"GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends," a special all-star concert honoring The Recording Academy's 2016 Special Merit Awards recipients, is scheduled to air Oct. 14 from 9–11:30 p.m. on PBS. Ahead of the broadcast, dive in to 12 facts you need to know about this year's recipient class.
A key activist in the movement to reform musicians' royalty payments in the 1980s, Ruth Brown helped net a $1.5 million donation from Atlantic Records, which led to the creation of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation in 1987.
A three-time GRAMMY winner, Celia Cruz won consecutive awards at the first three Latin GRAMMY Awards, including Best Salsa Performance for Celia Cruz And Friends: A Night Of Salsa at the inaugural Latin GRAMMY telecast in 2000.
Earth, Wind & Fire's "Shining Star" netted the band a couple of firsts. The song earned the band the first of their six GRAMMYs for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus for 1975. It also marked the first and only Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit of their career.
Herbie Hancock's trailblazing 1983 single "Rockit" is considered one of the first songs to feature "scratching," or sounds being manipulated using a turntable to the beat. The GRAMMY-winning song has been featured on TV ("30 Rock") and in film (Zoolander) and video games ("Grand Theft Auto: Vice City").
Jefferson Airplane's classic "White Rabbit" (GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, 1998) was penned by frontwoman Grace Slick. The song has been covered by two GRAMMY winners: George Benson, who interpreted it on his 1971 solo album titled White Rabbit, and Pink, who covered it for the 2016 film Alice Through The Looking Glass.
Linda Ronstadt's 10 GRAMMY Awards include wins in the Children's, Country, Pop, and Latin Fields.
Run DMC were the sole hip-hop act to perform at 1985's historic Live Aid concert, which featured performances by U2, David Bowie, Madonna, and Paul McCartney, among others.
In 1952 John Cage introduced "4'33"," a piece featuring four minutes and 33 seconds during which the performers do not play their instruments. The resulting sounds of the environment that the listeners hear are designed to be the "music."
Fred Foster is credited as a co-writer with Kris Kristofferson on "Me And Bobby McGee." The classic 1971 single by Janis Joplin was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2002.
The first recording released on Chris Strachwitz's Arhoolie Records label was Mance Lipscomb's 1960 album, Texas Sharecropper And Songster. A total of 250 copies were initially pressed.
Germany-based company EMT made a breakthrough in audio technology in 1957 with the release of the EMT 140 plate reverb, which utilized a resonating metal plate to create ambience.
In 1949 Dr. Harvey Fletcher became the second person elected an honorary fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, following fellow Technical GRAMMY Award recipient Thomas A. Edison.
