(The following is a list of artists and industry professionals the music community lost in 2020–2021. The 63rd GRAMMY Awards telecast on CBS will feature an In Memoriam segment highlighting some of these individuals via a video tribute, and all of these individuals who died prior to its print date are included in the official 63rd GRAMMY Awards program book. The Recording Academy salutes each individual for their respective talents and contributions to our culture and community.)

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Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

Looking for more GRAMMYs news? The 2024 GRAMMY nominations are here!

He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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Updated Friday, Oct. 27, and Wednesday, Nov. 8, to include information about newly announced performers.

The Recording Academy, Jesse Collins Entertainment and CBS have announced “A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop,” a once-in-a-lifetime live concert special celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Airing Sunday, Dec. 10, at 8:30 – 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+, the two-hour tribute special will feature exclusive performances from hip-hop legends and GRAMMY-winning artists including Black Thought, Bun B, Common, De La Soul, Jermaine Dupri, J.J. Fad, Talib Kweli, The Lady Of Rage, LL COOL J, MC Sha-Rock, Monie Love, The Pharcyde, Queen Latifah, Questlove, Rakim, Remy Ma, Uncle Luke, and Yo-Yo. Newly announced performers include rap icons and next-gen hip-hop superstars 2 Chainz, T.I., Gunna, Too $hort, Latto, E-40, Big Daddy Kane, GloRilla, Juvenile, Three 6 Mafia, Cypress Hill, Jeezy, DJ Quik, MC Lyte, Roxanne Shanté, Warren G, YG, Digable Planets, Arrested Development, Spinderella, Black Sheep, and Luniz

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The “A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop” live concert will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California. The concert will then air on Sunday, Dec. 10, as a live concert TV special celebrating the profound history and monumental cultural impact that hip-hop has made around the world.

The “A GRAMMY Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop” live concert is open to the public. Tickets are on sale now.

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Full concert details are below:

Concert:
Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 (tonight)
Doors: 6 p.m. PT
Concert: 7 p.m. PT          

Venue:
YouTube Theater
1011 Stadium Dr.
Inglewood, CA 90305

Full List Of Confirmed Performers:

2 CHAINZ

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

BIG DADDY KANE

BLAQBONEZ

BLACK SHEEP

BLACK THOUGHT

BOOSIE BADAZZ

BUN B

COMMON

CYPRESS HILL

D-NICE

DE LA SOUL

DIGABLE PLANETS

DJ DIAMOND KUTS

DJ GREG STREET

DJ QUIK

DJ TRAUMA (HOUSE DJ)

DOUG E. FRESH

E-40

GLORILLA

GUNNA

JERMAINE DUPRI

JEEZY

JJ FAD

KOOL DJ RED ALERT

LATTO

LL COOL J

LUNIZ

MC LYTE

MC SHA-ROCK

MONIE LOVE

PUBLIC ENEMY

QUEEN LATIFAH

QUESTLOVE

RAKIM

REMY MA

RICK ROSS

ROXANNE SHANTE

SPINDERELLA

TALIB KWELI

THE LADY OF RAGE

THE PHARCYDE

THREE 6 MAFIA

T.I.

TOO $HORT

TYGA

UNCLE LUKE

WARREN G

WILL SMITH & DJ JAZZY JEFF

YG

YO-YO

^Names in bold indicate newly added artists.

Purchase tickets here.

Stay tuned to GRAMMY.com for more news and updates about "A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop."

A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop is produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment. Jesse Collins, Shawn Gee, Dionne Harmon, Claudine Joseph, LL COOL J, Fatima Robinson, Jeannae Rouzan-Clay, and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson for Two One Five Entertainment serve as executive producers and Marcelo Gama as director of the special.

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Twenty-five music teachers have today been announced as semifinalists for the Music Educator Award, an annual award, presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, that supports and celebrates music education and music educators across the U.S. The 25 semifinalists, who hail from 25 cities across 17 states, were selected from a pool of more than 2,000 initial nominations from across all 50 U.S. states. Finalists will be announced in December, and the ultimate recipient of the 2024 Music Educator Award will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2024, days ahead of the 2024 GRAMMYs.

Nominations for the 2025 Music Educator Award are now open.

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Presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum, the Music Educator Award recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the music education field and demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The Award is open to current U.S. music teachers. Anyone can nominate a teacher — students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators — while teachers are also able to nominate themselves; nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application.

