Recording Academy Announces 2024 Special Merit Award, Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees

The Recording Academy has announced the Lifetime Achievement Award honorees and other award winners for the 2024 Special Merit Awards.

Laurie Anderson, The Clark Sisters, Gladys Knight, N.W.A, Donna Summer, and Tammy Wynette are the 2024 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award honorees.

Laurie Anderson is a writer, director, composer, visual artist, musician, and vocalist who has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, experimental music, and technology.

The Clark Sisters, an American gospel vocal group initially consisting of five sisters: Jacky, Denise, Elbernita, Dorinda, and Karen – have been taking the world by storm since the early 1980s.

Gladys Knight is a seven-time Grammy Award winner with No. 1 hits in pop, gospel, R&B, and adult contemporary to her credit. She has also triumphed in film, television and live performance.

N.W.A was a rap group from the Compton district in Los Angeles who are credited by many with inventing gangsta rap.

Donna Summer rocketed to international superstardom with her groundbreaking merger of R&B, soul, pop, funk, rock, disco, and avant-garde electronica, catapulting underground dance music out of the clubs of Europe and bringing it to the world.

Tammy Wynette was the first female country music singer to sell over one million albums and has sold more than 30 million records grossing more than $100 million, earning her the title “The First Lady of Country Music.” Her 1968 song ‘Stand By Your Man’ sold more than five million singles and became the largest-selling single ever recorded by a female artist.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.

Peter Asher, DJ Kool Herc and Joel Katz are the Trustees Award recipients.

Tom Kobayashi and Tom Scott have been selected for the Technical Grammy Award honorees.

“Refugee,” written by K’naan, Steve McEwan, and Gerald Eaton(a.k.a. Jarvis Church), will be honored with the Best Song For Social Change Award.

The Special Merit Awards will return to the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles on February 3 as part of the Academy’s week-long celebration leading up to the Grammy Awards 2024.

“The Academy is honored to pay tribute to this year’s Special Merit Award recipients – a remarkable group of creators and industry professionals whose impact resonates with generations worldwide,” said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy.