The Grammy Legend Award, or Grammy Legend Award, is a special achievement award given by the Recording Academy to recording artists as part of various television specials. The award was created to recognize artists who have made “ongoing contributions and impact on the music industry”.
The award was first presented in 1989 as part of the Grammy Living Legends television special, and the first recipients were Smokey Robinson, Willie Nelson, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Liza Minnelli. The following year, as in the previous year, four more artists were honored. The winners, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Johnny Cash and Quincy Jones, received their awards as part of a television special called Grammy Legends.
The award was presented for the first time in 1992 at a Grammy Awards ceremony, and all subsequent awards have been presented at Grammy Awards ceremonies. Stephen Sondheim presented the award to Barbra Streisand, the sole recipient of that year’s award. In 1993, the award was presented by Janet Jackson to her brother Michael Jackson. In 1994, Curtis Mayfield and Frank Sinatra received the award. Mayfield’s award was presented to him by members of the band The Impressions, including himself, while Sinatra’s award was presented by Bono.
Between 1990 and 1994, the prize was awarded to eleven people, and since 1994 it has been awarded to three more. The first of these was Luciano Pavarotti in 1998.[21] When Pavarotti was unable to attend the ceremony due to illness, Sting and Aretha Franklin accepted the award on his behalf. The following year, Elton John was also honored with this award. The Bee Gees were the only band to receive the award in 2003, and the first and only band to receive the award in the 21st century.
Fourteen solo musicians and one band have received the Grammy Legend Award. Three of these fifteen honorees were women.
