This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance*, to the field of recording. (*Through 1983, recipients included performers.)
Past Recipients
Alphabetical by recipient
Lou Adler |
Chris Albertson |
Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss |
Harold Arlen |
Ashford & Simpson |
George Avakian |
Clarence Avant |
Estelle Axton |
Burt Bacharach & Hal David |
Dave Bartholomew |
Béla Bartok |
Count Basie |
The Beatles |
Al Bell |
Thom Bell |
Marilyn & Alan Bergman |
Emile Berliner |
Chris Blackwell |
Harold Bradley |
Owen Bradley |
John Cage |
Hoagy Carmichael |
Elliott Carter |
Leonard & Phil Chess |
Dick Clark |
Aaron Copland |
Don Cornelius |
Pierre Cossette |
John Culshaw |
Hal David |
Clive Davis |
Walt Disney |
Thomas A. Dorsey |
Tom Dowd |
Lamont Dozier |
Thomas A. Edison |
Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn |
Ahmet Ertegun |
Nesuhi Ertegun |
Christine M. Farnon |
Wilma Cozart Fine |
Fred Foster |
Alan Freed |
Milt Gabler |
Kenneth Gamble And Leon Huff |
George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin |
Ira Gershwin |
Gerry Goffin & Carole King |
Berry Gordy |
Bill Graham |
Norman Granz |
Florence Greenberg |
Rick Hall |
Oscar Hammerstein II |
John Hammond |
W.C. Handy |
Lorenz Hart |
Larry Hiller |
Holland/Dozier/Holland |
Jac Holzman |
Leon Huff |
Steve Jobs |
Eldridge R. Johnson |
Quincy Jones |
Orrin Keepnews |
Jerome Kern |
Carole King |
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe |
Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller |
Goddard Lieberson |
Alfred Lion |
Alan Livingston |
Frederick Loewe |
Alan Lomax |
Bruce Lundvall |
Johnny Mandel |
Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil |
Arif Mardin |
Jim Marshall |
George Martin |
Cosimo Matassa |
Marian McPartland |
Johnny Mercer |
Walter C. Miller |
Willie Mitchell |
Dr. Robert Moog |
Ennio Morricone |
Jerry Moss |
New York Philharmonic |
Mo Ostin |
Les Paul |
Ralph S. Peer |
Krzysztof Penderecki |
Richard Perry |
Sam Phillips |
Cole Porter |
Frances Preston |
Phil Ramone |
Richard Rodgers |
Al Schmitt |
George T. Simon |
Frank Sinatra |
Georg Solti & John Culshaw |
Stephen Sondheim |
Phil Spector |
Seymour Stein |
Leopold Stokowski |
Mike Stoller |
Chris Strachwitz |
Billy Strayhorn |
Dr. Billy Taylor |
Allen Toussaint |
Rudy Van Gelder |
Cynthia Weil |
George Wein |
Paul Weston |
Jerry Wexler |
John Williams |