Gladys Knight

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Source: Raymond Boyd / Getty / N.W.A
It’s been a long time coming. N.W.A, Gladys Knight, and others will receive flowers from The Recording Academy.
Spotted on Variety, the Rap group that pioneered Gangsta Rap, iconic R&B singer, Disco queen Donna Summers, Tammy Wynette, and legendary Gospel group Clark Sisters will receive the 2024 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Awards at this year’s Special Merit Awards ceremony.

Other notable names being honored included Hip-Hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc, Linda Ronstadt/ James Taylor, producer/manager Peter Asher, veteran attorney, and longtime Grammy Academy executive Joel Katz, who will receive the Trustee Award.
Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, spoke on this year’s honorees, adding, “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. Their contributions to music span genres, backgrounds, and crafts, reflecting the rich diversity that fuels our creative community. We look forward to honoring these music industry trailblazers next month as part of our week-long celebration leading up to Music’s Biggest Night.”
It’s About Time N.W.A Gets Their Flowers From The Recording Academy
For N.W.A, it’s about time the rap stable is getting some recognition. Variety shared the Academy’s explanation for the “Straight Outta Compton crew behind honored.
“N.W.A was a rap group from the Compton district in Los Angeles who are credited by many with inventing gangsta rap. The group, consisting of Eazy-E^, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, and MC-Ren, developed a new sound, which brought in many of the loud, extreme sonic innovations of Public Enemy while adopting a self-consciously violent and dangerous lyrical stance. In 1988, N.W.A released their album, Straight Outta Compton, a brutally intense record that became an underground hit without any support from radio or MTV. This negative attention worked in their favor as it brought the album to multiplatinum status. Although the group was short-lived, gangsta rap established itself as the most popular form of hip-hop during the mid-1990s.”
The Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards Ceremony goes down on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
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Photo: Raymond Boyd / Getty