How special was the 2024 edition of the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards, an annual pre-Grammy Awards event that honors legends and pivotal behind-the-scenes contributors alike?
So special that Motown vocal queen Gladys Knight was simultaneously elated, humbled and choked up as she accepted her Lifetime Achievement Award at Saturday’s ceremony at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theater.
So special that country music giant Tammy Wynette, who died in 1998, received a standing ovation when her Lifetime Achievement Award was accepted by her daughter, Georgette Jones.
So special that the audience was just as appreciative when Tom Scott and the late Tom Kobayashi were announced as the 2024 Technical Grammy Awards honorees as it was when disco queen Donna Summer was posthumously honored.
So special that top-selling female gospel vocal group The Clark Singers and cutting-edge maverick Laurie Anderson were also cheered with equal enthusiasm, despite the fact their music seems to come from different sonic worlds altogether.
N.W.A. co-founder Ice Cube, right, speaks onstage during the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles
(Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
And so special that three members of the pioneering Los Angeles gangsta-rap group N.W.A. put aside the brash bravado that marked their short but pivotal career to express amazement at being accorded a Lifetime Achievement Award.
“We knew when we started in 1985, ’86, ’87 that a Grammy was not in the cards for us, with the type of music we was doing,” said rapper Ice Cube, who became a highly successful film star and director after N.W.A. imploded in 1992.
“We actually didn’t think we would ever even get on the radio. We was cool with that. We can’t sing like Gladys Knight. None of us can hold a note like the Clark sisters. But we still wanted to express ourselves and try to make sense of the world around us, in L.A., Compton, South Central, Long Beach, Watts. It was a different world out there, and we were trying to make sense of it. And what we did is, we did music. We did music from our hearts.
“The whole world is (now) singing our songs — no way in the world could we ever have predicted that. We just wanted to do our thing. What is shows is, when you do your thing, the world will come to you.”
Cube (real name: O’Shea Jackson) was flanked by fellow N.W.A. co-founders MC Wren (Lorenzo Patterson) and DJ Yella (Antoine Carraby), along with D.O.C. (Tracy Curry), who co-wrote some of N.W.A.’s songs, and the mother and son of group member Eazy-E (Eric Wright), who died in 1995).
The group’s fifth original member, music-industry mogul Dr. Dre (Andre Young), was not present. Ice Cube explained Dre’s absence by saying: “He wanted to make sure I let you know he’s not hating. He’s a billionaire — he got (stuff) to do!”
A few minutes later, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. read aloud to the crowd a text from Dre, who wrote that he was honored by the award and would have attended if the Special Merit Awards was not the same day as his daughter’s birthday.
“We would not be here without his brilliance,” Cube said, about the errant Dre.
This year’s Grammy Music Educator of the Year, award recipient Annie Ray — who teaches at Annandale High School in Virginia — also received a standing ovation, despite being largely unknown beyond the county in which she resides.
Music Educator of the Year Grammy honoree Annie Ray speaks during the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, California.
(Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Happily, such enthusiastic responses have long been the norm at the Special Merit Awards. Presented by the Recording Academy, under whose auspices the Grammy Awards are also presented, it is an event at which heart and soul take precedence over the glitz and glitter often found at the Grammys.
Or, as music teacher and orchestra leader Ray — the day’s first honoree — put it: “Music-making is a labor of love that comes from the heart.”
Knight, who took to the stage more than an hour later, drew a through-line to the present from her early days singing in church and winning first place honors on Ted Mack’s “The Original Amateur Hour” as a 7-year-old in 1952.
“It’s still right here,” she said, patting her chest. After receiving a second standing ovation, Knight told the cheering audience: “Ooh, you should see yourselves from up here!”
Trustee’s Award recipient Peter Asher, a 1960s British Invasion music veteran who went on to manage and serve as an album producer for James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, confessed he felt unworthy of such an accolade. The other two 2024 Trustees Award-winners are hip-hop godfather DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell), who happily addressed the audience, and music-biz legal powerhouse Joel Katz, who could not attend because of a health issue.
The event also included the presentation of the new Special Merit award for the Best Song For Social Change. The win went to “Refugee,” which was written by K’naan, Steve McEwan, and Gerald Eaton, and sung by K’naan.
“Steve and Gerald are not remotely refugees, so they don’t get to say anything,” said K’Naan, who was 12 when he fled Somalia, his war-torn homeland.
“It couldn’t be more (unlikely) standing up here now for a Grammy.”
Bruce Sudano, the husband of the late Donna Summer, and their three daughters accepted the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award on their mother’s behalf Saturday.
(Billboard / Billboard via Getty Images)
Donna Summer, who died in 2012 and was the inspiration for a 2017 La Jolla Playhouse musical, was one of Saturday’s other Lifetime Achievement honorees. Her award was accepted by her three daughters and her husband, Bruce Sudano, who spoke proudly of her achievements and continuing impact.
When he was done, Sudano turned to their oldest daughter, Mimi, and asked her to “sing a little of” Summer’s 1977 hit, “I Feel Love.” Mimi expertly did so, earning a loud ovation in the process.
One of the most memorable Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speeches came from Laurie Anderson, who wryly observed that the description she least likes of her music is “ ‘experimental’ — which sounds like you’re making things in a lab that might explode! So it’s really an honor to be here with my fellow honorees who really do know how to get a groove going as well as make beautiful, mind-bending music …”
“ ‘Lifetime’ is an awesome word to put in an award. It makes you wonder what you did with all that time,” said Anderson, who in 2003 became NASA’s first artist-in-residence.
She paid special tribute to her late husband, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Lou Reed, who died in late 2011. The couple had three rules they lived by, noted Anderson, who then shared them with the audience.
“Don’t be afraid of anyone. Imagine what your life would be if you weren’t afraid of anyone at all,” she said. “Get a really good bulls–t detector, and learn how to use it. And be really tender. With these three, you can really get through just about anything.”
The 66th annual Grammy Awards
With: Host Trevor Noah and performances by Joni Mitchell, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, U2, Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, Luke Combs, Burna Boy, Dua Lipa, Travis Scott and more to be announced.
When: 5 to 8:30 p.m. today
Where: CBS Channel 8 and Paramount+. Paramount+ Essential subscribers can stream the Grammy Awards the day after the ceremony.
2024 Grammys Premiere Ceremony
With: Host Justin Tranter and performances by Kirk Franklin, Robert Glasper, Bob James, Laufey, J. Ivy, Larkin Poe, Pentatonix, Sheila E., Jordin Sparks, Adam Blackstone, Gaby Moreno, Brandy Clark, Terrace Martin, David Aguilar and drummer Harvey Mason Sr. Presenters include Patti Austin, Natalia Lafourcade, Carly Pearce, Molly Tuttle, Rufus Wainwright, Jimmy Jam and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.
When: 12:30 p.m. today when winners in nearly 80 of the 91 categories will be announced
Where: grammy.com
george.varga@sduniontribune.com
