Isaac Hayes, Public Enemy To Receive Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards

The awards are part of the Recording Academy's 2020 Special Merit Awards.

The Recording Academy officially announced their Lifetime Achievement honorees  Thursday afternoon. Notable names include soul music legend Isaac Hayes and Public Enemy. Honorees will participate in a presentation ceremony in Pasadena, California on April 18, 2020. Further details about the ceremony are to be announced later.

READ: In the Summer of 1989 "Fight the Power" Saved Public Enemy & Almost Sank 'Do the Right Thing'

According to Variety, the full class includes the band Chicago, Roberta Flack, Iggy Pop, John Prine, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.

Additionally, the Academy announced Ken Erlich, Phillip Glass, and Frank Walker as their Trustees Award honorees. These honors go to outstanding contributors in areas other than musical performance.

“Our industry is one that prides itself on influence and paying it forward," said the Academy's president/CEO Deborah Dugan. "Each year the Recording Academy has the privilege of honoring a select group of visionaries whose creative contributions have rippled throughout our culture. Our Special Merit Awards recipients have molded their musical passion into pieces of history that will continue to influence and inspire generations of music creators and music lovers to come.”

READ: The Secret History of Public Enemy's 'Bum Rush the Show'

Public Enemy is just the second rap group to be honored. Run-DMC were among the honorees back in 2016. 2018's class included Tina Turner, Queen, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, and The Meters. The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees determines the honorees of both awards.

SOURCE: Variety