Recording Academy Announces Recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards

SANTA MONICA, CA -- The Recording Academy's 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award honorees, announced Monday, include gospel singer Shirley Caesar, jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, country crooner Charley Pride, Sly Stone and '60s rock band Velvet Underground, which was fronted by the late Lou Reed.

Jimmie Rodgers, known as the "father of country music," and "high priestess of soul" Nina Simone will be posthumously honored with Life Achievement Awards.

The academy also announced that producer/arranger/songwriter Thom Bell and record executives Mo Ostin and the late Ralph Peer are its Trustees Award honorees, and the late Alan Dower Blumlein is the Technical Grammy Award recipient.

Blumlein "received 128 patents on his way to becoming one of the most significant audio inventors of his time," according to the Academy. "His most noteworthy patent was for the stereo in 1931, a development that was spurred by a visit to the cinema and being frustrated that the sound from a single speaker didn't match with the actors and action on screen."

"This year's Special Merit Awards recipients comprise a prestigious group of diverse and influential creators who have crafted or contributed to some of the most distinctive recordings in music history," said Neil Portnow, president/CEO of the Recording Academy.

"These exceptionally inspiring figures are being honored as legendary performers, creative architects and technical visionaries," he said. "Their outstanding accomplishments and passion for their respective crafts have created a timeless legacy."

The Lifetime Achievement Award "celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording, while the Trustees Award honors contributions in areas other than performance," according to the Academy. The recipients are determined by vote of the Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees.

Technical Grammy Award recipients are voted on by the Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing Advisory Council and Chapter Committees, and ratified by the Academy's trustees. The award is presented to individuals and companies that "have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording industry."

-- City News Service. Nina Simone photo credit: Kroon, Ron / Anefo. Jimmie Rodgers photo in public domain.