This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers* who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. (*Through 1972, recipients included non-performers.)
Past Recipients
|
Roy Acuff |
The Allman Brothers Band |
Marian Anderson |
|
Julie Andrews |
Louis Armstrong |
Eddy Arnold |
|
Fred Astaire |
Chet Atkins |
Gene Autry |
|
Burt Bacharach |
Joan Baez |
The Band |
|
Count Basie |
The Beach Boys |
The Beatles |
|
Bee Gees |
Harry Belafonte |
Tony Bennett |
|
Irving Berlin |
Leonard Bernstein |
Chuck Berry |
|
Black Sabbath |
Hal Blaine |
Art Blakey |
|
Bobby "Blue" Bland |
Blind Boys Of Alabama |
Booker T. & The MG's |
|
Pierre Boulez |
David Bowie |
James Brown |
|
Ruth Brown |
Dave Brubeck |
Shirley Caesar |
|
Maria Callas |
Cab Calloway |
Glen Campbell |
|
Benny Carter |
(Original) Carter Family |
Enrico Caruso |
|
Pablo Casals |
Johnny Cash |
Ray Charles |
|
Clifton Chenier |
Van Cliburn |
Patsy Cline |
|
George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic |
Rosemary Clooney |
Leonard Cohen |
|
Nat "King" Cole |
Ornette Coleman |
John Coltrane |
|
Perry Como |
Sam Cooke |
Cream |
|
Bing Crosby |
Celia Cruz |
Bobby Darin |
|
Sammy Davis Jr. |
Miles Davis |
Doris Day |
|
Neil Diamond |
Bo Diddley |
Fats Domino |
|
The Doors |
Bob Dylan |
Earth, Wind & Fire |
|
Billy Eckstine |
David "Honeyboy" Edwards |
Duke Ellington |
|
Bill Evans |
The Everly Brothers |
Ella Fitzgerald |
|
The Four Tops |
Aretha Franklin |
The Funk Brothers |
|
Judy Garland |
Marvin Gaye |
Dizzy Gillespie |
|
Benny Goodman |
Glenn Gould |
Morton Gould |
|
Stephane Grappelli |
Grateful Dead |
Al Green |
|
Woody Guthrie |
Buddy Guy |
Charlie Haden |
|
Merle Haggard |
Herbie Hancock |
Emmylou Harris |
|
George Harrison |
Donny Hathaway |
Roy Haynes |
|
Jascha Heifetz |
Jimi Hendrix |
Woody Herman |
|
Billie Holiday |
Buddy Holly |
John Lee Hooker |
|
Lightnin' Hopkins |
Lena Horne |
Vladimir Horowitz |
|
Julio Iglesias |
The Isley Brothers |
Mahalia Jackson |
|
Michael Jackson |
Ahmad Jamal |
Etta James |
|
Jefferson Airplane |
Ella Jenkins |
Flaco Jiménez |
|
Antonio Carlos Jobim |
Robert Johnson |
George Jones |
|
Hank Jones |
Janis Joplin |
Louis Jordan |
|
Juilliard String Quartet |
B.B. King |
Carole King |
|
The Kingston Trio |
Kraftwerk |
Kris Kristofferson |
|
Led Zeppelin |
Brenda Lee |
Peggy Lee |
|
John Lennon |
Jerry Lee Lewis |
Little Richard |
|
Loretta Lynn |
Louvin Brothers |
Henry Mancini |
|
Armando Manzanero |
Bob Marley |
Dean Martin |
|
Johnny Mathis |
Curtis Mayfield |
Paul McCartney |
|
The Memphis Horns |
The Meters |
Glenn Miller |
|
Mitch Miller |
The Mills Brothers |
Charles Mingus |
|
Joni Mitchell |
Thelonious Monk |
Bill Monroe |
|
Jelly Roll Morton |
Willie Nelson |
Jessye Norman |
|
Roy Orbison |
Patti Page |
Charlie Parker |
|
Dolly Parton |
Tom Paxton |
Pinetop Perkins |
|
Itzhak Perlman |
Oscar Peterson |
Maud Powell |
|
Elvis Presley |
André Previn |
Leontyne Price |
|
Charley Pride |
Richard Pryor |
Tito Puente |
|
Queen |
Ramones |
Otis Redding |
|
Max Roach |
Paul Robeson |
Smokey Robinson |
|
Jimmie Rodgers |
The Rolling Stones |
Sonny Rollins |
|
Linda Ronstadt |
Diana Ross |
Artur Rubinstein |
|
Run DMC |
Sam & Dave |
Gil Scott-Heron |
|
Earl Scruggs |
Pete Seeger |
Andrés Segovia |
|
Ravi Shankar |
Artie Shaw |
George Beverly Shea |
|
Wayne Shorter |
Simon & Garfunkel |
Nina Simone |
|
Frank Sinatra |
Bessie Smith |
Georg Solti |
|
The Staple Singers |
Isaac Stern |
Sly Stone |
|
Igor Stravinsky |
Barbra Streisand |
Art Tatum |
|
The Temptations |
Clark Terry |
Mel Tormé |
|
Arturo Toscanini |
Tina Turner |
Sarah Vaughan |
|
Velvet Underground |
Fats Waller |
Dionne Warwick |
|
Muddy Waters |
Doc Watson |
The Weavers |
|
Kitty Wells |
The Who |
Hank Williams |
|
Bob Wills |
Stevie Wonder |
Frank Zappa |
