{"id":95095,"date":"2025-12-20T06:10:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T06:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/95095\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T06:10:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T06:10:21","slug":"2026-recording-academy-special-merit-awards-full-list-of-honorees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/95095\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Recording Academy Special Merit Awards: Full List of Honorees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Recording Academy has announced the recipients of its 2026 Special Merit Awards. Carlos Santana<\/a>, Chaka Khan<\/a>, Cher<\/a>, Fela Kuti<\/a>, Paul Simon<\/a> and Whitney Houston<\/a> are the lifetime achievement recipients; Bernie Taupin<\/a>, Eddie Palmieri <\/a>and Sylvia Rhone<\/a> are the Trustees Award honorees; and John Chowning is the Technical Grammy Award honoree.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ceremony will be held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday Jan. 31, the afternoon before the 68th annual Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a true honor to recognize this year\u2019s Special Merit Award recipients \u2014 an extraordinary group whose influence spans generations, genres and the very foundation of modern music,\u201d Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. \u201cEach of these honorees has made a profound and lasting impact, and we look forward to celebrating their remarkable achievements.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPalmieri, a Latin music legend, will be honored less than six months after he died at age 88. Two other artists are being honored posthumously \u2013 Afrobeats pioneer Kuti, who died in 1997, and Houston, who died in 2012.<\/p>\n

\n\tSimon is being honored as a solo artist. Simon & Garfunkel received a lifetime achievement award as a duo in 2003. Simon joins the short list of people who have been honored both solo and in groups or duos. Others include Diana Ross (the Supremes) and Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison (The Beatles).<\/p>\n

\n\tHouston receives the honor seven years after her cousin Dionne Warwick was honored.<\/p>\n

\n\tTaupin is this year\u2019s only Special Merit Award recipient who is also a 2026 Grammy nominee. The night after he picks up this honor, he\u2019ll win or lose for best song written for visual media for \u201cNever Too Late\u201d from Elton John: Never Too Late. Incredibly, Taupin has yet to win a competitive Grammy.<\/p>\n

\n\tLifetime Achievement Awards are presented to performers who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. Trustees Awards are presented to individuals who have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording. Both are voted on by the academy\u2019s national trustees.<\/p>\n

\n\tTechnical Grammy Awards are presented to individuals, companies, organizations or institutions who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. They are voted on by the Producers & Engineers Wing Advisory Council and chapter committees and ratified by the academy\u2019s national trustees.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s a closer look at this year\u2019s honorees:<\/p>\n

\tLifetime Achievement Award: Cher<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Cher\"
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: An Le\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\tCher will receive her lifetime achievement award 60 years after receiving her first Grammy nomination \u2013 best new artist as one-half of Sonny & Cher. Cher is an Oscar, Grammy, Primetime Emmy, and Golden Globe winner whose influence has shaped pop culture and fashion worldwide. Rising to fame with the Billboard Hot 100-topping hit \u201cI Got You Babe,\u201d she went on to land such solo hits as \u201cGypsies, Tramps & Thieves,\u201d \u201cHalf-Breed,\u201d \u201cDark Lady\u201d and \u201cIf I Could Turn Back Time,\u201d before taking on dance-pop with the Grammy-winning \u201cBelieve\u201d (which was nominated for record of the year). On TV, she scored big with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and Cher. As an actress, Cher earned acclaim in films such as Silkwood, Mask and Moonstruck, the latter bringing her an Oscar for best actress. Her world tours and Las Vegas residency have drawn millions of fans. Cher received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018 and was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024. She may be the youngest and hippest 79-year-old on planet Earth.<\/p>\n

\tLifetime Achievement Award: Whitney Houston<\/p>\n

\n\tHouston, who died in 2012 at age 48, earned worldwide renown as \u201cThe Voice.\u201d Born into a dynasty of legendary singers, she rose from performing in New York clubs to signing with Clive Davis\u2019 Arista Records in 1983. Two years later, she released her self-titled debut album, which became the best-selling debut album by a solo artist. Houston made history by stringing together seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. Her acting debut in The Bodyguard (1992) led to one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time and to her career-defining recording of Dolly Parton\u2019s \u201cI Will Always Love You.\u201d The Bodyguard soundtrack won album of the year at the 1994 Grammys, while that megahit single took record of the year. A six-time Grammy winner, Houston was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.<\/p>\n

\tLifetime Achievement Award: Carlos Santana<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Carlos
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Maryanne Bilham\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\tFor nearly six decades, Carlos Santana, 78, has been a pioneering force in music, fusing Afro-Latin, blues, rock, and jazz into a sound that transcends genre, culture and generation. He and his band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. They made Grammy history in 2000, receiving eight Grammys in a single night, tying Michael Jackson for the single-year Grammy record. Their haul included album of the year for Supernatural and record of the year for \u201cSmooth,\u201d a propulsive smash featuring Rob Thomas. A 10-time Grammy and three-time Latin Grammy winner, Carlos Santana received Billboard\u2018s Century Award in 1996 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2013. His Las Vegas residency at House of Blues is now in its 14th year.<\/p>\n

\tLifetime Achievement Award: Chaka Khan<\/p>\n

\n\tKhan is a 10-time Grammy winner, a 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a creative innovator whose influence reaches across genres \u2013 pop, R&B, jazz, rock, country, gospel, dance, classical, indie, and beyond. Her biggest solo hit, a cover of Prince\u2019s \u201cI Feel for You,\u201d featured a rap by Grandmaster Melle Mel and a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder, bridging generations of R&B artist and sensibilities. Khan, 72, is a trailblazer, storyteller and the voice of power and freedom for many generations. She remains a living force in music \u2013 an artist whose work and life continue to inspire, elevate and redefine what is possible.<\/p>\n

