Other honorees include Salt-N-Pepa and Talking Heads.
Selena Quintanilla will be honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021.
The Recording Academy announced the full list of honorees for its 2021 Special Merit Awards on Tuesday. Other honorees -- to be recognized at the annual awards show -- include Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Lionel Hampton, Marilyn Horne, Salt-N-Pepa and Talking Heads. Additionally, Ed Cherney, Benny Golson and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds are Trustees Award honorees, while Daniel Weiss is the Technical GRAMMY Award recipient.
"As we welcome the new class of Special Merit Award honorees, it gives us a chance to reward and recognize the influence they've had in the music community regardless of genre," Harvey Mason Jr., Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy, shared in a statement. "As a music creator and music lover, I am grateful that we are able to look back at our influences and see the impact that they have made on our community. In a year where music has helped keep us together, I look forward to honoring this iconic group of music creators."
A press release states that "given the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, more details about the special award presentation event will be announced at a later date."
The news comes just a few weeks after the release of Netflix's Selena: The Series, which chronicles the life and legacy of the iconic singer who tragically died in 1995 at the age of 23.
"I loved her music even before I joined the band. I was intrigued by the fact that her brother [A.B. Quintanilla III] had his name on everything as producer," Quintanilla's husband, Chris Perez, wrote on Instagram, alongside a poster for the series. "Keyboard player Ricky Vela was my hero as far as musicianship goes. Her dad [Abraham Quintanilla] ran some amazing sound when I went to see them at an event in San Antonio. I learned so much by taking on their guitar player Roger Garcia's parts and doing my best to stretch it even further."
"They had a girl drummer that laid it DOWN ([Selena's sister] Suzette [Quintanilla] really is a bada**). Joe [Ojeda] and Pete [Astudillo] brought the 'extra' and added a whole other dimension PLUS Pete wrote amazing lyrics....and they sounded HEAVY," he continued. "I will forever respect the band and the people involved in it. I hope you guys enjoy this series."
Hear more in the video below.
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