‘An Evening With Neil Young’ featuring ‘Human Highway,’ ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ and Live Q&A Comes to select U.S. Cinemas Feb. 29

I can't think of a better way to celebrate the extra calendar day (February 29, 2016) we get next month as part of Leap Year! The good news for my readers who also live in Southern California, is that 'An Evening With Neil Young' is playing just about everywhere!

Neil Young / Photo credit: Julie Gardner, Obscura Designs

Experience “An Evening With Neil Young” when Fathom Events, Warner Bros. Records and AARP present a special, one-night screening of the critically-acclaimed post-apocalyptic musical comedy, Human Highway, along with the iconic musician’s concert feature, “Rust Never Sleeps,” in select movie theaters nationwide live on Monday, February 29, 2016, at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. MT and tape-delayed to 7:30 p.m. PT, HI and AK.  The special cinematic event will feature an exclusive live Q&A with Cameron Crowe interviewing Young and his eclectic cast, which includes Gerald V. Casale of Devo, Russ Tamblyn and Charlotte Stewart.

“An Evening With Neil Young” will be shown at the following movie theaters in your area on Feb. 29:

Regal	Aliso Viejo 20 with IMAX	26701 Aliso Creek Rd	Aliso Viejo	CA	92656
AMC	Santa Anita with IMAX	400 S Baldwin Ave	Arcadia	CA	91007
AMC	Burbank 16 with IMAX and ETX	125 E Palm Ave	Burbank	CA	91502
AMC	Covina 17 with IMAX	1414 N Azusa Ave	Covina	CA	91722
Cinemark	Huntington Beach 20 with XD	7777 Edinger Ave	Huntington Beach	CA	92647
Regal	Long Beach 26 with IMAX	7501 Carson Blvd	Long Beach	CA	90808
Cinemark	Cinemark 18 with XD	6081 Center Dr	Los Angeles	CA	90045
Regal	LA Live	1000 W Olympic Blvd	Los Angeles	CA	90015
Cinemark	North Hollywood 8	12827 Victory Blvd	North Hollywood	CA	91606
AMC	Ontario Mills 30 with ETX	4549 Mills Cir	Ontario	CA	91764
AMC	Orange 30 with IMAX	20 City Blvd W Ste E	Orange	CA	92868
Cinemark	Orange Stadium Promenade 25 with XD	1701 W Katella Ave	Orange	CA	92867
Cinemark	Century River Park	2766 Seaglass Way	Oxnard	CA	93030
Cinemark	Cinemark Playa Vista & XD	12746 West Jefferson Blvd Ste 3190	Playa Vista	CA	90094
AMC	Galleria at Tyler 16 with IMAX	3775 Tyler St	Riverside	CA	92503
AMC	Del Amo 18 with IMAX	3525 W Carson St Ste 73	Torrance	CA	90503
AMC	Citywalk Stadium 19 with IMAX	100 Universal City Plz	Universal City	CA	91608
AMC	Promenade 16 with IMAX	21801 Oxnard St	Woodland Hills	CA	91367

Tickets for “An Evening With Neil Young” can be purchased online by visiting www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. For a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change). 

Sights and Sounds: actor Alan Rickman, 'Three For All Tour' (Heart, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett), Hank Williams Jr., Little Scream,

Less than a week after legendary artist David Bowie died at age 69, another British legend has passed after losing his battle with cancer. Actor  Alan Rickman (Harry Potter, Die Hard, Robin Hood) died earlier today. A tough week to be sure. Here is a roundup of music news...

Not one, not two, but three Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists are teaming up for an all-star summer tour. And all three artists are greats I've seen and reviewed multiple times.

Live Nation announced on Jan. 13, 2016, that Heart, Cheap Trick and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are part of the "Three For All Tour." The tour begins in Clarkston, Michigan on July 14, 2016. Tickets go on sale on Friday, Jan. 22.

The tour is scheduled to include stops here in Southern California, as well as Chicago, San Francisco, Nashville and Dallas. The tour won't be done and dusted until Sept. 23 with a final date in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Information: www.livenation.com.

Country legend Hank Williams Jr.’s new album IT’S ABOUT TIME will be available Friday, January 15, 2016, in stores and across digital retailers. The Nash Icon Records’ project marks his 37th studio album and includes the current single “Are You Ready for the Country” featuring Eric Church.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this album,” exclaimed Hank Jr. “I have been doing this a long time but I promise this is the best album yet and fans will not be disappointed.”

