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\n\tWe all know that Prince<\/a> was a musical genius, but at the Recording Academy<\/a>\u2019s Special Merit Awards<\/a> on Saturday (Feb. 1), Jimmy Jam, formerly of The Time, told of other keys to Prince\u2019s success \u2013 he was willing to outwork anybody and he could be something of a taskmaster. \u201cHe had the best work ethic of anybody I ever met,\u201d Jam said flatly.<\/p>\n \n\tJam recalled workshopping The Time\u2019s 1982 hit \u201c777-9311\u201d (which Prince co-wrote with Morris Day). Prince kept giving Jam notes, pushing him to improve various aspects of the performance and choreography. Some might have chafed at all the notes, but Jam took Prince\u2019s tutoring the right way. \u201cWhat that lesson taught me was that he saw me as better than I saw myself.\u201d Jam added that he has tried to pass that on. \u201cI want to enlighten other people to their greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPrince was one of seven artists to receive lifetime achievement awards at this year\u2019s ceremony, which was held at its usual home, the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles. Lifetime achievement awards also went to \u00a0The Clash<\/a>,\u00a0Frankie Valli<\/a>, Frankie Beverly<\/a>,\u00a0Dr. Bobby Jones<\/a>,\u00a0Taj Mahal<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Roxanne Shante<\/a>. The trustees award recipients were\u00a0Erroll Garner<\/a>,\u00a0Glyn Johns<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Tania Le\u00f3n<\/a>. Dr. Leo Beranek was the Technical Grammy Award honoree.<\/p>\n \n\tSeveral people spoke in the Prince tribute \u2013 Prince\u2019s niece Rihanna Nelson (accompanied by her daughter and her twin sons, who wore tuxes with tennis shoes); Jam and Jerome Benton of The Time; Andre Cymone and Bobby Z. of Prince\u2019s backing bands; Prince\u2019s longtime manager\/attorney L. Londell McMillan, and Charles F. Spicer Jr., a partner in managing Prince\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe was an advocate for artist rights,\u201d McMillan said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t put \u2018Slave\u2019 on his face just for fun. He wanted to take a stand.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBobby Z. said he met Prince when he was 19. \u201cHe was one of the most gifted human beings that ever lived; the greatest entertainer that ever lived,\u201d a line that received applause from the audience.<\/p>\n \n\tSeveral awards were presented posthumously. R&B singer Beverly died in September; Prince and Dr. Beranek both died in 2016;\u00a0Joe Strummer<\/a>\u00a0of The Clash died in 2002; and Garner, the composer of the pop standard \u201cMisty,\u201d died in 1977. The Recording Academy has presented trustees awards since 1967 (classical conductor George Solti and his producer John Culshaw were the first recipients). It\u2019s remarkable that it took the academy 48 years to get around to Garner.<\/p>\n \n\tMost of the special merit award recipients every year are advanced in age. This year, four are in their 80s. Valli is 90.<\/p>\n \n\tProducer\/engineer Glyn Johns, 82, joked about that in his acceptance speech. \u201cHaving been notified of this award in November, my main objective has to remain alive until today. Well, I made it!,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tValli made note of how long it took the Recording Academy to get around to him. Valli has never won a Grammy, on his own or in the Four Seasons, which landed their first three No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962-63. \u201cThis has been an incredible evening,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what took so long, but that\u2019s the way it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tChuck D of Public Enemy (which received a lifetime achievement award in 2020) accepted for The Clash. The rapper marveled at the breadth of talent being honored on the night, singling out jazz pianist Error Garner, rock producer\/engineer Glyn Johns and rapper Roxanne Shante. He read an acceptance speech from the surviving members of The Clash, which concluded with their thanks to Chuck D for accepting the award for them. \u201cAs you heard our voice, we also heard yours,\u201d a nice example of cross-genre respect.<\/p>\n \n\tShante\u2019s 1985 R&B hit \u201cRoxanne\u2019s Revenge,\u201d an answer record to UTFO\u2019s \u201cRoxanne, Roxanne,\u201d was described as the first rap diss track. Shante is 55, making her the youngest of this year\u2019s honorees. Shante said when she learned of her award, she finally felt she had made it. She said when an artist enters the business, they want three things \u2013 a record that gets on the Billboard <\/em>charts, to get paid for it, and to win a Grammy. Now, she said, she has realized all three goals. Shante also paid her respects to Biz Markie, the \u201cJust a Friend\u201d hitmaker who died in 2021 at age 57. \u201cI lost my hip-hop brother,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\tTaj Mahal was accompanied by two of his daughters as he accepted his award. He suggested that his path in music may have been pre-ordained. His parents met at a Chick Webb\/Ella Fitzgerald concert at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in 1937.<\/p>\n \n\tMost of the awards were accepted by the recipients, or family members, in the case of the recipients who have died. The award to Frankie Beverly was accepted by his son, Anthony Beverly, and by Ronald \u201cRoame\u201d Lowry, a longtime member of Beverly\u2019s group, Maze. Lowry said that the group\u2019s classic \u201cBefore I Let Go\u201d is \u201cthe most danceable song about breaking up.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe award to acoustics expert Dr. Leo Beranek, the Technical Grammy Award honoree, was accepted by his son, Tom Haynes. \u201cMy dad accomplished many things, working until he was 87 on concert halls in Japan,\u201d he said. Beranek died in 2016 at age 102.<\/p>\n \n\tThe academy also presented its music educator of the year award to Adrian L. Maclin of Cordova High School outside Memphis, Tenn., who said when he was a boy his dream was to become an artist and win a Grammy. His path segued into music education and now he has won a Grammy by turning other kids onto music.<\/p>\n \n\tThe final presentation of the night was the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award. This was the third year the award has been presented; the first since it was named in honor of the late singer, actor and activist, whose daughters Gina and Shari Belafonte were present. The award originated as a Special Merit Award but was recategorized as a CEO\u2019s Merit Award.<\/p>\n \n\tIman Jordan, who won for his song \u201cDeliver,\u201d noted that \u201cNina Simone said that art should reflect the times \u2013 and I wasn\u2019t hearing much of that.\u201d He co-wrote the winning song with his father, Roy Gartrell, along with Ariel Loh and Tam Jones.<\/p>\n \n\tMany have said that the Special Merit Award ceremony is warmer and more congenial than the following night\u2019s Grammys<\/a>. But one thing is missing. There are video packages before every presentation, but not a note of live music. If nothing else, the music educator award could include a performance by some of his\/her prized pupils, and the winner of the Song for Social Change award could be performed.<\/p>\n \n\tSeveral of this year\u2019s recipients had already received major honors. Prince was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, received a lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards in 2010, and was honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame in July 2024 (he had been voted in while he was alive, but scheduling the presentation proved difficult).<\/p>\n \n\tValli was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of\u00a0the Four Seasons<\/a>) in 1990, followed by The Clash in 2003 and producer Glyn Johns in 2012. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly received a lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards in 2012. Le\u00f3n received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2022.<\/p>\n \n\tLifetime Achievement Awards are presented to performers who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.<\/p>\n \n\tTrustees Awards are presented to individuals who have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording.<\/p>\n