New York, NY (Top40 Charts) In collaboration with the Recording Academy, Great Performances presents GRAMMY Salute To
Music Legends 2018, the third annual all-star concert offering a primetime spotlight for the Recording Academy's 2018 Special Merit Awards recipients. The celebration and tribute concert feature rare performances by honorees and never-before-seen renditions of their classic songs by those they've inspired. Recorded in July at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre, the event premieres nationwideFriday, October 5 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) and will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.
This year's Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Neil Diamond, Hal Blaine, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, the Meters,
Queen and Tina Turner. Additional Special Merit Awards honorees celebrated include concert promoter Bill Graham, Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein, and five-time Academy Award-winning film score composer John Williams, who are this year's Trustees Award honorees; Tony Agnello and Richard Factor are the Technical GRAMMY Award recipients. Melissa Salguero is this year's recipient of the
Music Educator Award™.
Led by four-time GRAMMY-winning Gospel great
Yolanda Adams as master of ceremonies with GRAMMY®-nominated industry icon Greg Phillinganes as musical director, the tribute concert features performances by past GRAMMY nominee Micky Dolenz alongside Diamond; eight-time GRAMMY winner Herb Alperthonoring legendary session drummer Hal Blaine; GRAMMY winner
Sammy Hagar paying tribute to Graham and Queen; past GRAMMY nominee
Ledisi saluting Jordan; and three-time GRAMMY winner
Trisha Yearwood performing with Harris. Presenters for the evening include LA Philharmonic
Music & Artistic DirectorGustavo Dudamel and GRAMMY winning Henry Rollins. Additional performers include R&B, Soul, Gospel and Jazz singer Sheléa, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Quartet, virtuoso violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, film score composer
David Newman and The American Youth Symphony.
Song List (honorees in bold type; performers in parentheses):
Neil Diamond
"Holly Holy" (performed by Yolanda Adams)
"I'm a Believer" (performed by Micky Dolenz and Neil Diamond)
"
Sweet Caroline" (performed by Neil Diamond)
Emmylou Harris
"Boulder to Birmingham" (performed by Emmylou Harris)
"Love and Happiness" (performed by
Emmylou Harris and Trisha Yearwood)
Hal Blaine
"A Taste of Honey" (performed by Herb Alpert)
Louis Jordan
Medley: "Choo Choo Ch'
Boogie / Let The Good Times Roll" (performed by Ledisi)
Tina Turner
Medley: "What's Love Got to Do with It / Proud Mary / The Best" (performed by Sheléa)
John Williams
"Theme from Schindler's List" (performed by Anne Akiko Meyers,
David Newman and The American Youth Symphony)
"Air and
Simple Gifts" (performed by Los Angeles Philharmonic Quartet)
The Meters
"Cissy Strut/Fire on the Bayou" (performed by The Meters)
Bill Graham and Queen
"
Right Now" and "
We Will Rock You" (performed by
Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony)
The Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award honors performers who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording, while the Trustees Award recognizes such contributions in areas other than performance. Both awards are determined by a vote of the Recording Academy's
National Board of Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are determined by vote of the Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing® Advisory Council and Chapter Committees and ratified by the
National Board of Trustees, and presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.
Throughout its more than 40-year history on public television, Great Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America's most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming.
A production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, Great Performances: GRAMMY Salute To
Music Legends 2018® is written by
David Wild and directed for television by
David Horn, with Mitch Owgang as producer, and Horn and Neil Portnow as executive producers. For Great Performances, Bill O'Donnell is series producer;
David Horn is executive producer.
This Great Performances presentation is funded by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, The Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Irene Diamond Fund, Rosalind P. Walter, The LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, The
Agnes Varis Trust, The Starr Foundation, The Kate W.
Cassidy Foundation, the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation,
Ellen and
James S. Marcus, The Abra Prentice Foundation, and PBS.
Websites: https://pbs.org/gperf, facebook.com/GreatPerformances, @GPerfPBS #GreatPerformancesPBS