The legendary entertainer will be making national television appearances the week of January 17 in support of the album.
 

TUNE-IN 

Sunday, January 17
Audience All Access - 8:00pm CT/9:00pm ET on AT&T's Audience Network
(DIRECTV Ch 239 / AT&T U-verse Ch 1114)
@att

Monday, January 18
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – 10:35pm CT / 11:35pm ET on NBC
@FallonTonight | @JimmyFallon | #FallonTonight

Tuesday, January 19
CBS This Morning – 7am CT/7am ET on CBS
@CBSThisMorning | #NewsIsBack

The View – 10:00am CT / 11:00am ET on ABC
@The View | #TheView

*Check local listings

Hank Jr.’s extremely impressive resume has spawned 70 million albums sold worldwide, six PLATINUM albums, 20 GOLD albums and 13 chart-topping albums. He has been named ACM Entertainer of the Year, CMA Entertainer of the Year and BMI Icon in addition to winning a GRAMMY and being inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
 Follow @HankJr on Twitter, and visit www.HankJr.com for more information.

Laurel Sprengelmeyer is Little Scream

Montreal based multi-instrumentalist, writer, and visual artist Laurel Sprengelmeyer aka Little Scream is more than pleased to announce her signing with Merge Records and Dine Alone Records (Canada-only) for a new LP to be released later this year. “Merge is a cultural monolith in my world, and I’m amped and honored to be working with them,” said Sprengelmeyer when asked about signing to Merge. “The record I just made is a crazy beast, and I can’t think of a better home for it.”

Little Scream's debut album, The Golden Record, received a glowing 8.1 on Pitchfork, which considered it "a stellar debut...[and] a perfectly mixed bag of graceful folk, coiled pop, and expansive art rock". NPR dubbed it "an absolutely captivating record", including it on their Best Albums of 2011 list, and the New York Times evoked its "hints of the divine", naming her one of the best new acts to follow at SXSW.

Little Scream toured extensively with The Golden Record, playing numerous opening and headlining performances in North America and Europe, including a tour with Sufjan Stevens as well as dates with Jose Gonzalez, Beirut, and Sharon Van Etten.

More details on Little Scream’s sophomore album will be announced shortly. Until then she’ll be on the road across North America on tours with Operators and Thao & The Get Down Stay Down beginning February 17. Full tour dates can be found below.

"[Sprengelmeyer] can be gentle and folky or muster mock-classical strings and flute; she overdubs herself into a hearty campfire choir or an ethereal descant. She can be stark and electric like P. J. Harvey or gather up a grand, handmade anthem like Arcade Fire...” – Jon Pareles, NEW YORK TIMES

Little Scream on tour:
Feb 17 - Waterloo, ON - Starlight *
Feb 18 - Hamilton, ON - The Casbah *
Feb 19 - London, ON - Call The Office *
Feb 20 - St. Catharines, ON - Detour Music Hall *
Feb 24 - Laval, QC - Bar Le Cha-Cha *
Feb 25 - Ottawa, ON - Ritual Nightclub *
Feb 27 - Kingston, ON - Grad Club *
Apr 09 - Toronto, ON - Adelaide Hall ^
Apr 11 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground ^
Apr 12 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair ^
Apr 13 - New York, NY - Webster Hall ^
Apr 15 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ^
Apr 16 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts ^
Apr 17 - Richmond, VA - The Broadberry ^
Apr 18 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle ^

(*) w/ Operators
(^) w/ Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

AXS TV honors the legacy of David Bowie with the classic concert film 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars,' airing Sunday, Jan. 17

AXS TV HONORS THE LEGACY OF BELOVED ROCK ICON DAVID BOWIE WITH THE CLASSIC CONCERT FILM ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS, AIRING SUNDAY, JAN. 17 AT 10 p.m. Eastern time

  

The 1973 Film is the Only HD Performance Footage of David Bowie, and Features Backstage Moments and Hits Such as “Changes,” “Space Oddity,” and “Suffragette City”

LOS ANGELES – January 13, 2016 – AXS TV honors the tremendous life and legacy of influential rock n’ roll icon David Bowie, with a special presentation of his classic 1973 concert film ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS—airing Sunday, January 17, at 10 p.m. (7 p.m. on the West Coast). This feature is the only known HD performance footage of Bowie in existence.

