The Recording Academy has major plans to pay tribute to the iconic record label Motown. The Academy has announced the lineup for Motown 60: A Grammy Celebration, which will be taped two days after the 61st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Co-hosted by Cedric The Entertainer and Smokey Robinson, the ceremony will celebrate the label was known for creating “the sound of young America.”
Motown heavyweights Robinson, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder are set to perform at the star-studded event. Other classic Motown acts are scheduled to participate in the tribute including Martha Reeves, Valerie Simpson, Thelma Houston, Mickey Stevenson and the songwriting/production trio Holland-Dozier-Holland.
It wouldn’t be a true tribute if artists who came before them didn’t pay their respect. Contemporary R&B acts Boyz II Men, Fantasia, John Legend, Chloe x Halle, Tori Kelly and Ne-Yo have also been enlisted for the show.
The live concert will be taped on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The special is scheduled to broadcast on April 21 on CBS.
In other news, Latin pop singer Jennifer Lopez is reportedly scheduled to perform a Motown tribute at the Grammy Awards this Sunday, Feb. 10. Perhaps Lopez will be performing an interpretive dance to some classic Motown songs? Who knows…