Grammy Special Merit Awards tribute concert special for April 23
The Recording Academy is saluting this year’s batch of special merit award recipients with an all-star concert that also will be a PBS “Great Performances†music special.
Earth, Wind & Fire, Lila Downs, Martina McBride, J.D. Souther, Lucretia, Andy Garcia & the CineCon All-Stars are on the first slate of performers for the concert scheduled for April 23 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
They’ll be paying tribute to honorees Run DMC, Linda Ronstadt, Earth, Wind & Fire; Herbie Hancock, Jefferson Airplane, Ruth Brown and Celia Cruz.
Downs, McBride and Souther are taking part in the tribute segment for Ronstadt, whose Parkinson’s disease has left her unable to sing.
Earth, Wind & Fire will handle performances of some of its signature songs, while Cuban musician Garcia and his band are set to pay homage to Cruz, often referred to as the “Queen of Salsa.â€
This will be the first year the special merit award tribute concert is held outside of Grammy week (typically in February). Academy officials decided to move it with the intention of giving the event a higher profile of its own.
Tickets for the concert are being sold through Ticketmaster. Musician and record company executive Don Was is the music director for the show.
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