Broke all records: the deceased pop icon will receive a Grammy for lifetime achievements

The American National Recording Academy will award a special Grammy Award for lifetime achievements to six world-famous musicians of the twentieth century. This is reported on the official website of the academy.

Among them are singer Whitney Houston (1963-2012), guitarist Carlos Santana, singer Cher (Cheryl Sarkisian), multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti (1938-1997), rock singer and guitarist Paul Simon, as well as singer Chaka Khan (Yvette Mary Stevens).

"It is a great honor for us to celebrate the winners of this year's Special Merit Award — an outstanding group of people whose influence extends to generations, genres and the very foundations of modern music. Each of these honorees has had a profound and lasting impact, and we look forward to celebrating their remarkable achievements," said Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy.

The ceremony of awarding honorary Grammys for contribution to the development of music will be held on January 31 — on the eve of the main ceremony of awarding prizes in the field of sound recording.

"Whitney Houston, world—famous as The Voice, was a record-breaking vocalist whose unsurpassed talent and more than 220 million records sold made her one of the most famous artists in the history of music," the organizers of the award note.

Her 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a solo artist in history. Houston also made history with seven consecutive No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and eight consecutive multi-platinum albums, which cemented her status as an icon of a generation. Her acting debut in the movie "The Bodyguard" (1992) led to the creation of one of the best—selling soundtracks of all time and to her iconic record I Will Always Love You - the best-selling single in history among female performers.

The six-time Grammy Award winner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 and became the first black artist to release three albums that received a diamond RIAA certificate (sales volume standard; a diamond certificate means selling more than 10 million copies of a record).