This year’s Grammys won’t forget about all the giants of music the world lost last year.
The ceremony will include tributes to both Prince and George Michael, the Recording Academy, which puts on the Grammys, announced Wednesday.
“While the primary focus of the Grammy Awards is to celebrate and honor the year’s best in music, we consider it our responsibility to tell music’s broader story by honoring its legends lost—that’s what we strive to achieve with our annual tributes,” Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the Grammy Awards said in a statement. “While it’s nearly impossible to convey the full depth of an artist’s cultural impact in a single performance, it’s that very challenge that has led us to some of our most memorable Grammy moments.”
Another iconic artist who died last year, David Bowie, won’t have a tribute at the ceremony because he was honored at last year’s Grammys, which took place after his death.
The show is keeping under wraps exactly who will be performing during the tributes, but many fans are expecting at least some of Prince’s affiliated performers, like The Time, to be included in his.
They are also likely hoping that it will outshine the tribute to Prince at last year’s Billboard Awards. That performance, which included an appearance by Madonna, was criticized by some fans as lackluster and not befitting a Prince.
The Grammys will also honor the 40th anniversary of the Bee Gees “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack.
Tori Kelly, Andra Day and Little Big Town will perform in celebration of that album, which included such hits as “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Stayin’ Alive.”
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards will air February 12 on CBS with James Corden of the “Late Late Show” serving as host.
