The honourees included Chaka Khan, Cher, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon, the late Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and late global pop icon Whitney Houston. The ceremony took place at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on the eve of Sunday’s main Grammy Awards.
Chaka Khan was the only Lifetime Achievement recipient in attendance. Accepting the award, she delivered an emotional reflection on her career, describing music as a source of survival and healing. “Music has been my prayer, my healing, my joy, my truth. Through it, I saved my life,” she said.
Her tribute was preceded by a short documentary chronicling her more than five-decade career, highlighting her work with funk band Rufus and her solo successes, including Tell Me Something Good, I’m Every Woman, Ain’t Nobody and I Feel For You. Dressed in a shimmering sea-green gown, Khan thanked her collaborators, joking that not all of them had been “entirely sane.”
Family members accepted posthumous awards on behalf of Fela Kuti and Whitney Houston. Kuti, who died in 1997, was described during the ceremony as a “producer, arranger, political radical, outlaw and the father of Afrobeat,” and was recognised as the first African musician to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Accepting the honour, his son Femi Kuti thanked the Recording Academy for recognising his father’s legacy. “It’s so important for us, it’s so important for Africa, it’s so important for world peace and the struggle,” he said.
Whitney Houston, who died in 2012, was honoured for her enduring vocal legacy. Her sister-in-law and longtime manager, Pat Houston, said the singer’s influence remains timeless. “Her voice — that voice! — remains eternal. Her legacy will live forever,” she said.
Cher and Carlos Santana were not present at the ceremony but appeared in video messages. Cher, in a brief clip, reflected humorously on her lifelong love for singing, while Santana’s son Salvador accepted the award on his behalf. Santana described music as a tool for healing, saying the world needs hope and joy in challenging times.
Paul Simon was also honoured, with Elton John’s longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin paying tribute to him as “the greatest American songwriter alive.”
In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Awards, the Recording Academy presented several Special Merit honours. Taupin himself received a Trustees Award for his songwriting contributions, while Eddie Palmieri was posthumously recognised for his pioneering role in Latin jazz. Music executive Sylvia Rhone was honoured as the first Black woman to lead a major record label, and John Chowning received the Technical Grammy Award for his groundbreaking work in sound synthesis.
The ceremony also recognised excellence beyond performance. Jennifer Jimenez, a band director from South Miami Senior High School, received the Music Educator Award, while British singer Raye’s Ice Cream Man won the Harry Belafonte Song for Social Change Award.
The Special Merit Awards highlighted the Recording Academy’s broader effort to honour artists and innovators whose influence has shaped music history far beyond chart success.