Yesterday (Feb. 4), The Supremes, Slick Rick, Nile Rodgers, Bobby McFerrin and Ma Rainey were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys’ special awards ceremony. Held at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles, the event also honored Nirvana and Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson of Heart.
According to the Recording Academy, this Special Merit Award is presented to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. Ten-time Grammy Award winner McFerrin is known for his hit song “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” It won Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Vocal Performance, Male at the 1988 Grammy Awards.
The Supremes were one of the most successful girl groups during the 1960s. The original members were Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Betty McGlown. With 12 No. 1 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, Motown Records’ premier act was ranked 17th on the publication’s Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists list.
Rapper Slick Rick was the third artist to ever get signed to Def Jam Records. He has released four studio albums during his career, as well as hit songs “The Show” and “La Di Da Di” with Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew. His songs have been sampled and interpolated by artists, including Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, TLC, Nad, Eminem, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B.I.G. and more.
Rodgers, known for his chucking guitar style, is the co-founder of the band Chic. He is a 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. The 70-year-old musician is a three-time Grammy Award winner and the chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ma Rainey, known as the “Mother of the Blues,” has been posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, as well as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The singer has been portrayed in several films, including the 2020 Academy Award-winning Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.