Filmed live at London’s historic Hammersmith Odeon venue on July 3, 1973, ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS captures the stunning final show of Bowie’s 60-stop London tour, supporting his acclaimed album Aladdin Sane. The film combines intimate backstage moments featuring Bowie and his then-wife, Angie, with some of the artist’s most beloved hits from his award-winning catalogue. The setlist includes such groundbreaking favorites as “Ziggy Stardust,” “Oh! You Pretty Things,” “Changes,” “Space Oddity,” “Suffragette City,” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide,” as well as covers of the Mott the Hoople classic “All the Young Dudes,” Lou Reed’s “White Light/White Heat,” and the Rolling Stones standard “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”

ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS was shot by legendary director D.A. Pennebaker, who had originally planned on only filming a handful of songs at the first of Bowie’s two London gigs. Although having little familiarity with Bowie’s music, Pennebaker was so impressed by the star’s charismatic personality and powerhouse performances that he was compelled to turn the footage into a full-length film. Little did Pennebaker know, upon returning for the second show, that he would be capturing one of the biggest moments in rock history, as Bowie shocked the audience by announcing the retirement of the Ziggy Stardust persona at the end of the set.

“ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS is a perfect time capsule, putting David Bowie’s fearless showmanship on full display and capturing the true end of an era that is still treasured by his legions of fans today,” said Michele M. Dix, AXS TV’s senior vice president, programming and development. “Throughout his career, Bowie has been credited with influencing countless artists across a wide range of genres and decades, and this performance makes it easy to see why.”

ABOUT AXS TV

 AXS TV is the cable industry’s leading general entertainment network for live event programming. Launched in July 2012 by visionary entrepreneur Mark Cuban, AXS TV is dedicated to providing groundbreaking music programming, stand-up comedy performances from today’s top comedians, and hard-hitting mixed martial arts promotions. The network’s franchises include THE X FACTOR UK and NASHVILLE; as well as original programs such as THE BIG INTERVIEW with Dan Rather; THE WORLD’S GREATEST TRIBUTE BANDS; GOTHAM COMEDY LIVE; ART MANN PRESENTS; AXS TV FIGHTS; and INSIDE MMA. 

AXS TV is a partnership between Mark Cuban, AEG, Ryan Seacrest Media, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and CBS. The network is available in the United States via AT&T U-verse, Charter, Comcast/Xfinity, DIRECTV, DISH, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS, and other cable, satellite and telco providers, including members of the National Cable Television Cooperative. The network is also distributed in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. For more information, visit the website, www.axs.tv; go to the Facebook page here and follow the company on Twitter, @axstv; on Instagram; Tumblr; Cyber Dust and YouTube.

Breaking News: Beck, Wilco, The Avett Brothers, Gov't Mule and Umphrey's McGee to headline Mountain Jam in June 2016

2016 Mountain Jam Line Up Announced  Beck, Wilco, The Avett Brothers, Gov't Mule and Umphrey's McGee to Headline Diverse Lineup of Grammy Winners & Nominees, Festival Favs and Hot New Emerging Artists at Hunter Mountain, June 2-5, 2016  Early Bird Festival Tix On Sale Now

