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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →N.W.A., Gladys Knight and Laurie Anderson received 2024 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Awards. The Academy announced the six honorees on January 5, and the Special Merit Awards ceremony took place February 3 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
What the Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes
The Recording Academy defines the Lifetime Achievement Award as a Special Merit Award given by vote of its National Trustees to performers whose creative contributions have outstanding artistic significance to the recording field. The Academy’s recipient archive lists Anderson, Knight and N.W.A. among the 2024 recipients.
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The 2024 recipients and their musical legacies
The three artists represent distinct strands of recorded music. The award recognizes each recipient’s contribution; it is not a ranking among them.
N.W.A.
The Academy describes N.W.A. as a rap group from Compton, Los Angeles, comprising Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren. It credits the group with developing a new sound and says many credit N.W.A. with inventing gangsta rap. Its 1988 debut, Straight Outta Compton, is described by the Academy as transformative in popular music. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony presented the group’s award at the ceremony.
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Gladys Knight
Knight’s ceremony remarks recalled the role of church in her musical life: “We had to go to church every Sunday, and it did make a difference,” she said, according to the Academy’s ceremony recap.
Laurie Anderson
Anderson, an artist whose work the Academy recap describes as experimental, made light of that label while accepting her award: “They say my music is experimental, which sounds like doing something in the lab that might explode,” she said.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who else received a 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award?
The six-recipient cohort also included the Clark Sisters, Donna Summer and Tammy Wynette. In its January 5 announcement, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. said: “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.”
Read the Recording Academy’s 2024 honoree announcement for the full cohort and its descriptions of the recipients.
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