Our 25th anniversary was in 2016 and we had found a home at the Taglyan Cultural Center in Hollywood. In honor of #BlackMusicMonth & our 30th Anniversary, we are remembering our past awards dinners and honorees. DJ Y-Not was on the turntables and saxophonist Rob White led us in “Lift Every Voice”. Industry vet and Pastor Don Mac offered the invocation. Jay Michaels returned as the host and E.J. Sayles’ son, A.J. was the trophy presenter. This is the first year that we announced the building of the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville. Music historian Portia Maultsby and Executive Director Henry Hicks attended to inform the audience about the plans for a museum dedicated to Black music. Five years later, the dedication of the museum was held last weekend, June 19, 2021!
Our Event Chairpersons were Troy Carter and Gail Mitchell. David Linton announced that we established a Scholarship Fund for Communications students at 2 HBCUs. Texas Southern University and Shaw University were the first schools participating. Industry vet, Dina Andrews, had started working with City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson and the L.A. City Council presented all of the honorees with special certificates honoring their commitment to the music industry. We were treated to 3 performances that night – American Idol runner-up LaPorsha Renae, R&B sensation Guordan Banks and Rob White returned with saxophone selections! The honorees that year were:
Top row L-R: Miller London, Russell Street Entertainment, Motown, RCA, A&M, Urban Network; Herb Trawick, Pensado’s Place, SOLAR, artist manager; Regina Jones, SOUL newspaper, SOLAR Records
2nd row L-R: Jamie Foster Brown, Sister2Sister magazine, BET; Larry Khan, Interscope Records; Sheila Eldridge, Miles Ahead Entertainment, Café Mocha; Tony Gray, Gray Communications, radio programmer & consultant
We honor their contributions to the music industry. Full bios will be at livinglegendsfoundation.com.
#livinglegendsfoundation30 #musicdaypodcast #BlackMusic365 #tellourownstories