Gladys Knight, N.W.A, Donna Summer among Grammy lifetime achievement honorees

Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The Recording Academy has announced the honorees for its Special Merit Awards Ceremony.

Gladys Knight, N.W.A, Donna Summer, Laurie Anderson, the Clark Sisters and Tammy Wynette will receive lifetime achievement awards at the event Feb. 3 at Wilshire Ebel Theatre in Los Angeles.

Peter Asher, DJ Kool Herc and Joel Katz are the Trustees Award recipients, while Tom Kobayashi and Tom Scott will receive technical Grammy awards. "Refugee," written by K'naan, Steve McEwan and Gerald Eaton, will be honored with the Best Song for Social Change Award.

"The Academy is honored to pay tribute to this year's Special Merit Awards recipients -- a remarkable group of creators and industry professionals whose impact resonates with generations worldwide," Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a press release.

"Their contributions to music span genres, backgrounds and crafts, reflecting on the rich diversity that fuels our creative community. We look forward to honoring these music industry trailblazers next month as part of our week-long celebration leading up to Music's Biggest Night."

The 67th annual Grammy Awards will take place Feb. 4 in Los Angeles. SZA, Victoria Monét, Phoebe Bridgers and mixing engineer Serban Ghenea lead the nominees.