Tragic Latin superstar Selena Quintanilla is set to posthumously join rap pioneers Salt-N-Pepa and rockers Talking Heads among the recipients of the 2021 Grammy Awards Lifetime Achievement honors.
Also set to be feted with the Special Merit Awards are hip-hop icons Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, opera singer Marilyn Horne, and late jazz musician Lionel Hampton.
Recording Academy officials have additionally named the stars selected for the Trustees Awards, with R&B legend Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, saxophonist Benny Golson, and noted producer and engineer Ed Cherney, who lost his battle with cancer last year (2019), due to be saluted for their “significant contributions… to the field of recording”, while engineer Daniel Weiss has been recognized with the Technical Grammy Award.
“As we welcome the new class of Special Merit Award honorees, it gives us a chance to reward and recognize the influence they’ve had in the music community regardless of genre,” Harvey Mason, Jr., Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy, shared in a statement.
“As a music creator and music lover, I am grateful that we are able to look back at our influences and see the impact that they have made on our community. In a year where music has helped keep us together, I look forward to honoring this iconic group of music creators.”
All of the honorees will be celebrated at a special ceremony on January 31, 2021, although it’s yet to be announced if the event will be a virtual affair amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Class of 2020 was made up of Iggy Pop, Chicago, Public Enemy, Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, John Prine, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
