The Recording Academy has announced the honorees who will be saluted during its 2026 Special Merit Awards Ceremony. The event is scheduled for January 31 in Los Angeles, a day before the 2026 Grammys takes place.
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The Special Merit Awards event will include the presentation of the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award, and Technical Grammy Award.
Next year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Cher, Chaka Khan, and the late Whitney Houston, and late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. According to a press statement the honor is presented to performer who “have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.”
The latest Trustees Award recipients are longtime Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin, late Afro-Cuban music pianist, composer, and bandleader Eddie Palmieri, and pioneering music executive Sylvia Rhone. The Trustees Award recognizes non-performers who “have made significant contributions … to the field of recording.”
The 2026 Technical Grammy Award honoree is composer and computer-music innovator John Chowning. In 1967, Chowning discovered frequency modulation (FM) synthesis, which revolutionized electronic sound. The Technical Grammy Award is given to “individuals and/or companies/organizations/institutions who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.”
In a statement, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. called the 2026 Special Merit Award honorees, “an extraordinary group whose influence spans generations, genres and the very foundation of modern music.” He added, “Each of these honorees has made a profound and lasting impact, and we look forward to celebrating their remarkable achievements on the eve of Grammy Sunday.”
More About the Special Merit Awards Ceremony and the 2026 Grammys
The 2026 Special Merit Awards Ceremony held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. The gala is among a series of “Grammy Week” events culminating in the 68th annual Grammy Awards.
Previous Special Merit Awards ceremonies have featured tribute performances, performances by the actual honorees, speeches, and multimedia presentations.
The 2026 Grammys will be presented at two different events on February 1. The first, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony, will be held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles at 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET. It will be streamed live on live.grammy.com and the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel.
The main 2026 Grammys ceremony will take place at Crypto.com Arena in L.A., starting at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast live on CBS and will stream on Paramount+.
(Courtesy of The Recording Academy)
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