Prince, The Clash, Frankie Valli & More to Receive 2025 Lifetime Achievement Awards From Recording Academy: Full List

A Philadelphia native, Beverly began his musical journey performing in church. As a teenager, he formed The Butlers, which evolved into Frankie Beverly’s Raw Soul. The band’s rise to prominence began in the mid-1970s, after capturing the attention of Marvin Gaye, who invited the group to tour with him as his opening act. While on tour with Gaye, the group changed their name to Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. Arriving on the scene in 1977, the group had a string of indelible hits including “Before I Let Go” and “Happy Feelin’s.” The group also released a series of influential albums, including Joy and Pain, Live In New Orleans and We Are One. Beverly died on Sept. 10 at age 77. He was never even nominated for a Grammy, with Maze or on his own, but this award makes up for it.

Formed in 1976 in the vanguard of British punk, The Clash were pioneers in integrating elements of militant reggae, dub, funk, jazz, and hip-hop into their music. Their music confronted such issues as racism, violence, drugs and police corruption. The Clash won their only Grammy in 2003 – best long form music video for Westway to the World. That same year, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Joe Strummer died in 2002 at age 50. He was the first artist to receive a major posthumous tribute on the Grammy telecast. Just months after his death, Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl, Tony Kanal, Little Steven, Bruce Springsteen and Pete Thomas performed a blistering version of “London Calling” on the 2003 telecast in his honor. London Calling was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007. Strummer is being honored with this lifetime achievement award along with fellow band members Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Nick “Topper” Headon, all of whom are now 69.

Gospel vocalist and TV and radio host Dr. Bobby Jones, 85, launched his entertainment career in 1976 on WSM-TV with the debut of Nashville Gospel. Building on its success, he became the host and executive producer of Bobby Jones Gospel, which premiered on Black Entertainment Television in 1980 and became the longest-running original series in cable television history. Jones was appointed Ambassador of the Commonwealth of Dominica in 2006. As a musician, he has toured with the musical group New Life and the Nashville Super Choir. He received a Grammy for best soul gospel performance by a duo or group in 1984 for “I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today, ” a collaboration with country star Barbara Mandrell.

In a career spanning six decades, four-time Grammy winner Taj Mahal, 82, has helped popularize and reshape the scope of the blues and personify the concept of “World Music,” years before the phrase existed. He has explored and incorporated numerous musical styles into his work, and he has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Etta James, Angélique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley. With his group, the Rising Sons—one of the first interracial bands—he opened for Otis Redding and The Temptations and mingled with such giants as Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. He began his solo career in 1968 with Taj Mahal, which was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2020. Taj Mahal has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and received the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Over the course of his 40-year career, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Prince sold more than 150 million records worldwide. With the release of 39 albums, and thousands of unreleased songs, spanning funk, R&B, rock, new wave, soul, blues, jazz, and hip-hop, his work received near-unanimous critical praise. Prince won seven Grammys and an Oscar (best original song score for Purple Rain). Three of his albums – 1999, Purple Rain and Sign o’ the Times – have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 in his first year of eligibility and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2024. A champion for artists’ rights worldwide, Prince was a mentor, a philanthropist and a founding member of the Artist Empowerment Coalition. He died in 2016 at age 57.

Roxanne Shante, 55, is a trailblazer in hip-hop and one of the first nationally-recognized female rappers. When she was just 14, she released her debut single, “Roxanne’s Revenge,” a response record to UTFO’s “Roxanne, Roxanne.” Shante also helped launch the careers of such hip-hop icons as Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie and Nas. She currently hosts the radio show “Have A Nice Day” on LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells Radio on SiriusXM, which reaches millions of  listeners daily. Her unique voice has also led to voice-over work in video games and animated films. In 2023, Shante received the NAACP Legacy Award. Like Beverly, Shante was never even nominated for a Grammy. But again, an award of this magnitude makes up for it.

Valli’s career with the Four Seasons, along with his solo success, has led to dozens of hit singles and left an indelible mark on popular culture. The group inspired the Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway musical Jersey Boys. In 2015, the Four Seasons’ 1962 smash “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Valli’s most recent album, A Touch of Jazz, was released in 2021, marking his first foray into jazz. Valli, 90, has been nominated for five competitive Grammys, for both Four Seasons and solo works, but has yet to win. His 1967 swoon-classic “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” was nominated for two Grammys. He received his most recent nod as a featured artist on the Grease soundtrack, which was nominated for album of the year. Valli’s sleek and sexy recording of Barry Gibb’s title song became a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100.

Garner was a celebrated pianist, composer and pioneer for artists’ rights. Renowned for his genre-defying artistry, Garner published more than 200 compositions, including the iconic ballad “Misty,” which continues to captivate listeners 70 years after its recording. The Erroll Garner Trio’s Concert by the Sea was the first jazz album to achieve $1 million worth of sales. Garner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the ASCAP Pied Piper Award. He received three Grammy nominations, but never won. He landed his first nod in 1962, the fourth year of the Grammys, when he was nominated for best jazz performance – soloist or small group (instrumental) for “Dreamstreet.” The Garner Trio has two recordings in the Grammy Hall of Fame – Concert by the Sea and “Misty.” Johnny Mathis’ sublime cover version of “Misty” is also in the Hall. Garner died in 1977 at age 55.

Johns, 82, is a pioneering producer and sound engineer who has helped shape some of the most influential recordings in modern music history. His career began in 1959 when he gained a reputation as a curious and experimental engineer. From his early days at IBC Studios in London to his enduring legacy with many of rock’s top acts, his discography features such legends as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Eagles, Eric Clapton, and The Clash. In 2012, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Award for Musical Excellence, in the same class with Cosimo Matassa and Tom Dowd.

The Cuban-born musician is an acclaimed composer, conductor, and educator. She has been commissioned by orchestras worldwide, held Carnegie Hall’s Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair for its 2023-24 season, and currently serves as composer-in-residence with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She studied under Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, and has guest-conducted the New York Philharmonic and Johannesburg Philharmonic, among others. She has lectured globally and received honorary doctorate degrees from 10 institutions. In 2010, León founded Composers Now, for which she currently serves as artistic director. She received her only Grammy nomination in 2013 — best contemporary classical composition for “Inura for Voices, Strings & Percussion.” In 2021, she became the first Latin American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music. She received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2022.

Dr. Beranek was an American acoustician, inventor, professor and entrepreneur whose expertise laid the foundation for modern acoustical engineering, particularly in noise control and concert hall acoustics. He was the author of 12 books, including the classic Acoustics. Dr. Beranek’s groundbreaking work in the 1940s at Harvard University’s Electro-Acoustic Laboratory led to the development of the anechoic chamber, a revolutionary space designed to absorb all reflections of sound and isolate external noise. He served as an acoustical consultant for concert halls around the world, including Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Beranek received the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for achievements in science and technology. He died in 2016 at age 102.