\tLifetime Achievement Award: Paul Simon<\/p>\n

\n\tSimon, 84, has shaped the sound of contemporary music for 60 years. Widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, he has received 16 Grammy Awards. He has won album of the year with three albums, record of the year with three singles, and song of the year once, for \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water,\u201d one of the most universally admired songs of our time. He is a two-time inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He was inducted as one-half of Simon & Garfunkel in 1990 and on his own in 2001. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1982 and received that organization\u2019s top honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 1998. His accolades also include the Kennedy Center Honors, the inaugural Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the Polar Music Prize, and the Smithsonian\u2019s Great Americans Medal. In 2023, Simon released Seven Psalms, receiving his 36th Grammy nomination (best folk album) and inspiring the documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.<\/p>\n

\tLifetime Achievement Award: Fela Kuti<\/p>\n

\n\tFela Kuti, who died in 1997 at age 58, was a Nigerian musician, producer, arranger, political radical, outlaw, and the father of Afrobeats. In the 1960s, he created the genre by combining funk, jazz, salsa, calypso, and a blend of traditional Nigerian rhythms. A titanic sociopolitical voice, Afrobeat\u2019s revolutionary politics brought Fela into violent conflict with successive Nigerian military regimes. Fela\u2019s influence and music catalog have been widely celebrated and explored, including the podcast series Fela Kuti: Fear No Man and the Broadway musical Fela!, which received 11 Tony nominations in 2010, winning three awards. Fela\u2019s influence spans generations, inspiring such wide-ranging artists as Beyonc\u00e9, Paul McCartney and Thom Yorke, and shaping modern Nigerian Afrobeats. An annual celebration in his honor, Felabration, takes place in Lagos and around the world each October.<\/p>\n

\tTrustees Award: Bernie Taupin<\/p>\n

\n\tAs noted above, Taupin is this year\u2019s only Special Merit Award recipient who is also a 2026 Grammy nominee. He\u2019s nominated for best song written for visual media for \u201cNever Too Late\u201d from Elton John: Never Too Late. Incredibly, Taupin, 75, has yet to win a competitive Grammy. \u00a0Best known for his legendary partnership with Elton John, Taupin helped create one of the best-selling singles of all time, \u201cCandle in the Wind 1997.\u201d His achievements have earned him the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, a dozen Ivor Novello Awards, an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023, and a Commander of the British Empire honor. He and John were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and received that organization\u2019s top honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 2013. A best-selling memoirist, Taupin continues to write across genres, most recently contributing to the Grammy-nominated album Who Believes in Angels? by John and Brandi Carlile. Taupin\u2019s Trustees Award is noteworthy because John has yet to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy (though he did receive the less defined Grammy Legend Award in 2000).<\/p>\n

\tTrustees Award: Eddie Palmieri<\/p>\n

\n\tPalmieri, who died on Aug. 6 at age 88, was a visionary pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader who took Afro-Caribbean music to new horizons for more than seven decades. Born in 1936 in Spanish Harlem to Puerto Rican parents, he began playing piano in childhood and launched his professional career in the 1950s. In 1961, he founded La Perfecta, replacing trumpets with trombones to forge a bold new sound that helped define modern salsa. His 1965 recording Az\u00facar Pa\u2019 Ti exemplified his groundbreaking works and was inducted into the Library of Congress in 2009. In 1975, Palmieri became the inaugural winner of best Latin recording for Sun of Latin Music. He eventually received eight Grammy Awards and two Latin Grammys and was honored with the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the NEA Jazz Master distinction and induction into Lincoln Center\u2019s Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\tTrustees Award: Sylvia Rhone<\/p>\n

\n\tRhone, 73, is a pioneering music executive whose five-decade career reshaped the recording industry and forged historic pathways for women and people of color. Rising from Harlem, she became the first woman to serve as CEO of a major record label owned by a Fortune 500 company and went on to hold top executive roles across all three major music groups. She served in top posts at Atlantic, Elektra, Motown, and Epic, where she was named chairwoman and CEO in 2019. Rhone expanded the labels\u2019 global reach, overseeing career-defining releases across genres \u2014 from Travis Scott, Future, En Vogue, Metallica, Bj\u00f6rk, and Tracy Chapman to Zara Larsson and Tyla \u2014 while playing a vital role in shaping the rise of hip-hop and championing female trailblazers including MC Lyte and Missy Elliott to Nicki Minaj. Her leadership has earned her numerous honors, including the Recording Academy\u2019s Global Impact Award, Billboard\u2019s Executive of the Year and the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award.<\/p>\n

\tTechnical Grammy Award: John Chowning<\/p>\n

\n\tChowning, 91, is a composer and computer-music innovator whose discovery of frequency modulation (FM) synthesis in 1967 revolutionized electronic sound. After studying with Nadia Boulanger and earning his doctorate at Stanford, he launched the university\u2019s early computer-music program and developed the first digital algorithm for surround-sound localization. Stanford\u2019s licensing of his FM patent to Yamaha led to the most successful synthesis engine in the history of electronic instruments. A co-founder of Stanford\u2019s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics in 1974, Chowning helped establish one of the world\u2019s leading hubs for computer-music research. Even after retiring in 1996, he continued a teenage interest in exploring reverberant caves. His honors include election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the French Ordre des Arts et Lettres and the Giga-Hertz Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Recording Academy has announced the recipients of its 2026 Special Merit Awards. Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, Cher,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[7082,44305,56,58,57,44306,44307],"class_list":["post-95095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-awards","tag-grammy-week","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-recording-academy","tag-special-merit-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}