[HUNTER, NY] Mountain Jam returns to Hunter Mountain for its 12th turn as the leading rock and camping festival in the Northeast, with the announcement of the 2016 artist line up - including some of the best live performers, modern day songwriters and a slew of recent Grammy nominees and winners.  Headlining the increasingly musically diverse festival are Beck, Wilco, The Avett Brothers and Umphrey's McGee, who join perennial Mountain Jam co-headliner Gov't Mule.  This year's Festival also will feature a late night set by Thievery Corporation, as well as performances by Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, guitar slinger Gary Clark Jr., Mountain Jam favs Michael Franti & Spearhead (returning for their eleventh annual appearance), Chris Robinson Brotherhood, indie-rock sensation Courtney Barnett,Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Lettuce (performing an evening and a late night set), Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, The New Mastersounds (playing late night on the indoor stage), reggae legends Third World, and many red-hot emerging artists who are gracing the Mountain Jam stage before they become household names - something that has become a tradition with up-and-coming performers at the Festival.  "Our 2016 artists literally have been burning up the airwaves, concert halls and music critics' Top 10 lists" says Festival founder Gary Chetkof, noting there are four 2016 Grammy-nominated performers on the Festival bill (Wilco, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and Courtney Barnett), each of them representing the best songwriters in rock today. "These artists are in essence the Bob Dylan's of their generation, emitting powerfully crafted songs that have been resonating with audiences all over the world," Chetkof added. "Beck is a musical genius who's had an amazing twenty-plus year career and who's had a creative resurgence with both his last album, Morning Phase (the 2015 Grammy Award's Album Of The Year) and his highly anticipated thirteenth studio album which features the catchy, upbeat hit Dreams. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats exploded onto the music scene last year with the uniquely catchy hit, "S.O.B." that was on everyone's playlist last year. The Avett Brothers - part of the Mountain Jam family and returning to the Festival for their fourth year - are releasing their ninth studio album this year and Umphrey's McGee are at the peak of their career. This is truly one of the most musically diverse and creative Mountain Jam Festivals to date and we couldn't be more excited."  The Festival begins with a roar on Thursday, with Umphrey's McGee headlining the first night of the Festival with 2 sets, along with upstate favorites Donna The Buffaloand others, giving concertgoers another reason to reserve their four-day passes now and get a jump start on early admission to the camping areas. With its spectacular mountaintop views of the Catskill Mountains, modern indoor facilities and an enormous and varied assortment of food and beverage options, as well as all-ages activities and programming, Mountain Jam truly encompasses the best of the summer outdoor festival season. Tickets go on sale today at 10AM ET for Festival passes (both three- and four-day) featuring either general admission or VIP camping or non-camping passes, with early bird discount pricing only available for a limited time. For 2016, three levels of VIP packages are available, including VIP, Super VIP and Ultimate VIP; additionally, the VIP Village has been moved closer to the stage for easier access and, as always. superior viewing and convenience. Gourmet food, premium viewing, tent-covered hospitality lounge, free merchandise and more are included in all VIP packages. A full menu of camping options also are available, with a new guaranteed on-site tent pass that ensures enough space for all campers, regardless of when they arrive at the Festival throughout the weekend. Slated for June 2-5 at the Hunter Mountain ski resort, the four-day Festival's line up includes the following artists, with a few more exciting artist additions to follow soon: Beck Wilco The Avett Brothers Gov't Mule Umphrey's McGee Thievery Corporation Brandi Carlile Jason Isbell Gary Clark Jr. Michael Franti & Spearhead Chris Robinson Brotherhood Courtney Barnett Nathaniel Ratliff & The Night Sweats Lettuce Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds The New Mastersounds Third World Turkuaz Donna the Buffalo Son Little The London Souls Cabinet The Ballroom Thieves with Maine Youth Rock Orchestra And The Kids Love Cannon Marcus King Band Con Brio Jane Lee Hooker Copious Jones Madaila The Suitcase Junket The Paul Green Rock Academy

ABOUT MOUNTAIN JAM Originally conceived in 2005 as a single-day celebration of Radio Woodstock's 25th anniversary, Mountain Jam has blossomed into a four-day, multi-stage event, featuring onsite camping, and one of the Northeast's most pristine natural amphitheaters. The Festival is now produced by Chet-5 Festivals and Townsquare Live Events, in collaboration with Radio Woodstock and Warren Haynes. Over the years, Mountain Jam has hosted some of the top names in live music, including Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifters, The Black Keys, The Allman Brothers Band, Phil Lesh & Friends, Bob Weir & Ratdog, Widespread Panic, Gov't Mule, My Morning Jacket, Dispatch, The Lumineers, Steve Winwood, The Avett Brothers, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Ray LaMontagne, Ben Folds Five, Primus, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Roots, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem), Gary Clark, Jr., Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Mavis Staples, Girl Talk, The Hold Steady, Coheed & Cambria, Drive-By Truckers Yonder Mountain String Band, Les Claypool, Matisyahu, Dave Mason, Medeski Martin & Wood, Mike Gordon, G. Love & Special Sauce, Richie Havens, Martin Sexton, Ozomatli, Galactic, Brett Dennen, Gomez, New Orleans Social Club, Jackie Greene, Ingrid Michaelson, and The Felice Brothers, among many others. In 2010, the festival presented Levon Helm's 70th Birthday Jubilee with very special guests Warren Haynes, Donald Fagen, Ray LaMontagne, Sam Bush, Steve Earle, and others. http://www.mountainjam.com Mountain Jam is produced by Mountain Jam, LLC, which is owned by Townsquare Media Group and by Gary Chetkof's Chet-5 Festivals, LLC, in association with Radio Woodstock and Warren Haynes. ABOUT RADIO WOODSTOCK Radio Woodstock is a global multi-media company that includes the award-winning radio station, Radio Woodstock 100.1, Woodstock's hometown radio station, as well as internet radio stations, Radio Woodstock 69, and Radio Woodstock LIVE. All three are available online at RadioWoodstock.com. http://www.radiowoodstock.com ABOUT WARREN HAYNES Warren Haynes has been ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as the 23rd Greatest Guitarist of All Time and most recently among the few top "Guitar Gods." Haynes is a Grammy winner for his work with Gov't Mule and The Allman Brothers Band. He's been called both an "American treasure" and a "legend in the making" by his peers. http://www.warrenhaynes.net http://www.mule.net ABOUT TOWNSQUARE MEDIA GROUP Townsquare Media, Inc. is an integrated and diversified media and entertainment and digital marketing services company that owns and operates market leading radio stations, digital and social properties and live events in small and mid-sized markets across the United States, delivering national scale and expertise to the communities it serves on a local level. The Company owns and operates 310 radio stations, over 325 search engine and mobile-optimized local websites and approximately 500 live events in 66 small and mid-sized U.S. markets, making Townsquare the third largest owner of radio stations in the United States by number of radio stations owned. The Company supplements its local offerings with the nationwide reach of our owned, operated and affiliated music and entertainment websites, which, on a combined basis, attracted the largest audience among music focused digital advertising networks as of June 2015 as well as certain large scale live events. http://www.townsquaremedia.com

