Cohen, Jackson to get Grammy lifetime awards

Canadian music icon Leonard Cohen, country legend Loretta Lynn and the late Michael Jackson will be honoured with lifetime achievement prizes at the coming Grammy Award celebrations, organizers  announced Thursday.

Montreal-born Cohen, the King of Pop and Lynn, the beloved "Coal Miner's Daughter," will be joined on this year's roll call by classical pianist and composer André Previn, jazz trumpeter Clark Terry, Delta blues artist David (Honeyboy) Edwards and the late singer-songwriter Bobby Darin.

"This year's honourees are a prestigious group of diverse and prominent creators who have contributed some of the most distinguished and influential recordings," Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the U.S. Recording Academy, said in a statement.

"Their outstanding accomplishments and passion for their craft have created a timeless legacy that has positively affected multiple generations, and will continue to influence generations to come."

The lifetime achievement award celebrates performers for their valuable artistic contributions to the recording industry, while a corresponding prize — the trustee award — toasts the contributions of non-performers in the music industry.

The newest recipients of the latter honour include:

• Country Music Hall of Fame member Harold Bradley, who built early Nashville recording studio the Quonset Hut.
• Pioneering Scepter Records founder Florence Greenberg, the first woman to own and run a major record label.
• Producer-director Walter C. Miller.

Organizers will also pay tribute to microphone and headphone designer AKG as well as Thomas Edison, whose many inventions included the phonograph.

This year's special Grammy Award laureates will be honoured during a gala on Jan. 30 in Los Angeles.

They will also be acknowledged the following evening during the live Grammy Award television broadcast on Jan. 31.