Joan Baez, Ornette Coleman, the Grateful Dead among 2007 recipients

GRAMMY.com

The Recording Academy today announced recipients of its 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. Joan Baez, Booker T. & The MG's, Maria Callas, Ornette Coleman, the Doors, the Grateful Dead and Bob Wills will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award; Stax Records cofounder Estelle Axton, New Orleans-based engineer Cosimo Matassa and Stephen Sondheim will be honored with The Academy's Trustees Award; and recording engineer David M. Smith and Yamaha Corporation have been named recipients of the Technical GRAMMY Award.

"This year's group of accomplished honorees are as diverse as they are influential as creators of the most renowned and prominent recordings in the world," said Recording Academy President Neil Portnow. "Their contributions exemplify the highest artistic and technical standards that have positively affected the music industry and music fans."

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium while the Trustees Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the industry in a non-performing capacity. Both awards are decided by vote of The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are determined by The Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing members and The Academy's Trustees. The award is presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.

Formal acknowledgment of these special merit awards will be made at an invitation-only ceremony during GRAMMY Week, as well as during the 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 11, and broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

For more information on the Special Merit Award recipients, please click here.