The Recording Academy announces Special Merit Awards recipients

RUTH BROWN, CELIA CRUZ, EARTH, WIND & FIRE, HERBIE HANCOCK, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE,  LINDA RONSTADT, AND RUN DMC TO BE HONORED WITH THE RECORDING ACADEMY^® LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

JOHN CAGE, FRED FOSTER, AND CHRIS STRACHWITZ TO BE HONORED WITH TRUSTEES AWARD

EMT AND DR. HARVEY FLETCHER TO RECEIVE TECHNICAL GRAMMY^®AWARDS
 

 
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Jan. 13, 2016) — The Recording Academy^® announced its Special Merit Awards recipients today, and 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^® Awardrecipients. A special ceremony and concert celebrating the honorees will be held in the spring of 2016. Additional details regarding the ceremony will be announced in the coming weeks.
 
"Each year, The Academy has the distinct privilege of honoring those who have greatly contributed to our industry and cultural heritage, and this year we have a gifted and brilliant group of honorees," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy." Their exceptional accomplishments, contributions, and artistry will continue to influence and inspire generations to come."
 
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors performers who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording, while the Trustees Award recognizes such contributions in areas other than performance. Both awards are determined by vote of The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. Technical GRAMMY Award recipients are determined by vote of The Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing^® Advisory Council and Chapter Committees, and are ratified by The Academy's Trustees. The award is presented to individuals and companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.
 
About the Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees:
 
Ruth Brown* began her musical career in the church choir at the tender age of 4. A singer/songwriter, record producer, composer, and actress noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music, Brown became one of the undisputed architects of the genre.  She recorded a number of hit songs, including "I'll Wait For You," "I Know," "5-10-15 Hours," and "Mambo Baby." She later went on to have a successful theater career.
 
Celia Cruz* was one of the most popular salsa singers and performers in history. Known internationally as the "Queen of Salsa," the Cuban-American Cruz was a larger-than life-personality. She recorded 23 gold albums and was a recipient of the United States National Medal of Arts. Cruz received three GRAMMY Awards and four Latin GRAMMY Awards.
 
Six-time GRAMMY winners Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the most important and innovative contemporary pop/R&B musical forces of the 20th century. Members Philip Bailey, Larry Dunn, Johnny Graham*, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Fred White, Maurice White, Verdine White, and Andrew Woolfolk built the group's distinctive signature sound, which  has remained profoundly influential. Successfully breaking down all musical genre boundaries since forming in 1969, they recorded seven #1 R&B singles and eight Top 10 pop albums. Earth Wind & Fire earned more than 50 gold and platinum album certifications and more than 90 million albums worldwide, placing them on the list of best-selling musical artists of all time. 
 
One of the most revered and idiosyncratic figures in jazz, Herbie Hancock has been at the forefront almost every development in electronic and acoustic jazz and R&B. A stylistically diverse and ever-intriguing canon of songs, including "Maiden Voyage" and "Rockit," has helped earn him 14 GRAMMY Awards during his impressive five-decade-plus professional solo career.
 
