Photo by: Amy Sussman/Getty Images © 2019
This year’s edition of the annual Grammy Salute to Music Legends event, celebrating the Recording Academy’s 2019 Special Merit Awards winners, airs tonight as the latest episode of the network’s Great Performances series. One of the night’s honorees: Black Sabbath.
Taped back in May at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the gala featured performances by and/or tributes to the 2019 recipients of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Three of the band’s four founding members — guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — were on hand to accept the honor.
The metal legends were honored with a performance by Rival Sons, who played a medley of “War Pigs” and “Paranoid.” Rival Sons were previously handpicked by singer Ozzy Osbourne to open for Black Sabbath’s final world tour, which concluded February 2017.
The other artists who received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Recording Academy included Dionne Warwick, Sam & Dave, Donny Hathaway, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias and late jazz singer and bandleader Billy Eckstine.
The event also featured the presentation of Trustees Awards to non-performers who have made their mark on the music industry. This year’s honorees were music producer Lou Adler, the Motown songwriting team of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, and TV and film soundtrack composer Johnny Mandel.
For more details about the event, which airs at 9 p.m. local time, visit PBS.org.
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