The Grammys are finally getting it right! One of my favorite singers of all time has got to be the amazingly gifted Donnie Hathaway. I KNOW you all have heard his voice at LEAST a few hundred times during the holidays on the radio. He’s the genius who wrote and recorded “This Christmas”, which is the Christmas anthem in the black community. This song has been remade by so many different artists, but no one even came close to Donnie’s original.
Hathaway wrote and produced many other major recordings in his lifetime too. His songs include “A Song For You”, “Some Day We’ll All Be Free”, “The Ghetto”, “You Gotta Friend”, “The Closer I Get To You”, “Where Is The Love”, “Back Together Again”, and so many more. Now, it’s time to reward this man for his great works the lil time he spent here on Earth. Donnie Hathaway will be gifted next year with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and I couldn’t be happier!
I guess i should also include that Dionne Warrick, George Clinton and Parliament, Black Sabbath, Julio Iglesias, Billy Eckstine, and Sam and Dave will be honorees as well. All of whom deserve this recognition immensely.
“It could be argued that the Grammys have historically missed the mark when it comes to acknowledging the genius of Black musicians. The list is astounding when you consider that Bob Marley, 2Pac, The Notorious BIG, Buster Rhymes, and even Diana Ross have never won any Grammys. R&B legend Brian McKnight has been nominated 16 times in his illustrious career but has never took taken home the golden gramophone. His nominations rank second only to the legendary Snoop Dogg who was nominated 17 times, and, on each occasion, has come up empty. While the Recording Academy cannot right all these wrongs, the upcoming awards will feature the recognition of legends Donny Hathaway, Dionne Warwick, and George Clinton for Lifetime Achievement. Also, receiving the prized award is Soul duo Sam and Dave and posthumously jazz great Billy Eckstein.
Dionne Warwick is a 5-time Grammy winner with 14 nominations. The late Donny Hathaway won a Grammy in 1972 Grammy for “Where Is The Love” a duet with Roberta Flack, and was nominated for four more before his tragic death in 1979. George Clinton, the brains behind the Parliament-Funkadelic collective has never won a Grammy, although he was nominated twice.
The 61st Annual Grammy Awards will take place on February 10, 2019, and the Lifetime Achievement ceremony will happen in Los Angeles on May 11, 2019.”
Congratulations to all of the honorees…..especially Donnie Hathaway and his loved ones. It was simply long overdue.
Here’s one of my favorites from Donnie called “Man From Gallilee”.