Marty Balin, Jack Casady, Spencer Dryden*, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, and Grace Slick comprised Jefferson Airplane, pioneers of counterculture-era psychedelic rock. Emerging from the San Francisco scene to achieve international mainstream success, performing at the three most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s — Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969), and Altamont (1969). Their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow is regarded as one of the key recordings of the "Summer of Love." Two hits from that album, "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit," are among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."
 
With roots in the Los Angeles country and folk-rock scenes, Linda Ronstadt is one of the most popular interpretive singers of all time, earning a string of platinum-selling albums and Top 40 singles. Throughout the 1970s, her laid-back pop never lost sight of her folky roots, yet as Ronstadt moved into the 1980s, she began to change her sound with the times, adding new wave influences. Her later years saw the 10-time GRAMMY winner exploring traditional pop, Latin, and musical theater.
 
RUN DMC, comprising of Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell*, and Joseph "Reverend Run" Simmons, were one of the most influential and best-known acts in the history of rap. They were the first group in the genre to have a gold album (RUN DMC., 1984) and to be nominated for a GRAMMY Award.  They were also the first hip-hop group to earn a platinum record (King Of Rock, 1985), and the first to earn multiplatinum certification (Raising Hell, 1986).
 
 About the Trustees Award Honorees:
 
John Cage* was an avant-garde composer whose inventive works and unorthodox ideas profoundly influenced the entire music industry. His innovative ideas on composition and performance influenced a broad spectrum of artists including fellow musicians, dancers, choreographers, painters and more. Cage remained on the leading edge of both playful and profound experimentalism for the greater part of his career. One of Cage's best-known and most sonically intriguing innovations, the prepared piano, has become an almost commonplace compositional resource.

Music entrepreneur Fred Foster contributed a great deal to the Nashville music scene of the 1960s and 1970s as a producer and as the head of one of the city's strongest independent labels, Monument Records.  He is best known for producing many classic hits by Roy Orbison. He also played a vital role in the career of Kris Kristofferson, and worked with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Ray Stevens, among others.  From 1960 to 1964, Foster produced the overwhelming bulk of hit songs with which Orbison is associated: "Only The Lonely," "In Dreams," "Running Scared," "Blue Bayou," "Blue Angel," "Dream Baby," "Crying," "Candy Man," "Mean Woman Blues," "It's Over," and "Oh, Pretty Woman." 
 
Chris Strachwitz has made his living celebrating the music he loves – music that forms the fabric of both American and international culture.  He is the founder of Arhoolie Records and produces much of the content he releases. To blues fans he is a legend, releasing seminal works by Mississippi Fred McDowell, Mance Lipscomb, Charlie Musselwhite, Rebirth Brass Band, Big Joe Williams, Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin' Hopkins, Earl Hooker, and Elizabeth Cotten, and many others. Strachwitz also produces Cajun music, highlighted by his releases by Clifton Chenier, and also focused on Mexican recordings, especially Norteño music.
 
About the Technical GRAMMY Award Recipients:
 
Known as the father of stereophonic sound, Dr. Harvey Fletcher* was a prominent physicist, credited with inventing the hearing aid and the first audiometer. Through his research, he was able to document and demonstrate the spatial effects of sound, which he called auditory perspective, or stereo. However, it was his profound interest in music that led Fletcher to partner with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and this collaboration produced more than 100 stereo recordings. In his tests, listeners were often unable to distinguish the difference between the live orchestra and the recordings.
 
EMT (Elektro-mess-technik) was founded in Berlin in 1940, originally manufacturing high-end turntables.  In 1957, the company made a huge breakthrough with the release of the EMT 140 Reverberation Unit — the first plate reverb. Upon its introduction, the EMT 140 Reverberation Unit quickly garnered popularity, providing a smoother substitute to spring reverb systems, simplifying the process of affecting recorded sound while providing the engineer with a more versatile and customizable interface than acoustic chambers. With the plates' introduction, the sound of popular music changed dramatically as evident in English recordings made at Abbey Road by the Beatles and Pink Floyd, as well as RCA Victor recordings by Nashville’s Chet Atkins and many others.
 
*Denotes posthumous award
 
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers, and recording professionals dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education, and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, "like" The GRAMMYs on Facebook  and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube.