comedy to a multimedia level with a career encompassing recordings, television shows, and big studio movie projects. He died on Dec. 10, 2005 after a 20 year battle with Multiple Sclerosis.
Johnson, who died at only 27, is commonly referred to as “the greatest blues singer of all time,” and is considered by many to be the most distinguished musician in the history of the Delta blues. Born in Hazlehurst, Miss., Johnson was a singer, composer and guitarist who left behind a treasure trove of blues standards such as ‘Love In Vain,’ ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ and ‘Terraplane Blues.’ When Johnson's complete recordings were released in 1990, it was the first blues album in history to sell more than two million copies.
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium while the Trustees Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the industry in a non-performing capacity. Both awards are decided by vote of The Recording Academy's National Trustees. Past recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Awards include
Nat King Cole,
Billie Holliday, Chuck Berry, Lena Horne, Barbara Streisand, Curtis Mayfield, Paul Robeson, Marvin Gaye, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Marley, John Lennon, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Stevie Wonder, Leontyne Pryce, Sarah Vaughan, Fats Waller, The Rolling Stones, Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte and
Aretha Franklin.
