The Recording Academy has named Lionel Richie as the 2015 recipient of the MusiCares Person of the Year Award.
MusiCares, which was established in 1989, is one of the charity arm of the Academy, offering programs and services to members of the music community including emergency funds for basic living and medical expenses.
Richie will be honored at the annual benefit gala on Saturday, February 13, two nights prior to the 58th annual Grammy Awards. Included in the evening is a reception and silent auction, dinner, award presentation and a tribute concert to Richie which will include Lady Antebellum, Pharrell Williams, Luke Bryan and a host of other artists yet to be announced.
Neil Portnow, President and CEO of both the Academy and MusiCares, said “Each year our MusiCares Person of the Year tribute honors an extraordinary artist and humanitarian who lends their considerable time and talents to raising the funds necessary to continue to meet the ever-increasing need for our programs and services and it is truly a privilege to be paying tribute to Lionel, whose musical gifts and philanthropy have touched millions of people around the world.”
Richie said of the award “I’m really very proud of this. As far as I’m concerned, this is the highest honor in our music business because it means you have a career. You’ve survived the journey, if you will. The people who have been there defy categories. When you say Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney — are you kidding me? When I got in this business I wanted to be like them. When you get recognition like this, it’s everything. It really is the top of the mountain when it comes down to what your industry gives as recognition for great work, and the opportunity to help raise funds to sustain MusiCares’ critical safety net of programs for members of the music community is momentous to me.”
The honorees over the years:
1991 – David Crosby
1992 – Bonnie Raitt
1993 – Natalie Cole
1994 – Gloria Estefan
1995 – Tony Bennett
1996 – Quincy Jones
1997 – Phil Collins
1998 – Luciano Pavarotti
1999 – Stevie Wonder
2000 – Elton John
2001 – Paul Simon
2002 – Billy Joel
2003 – Bono
2004 – Sting
2005 – Brian Wilson
2006 – James Taylor
2007 – Don Henley
2008 – Aretha Franklin
2009 – Neil Diamond
2010 – Neil Young
2011 – Barbra Streisand
2012 – Paul McCartney
2013 – Bruce Springsteen
2014 – Carole King
2015 – Lionel Richie
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