The Band to get lifetime Grammy
NEW YORK – The Band, the Canadian-American rock group that backed Ronnie Hawkins and then Bob Dylan before becoming musical stars themselves, will receive a 2008 Grammy award for lifetime achievement.
Also on the list this year are Burt Bacharach, Doris Day, Earl Scruggs, Cab Calloway, Itzhak Perlman and Max Roach, The Recording Academy announced Tuesday. The award honours “lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium.”
Although membership changed a little over the years, the classic lineup of The Band included four Ontario natives, Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko, plus Arkansas-born Levon Helm.
Their 1968 debut album “Music from Big Pink” featured the hit single “The Weight.” They broke up in 1976, with their last concert in San Francisco the subject of the hit Martin Scorsese documentary “The Last Waltz.”
They reformed in 1983 without Robertson but Manuel committed suicide in 1986 and Danko died in his sleep in 1999, their last year as a group.
They continue to be highly regarded and last January, a tribute album was released, “Endless Highway: The Music of The Band.”
The awards will be presented Feb. 9, one day before the Grammy Awards show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which will air live on CBS.
“This year’s recipients are a prestigious group of diverse and influential creators who have crafted or contributed to some of the most distinctive recordings in music history,” Neil Portnow, president of The Recording Academy, said in a statement.
“These profoundly inspiring figures are being honoured as legendary performers, creative architects and technical visionaries,” he said. “Their outstanding accomplishments and passion for their craft have created a timeless legacy.”
Recipients of the lifetime achievement award are determined by a vote of The Recording Academy’s National Board of Trustees.
Categories