Martina McBride, JD Souther Slated For Grammy Salute To Music Legends

Martina McBride. Photo: Joseph Llanes

Martina McBride and JD Souther are among the first round of performers announced for the Grammy Salute To Music Legends, slated for Saturday, April 23 at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The awards will honor the The Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards recipients for 2016.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Ruth Brown, Celia Cruz, Earth, Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock, Jefferson Airplane, Linda Ronstadt, and RUN DMC. John Cage, Fred Foster, and Chris Strachwitz are Trustees Award honorees; and EMT and Dr. Harvey Fletcher are Technical Grammy® Award recipients. Also being honored is Phillip Riggs, this year’s recipient of the Music Educator Award.

Other performers include Lila Downs; Earth, Wind & Fire; Andy Garcia and the CineSon All Stars, and Lucrecia.

JD Souther

A salute to 10-time Grammy winner Ronstadt will feature pop, country, and Latin musical offerings from Lila Downs, Martina McBride and JD Souther.

Paying tribute to three-time Grammy winner and four-time Latin Grammy winner Celia Cruz — internationally known as the “Queen Of Salsa” — are Latin GRAMMY nominee Lucrecia and GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner Andy García, who will bring his Cuban musical group, Andy Garcia And The CineSon All Stars, to the stage.

Honorees and six-time GRAMMY winners Earth, Wind & Fire, one of the most important and innovative musical forces influencing music and popular culture across generations, are set to give what will be a roof-raising performance.

The event, featuring rare performances by honorees and never-before-seen renditions by those they’ve inspired, is produced in partnership with THIRTEEN as part of the “Great Performances” series on PBS, set to air later this year.