Awards honor music people's contributions to the recording industry

GRAMMY.com

Recipients of the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award were announced today by The Recording Academy. David Bowie, Cream, Merle Haggard, Robert Johnson, Jessye Norman, Richard Pryor, and the Weavers will receive The Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. Chris Blackwell, Owen Bradley and Al Schmitt will be honored with The Academy's Trustees Award. Bell Labs/Western Electric and Tom Dowd have been named recipients of the Technical GRAMMY Award.

"This year's honorees are a prestigious group of diverse and influential creators who have contributed some of the most distinguished and influential recordings," said Recording Academy President Neil Portnow. "Their work exemplifies the highest artistic and technical standards, creating a timeless legacy that has positively affected multiple generations, and will continue to influence generations to come."

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 Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are determined by vote of the members of The Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing 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 elite ceremony during GRAMMY Week on Tuesday, Feb. 7, as well as during the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Feb. 8, and broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

For more information about the special merit recipients, please click here.