Each year, the recipient of the Music Educator Award, selected from 10 finalists, receives a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for their school's music program. The nine additional finalists receive a $1,000 honorarium and matching grants. The remaining 15 semifinalists, among the group announced today, will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.

The Music Educator Award program, including honorariums, is made possible by the generosity and support of the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.

Read More: 5 Organizations And Scholarships Supporting Music Education

The full list of the 2024 Music Educator Award semifinalists is as follows:

Learn more about the Music Educator Award and apply to the 2025 Music Educator Award program now.

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Known variously as the Black Godfather, the Godfather of Black Music and the Godfather of Black Entertainment, industry legend Clarence Avant was a pioneer over some seven decades in entertainment. The manager, label and broadcast media owner, and mentor died on Aug. 13 at age 92.

The breadth of Avant’s impact cannot be overstated. For his myriad accomplishments — many of which were historic and groundbreaking — he received the Recording Academy's Trustees Award in 2008. In 2019, Avant received the GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons Award.

"Clarence Avant will forever be remembered as a trailblazer and changemaker whose commitment to music and the community paved the way for opportunity and greater inclusion within our industry," said Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. "He fundamentally transformed the musical landscape for the better. The depth of Clarence’s legacy will last for generations."

A lengthy list of luminaries in the worlds of entertainment, music, politics and more paid tribute to Avant on social media.

(L-R) Jay-Z, Clarence Avant and Sean Combs attend 2020 Roc Nation THE BRUNCH on January 25, 2020, in Los Angeles, California | Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation

Bill Clinton tweeted, "It was impossible to spend time with Clarence Avant and not come away feeling more positive and wanting to follow his example."

The Rev. Al Sharpton called Avant "a revolutionary," adding that "When people in the entertainment world were delegated to a near master/slave relationship, he broke through that wall of exploitation and made us respected business people.

"This man was singularly responsible for helping so many Black artists get paid their worth," civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill tweeted.

Magic Johnson tweeted, "He knew how to touch every individual he met and meet them where they were in order to get them where they needed to be."

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation reflected on Avant's legacy:

Born Feb. 25, 1931, in North Carolina, Avant began his career under the tutelage of Louis Armstrong manager Joe Glaser. He would soon branch out on his own to manage artists including Sarah Vaughan, Freddie Hubbard and pioneering Black record producer Tom Wilson. Avant opened a Los Angeles office in 1964.

In 1967, Avant helped negotiate what is said to be the first joint venture between a Black artist and a major label when he mediated a deal for Motown writer-producer William "Mickey" Stevenson with MGM for the soul subsidiary Venture Records.

In 1969, Avant founded his own label, Sussex. The label’s first release was Cold Fact, the unsuccessful debut from the late Sixto Rodriguez, who would years later become the subject of the Oscar-winning doc Searching for Sugar Man. While it took 50 years for Rodriguez to get his due, such was not the case for other Sussex releases such as Dennis Coffey’s smash funky instrumental "Scorpio" and certainly not for Bill Withers, who from 1971 to 1972 had three singles go platinum or gold.

During this time, Avant also bought what became one of the first Black-owned U.S. radio stations, Los Angeles R&B outlet KTYM. Both this venture and Sussex would wind down by 1975, which led to Avant’s founding of Tabu Records.

It was at Tabu that Avant discovered the songwriting and production talents of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who had both been members of the Prince-owned band the Time. Jam and Lewis would create one of the most gravity-defying sounds of the ’80s, and Avant would eventually introduce them to Janet Jackson.

That kind of behind-the-scenes dot-connecting was the norm for Avant. He was considered an important mentor by Jam and Lewis, L.A. Reid and Babyface, industry titans Sylvia Rhone, Jheryl Busby, Jon Platt and Jimmy Iovine, and many others — including football great Jim Brown, whom Avant reportedly convinced to take up acting.

He was a political activist, especially for Black causes, and was an unofficial advisor to Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama.

He would also serve as Chairman of Motown Records and would become the first Black person to serve on the international management board for PolyGram. He was the subject of the 2019 documentary The Black Godfather.

In addition to his Recording Academy Trustees Award, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 and is due to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 7.

There was no blueprint for Avant’s storied career. "I kept hearing about this guy Clarence Avant, but no one seemed to know what his actual official title was," Jim Brown recalled.

"My whole career has been like this," Avant once told Variety. "People ask me, ‘how did you do all this?’ How the f— do I know? I just do things. I just like to take shots."

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