TUNE IN ALERT: GREAT PERFORMANCES: "GRAMMY SALUTE TO MUSIC LEGENDS®" HONORS RECORDING ACADEMY™ SPECIAL MERIT AWARDS RECIPIENTS
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 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.
