Run-D.M.C. to be honored by Grammys for lifetime achievement
The Recording Academy has announced this year's recipients of its Lifetime Achievement Awards, and they include names from the worlds of rock, jazz, R&B, salsa and hip-hop.
That last field will be represented by Run-D.M.C., whose "Reverend Run" Simmons took to Twitter to declare the group the "first rappers" to receive the honor:
Rev Run (@RevRunWisdom) | Twitter
Recording Academy spokeswoman Maureen O'Connor said that Run-D..C. is in fact "the first rap group" to receive the award. SSimmons formed the outfit -- the first hip-hop group to earn a platinum album, with 1985's King Of Rock -- in the early '80s in Queens, with Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell.
The other honorees include the beloved pop-soul group Earth, Wind & Fire; the band Jefferson Airplane, Linda Ronstadt, Herbie Hancock and the late greats Ruth Brown and Celia Cruz.