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Over 20 years after her tragic death, Selena Quintanilla is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Grammys. The late Queen of Tejano is among The Recording Academy’s 2021 Special Merit Awards honorees. “As we welcome the new class of Special Merit Award honorees, it gives us a chance to reward and recognize the influence they‘ve had in the music community regardless of genre,” Harvey Mason Jr., Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a press release.
Harvey continued, “As a music creator and music lover, I am grateful that we are able to look back at our influences and see the impact that they have made on our community. In a year where music has helped keep us together, I look forward to honoring this iconic group of music creators.”
Selena’s album Live won Best Mexican-American Album at the 36th annual Grammy Awards back in 1994. The Como La Flor singer’s win marked the first time that a female Tejano artist won the category, according to The Recording Academy. In addition to Selena, who was killed in 1995, fellow Lifetime Achievement Award honorees Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Lionel Hampton, Marilyn Horne, Salt-N-Pepa, and Talking Heads will be recognized at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2021.
The Lifetime Achievement Award “celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.” Honorees are determined by The Recording Academy’s National Board of Trustees.