The 36th Annual Grammy Awards were held on March 1, 1994. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Whitney Houston was the Big Winner winning 3 awards including Record of the Year and Album of the Year while opening the show with "I Will Always Love You".
Narada Michael Walden is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy.
“If It's Over” is a song written by American singers and songwriters Mariah Carey and Carole King, with the former and Walter Afanasieff helming its production. It was originally released on September 17, 1991, on Carey's second studio album, Emotions. Lyrically, the song tells of a romance that has withered, and finds the protagonist asking her lover, “if it's over, let me go”. Several months after the release of Emotions, Carey performed the song during her appearance on the television show MTV Unplugged.
"I Don't Wanna Cry" is a song recorded by American singer Mariah Carey for her eponymous debut studio album Mariah Carey (1990). Written by Carey and producer Narada Michael Walden, Columbia Records released it as the album's fourth single in March 1991. A Latin soul-influenced pop ballad, the torch song describes the end of romance. It features drums, guitars, digital synthesizers, and a prototypical song structure with highly delineated section roles. Modulations occur between these segments that emphasize the singer's emotions. Varying from whispering to belting, Carey's vocal range spans more than two octaves.
MTV Unplugged is a live EP by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released in the United States on June 2, 1992, by Columbia Records. Following the success of Carey's previous two albums and the growing critical commentary on her lack of concert tours and unsubstantial televised performances, Sony organized a live performance show at the Kaufman Astoria Studios, New York on March 16, 1992. The show, titled MTV Unplugged, originally aired on MTV to help promote Carey's second album Emotions, as well as help shun critics who deemed Carey a possible studio artist. However, after its success, the show was released to the public as an EP, with an accompanying VHS titled MTV Unplugged +3.
Manuel L. Seal, Jr. is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, vocal coach, and arranger. His credits include artists as Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Usher, TLC, Aretha Franklin, Xscape, Cherish, Tyrese, Alicia Keys, Ashanti, Monica, Lionel Richie, Avant, Gladys Knight, Aaron Hall, George Benson, Mary J Blige, Da Brat, Jagged Edge, El DeBarge, Shanice, Johnny Gill, LSG, Tamia, Gerald Levert, Marc Dorsey and Destiny's Child. He has won one Grammy Award from 13 nominations. Manuel Seal is the owner and CEO of Seal Music Productions. Inc. and S.L.A.C.K.A.D. Music.
"Higher Love" is a 1986 song by English singer Steve Winwood. It was the first single released from his fourth solo LP, Back in the High Life (1986). It was written by Winwood and Will Jennings and produced by Russ Titelman and Winwood. The background vocals were performed by Chaka Khan, who also appeared in the music video.
"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" is a song released by American singer Aretha Franklin and English singer George Michael as a duet in 1987. The song was a number one hit in the United States and the United Kingdom. Billboard listed "I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)" as Franklin's all-time biggest Hot 100 single. The song was Franklin's biggest hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, reaching number two. The song was written by Simon Climie and Dennis Morgan and produced by Narada Michael Walden. Franklin and Michael won a 1987 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)".
VH1 debuted the first annual VH1 Divas concert in 1998. VH1 Divas Live was created to support the channel's Save The Music Foundation and subsequent concerts in the series have also benefited that foundation. The VH1 Divas concerts were a follow-up to the channel's annual VH1 Honors benefit concert that ran from 1994 to 1997, airing annually from 1998 to 2004. After a five-year hiatus, the series returned in 2009 with a younger-skewed revamp. In 2010 the concert saluted the troops and in 2011 it celebrated soul music, doubling the previous year's ratings. After a dance music-focused 2012 edition aired live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on December 16, 2012, the show took another hiatus before being revived on December 5, 2016, at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York with a holiday theme and achieved its highest ratings in over a decade.
"Freeway of Love" is a song by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was written by Jeffrey Cohen and Narada Michael Walden and produced by the latter for Franklin's thirtieth studio album Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985). The song features a notable contribution from Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist from Bruce Springsteen’'s E Street Band. Sylvester, Martha Wash, and Jeanie Tracy provided backup vocals on "Freeway of Love".
Junction Seven is the seventh solo studio album by English musician and songwriter Steve Winwood, released in June 1997. The album broke the Top 40 in the UK but did not sell well in the US, and Winwood took a six-year break from making solo albums. This album was co-produced with Narada Michael Walden, while Winwood's wife Eugenia co-wrote several songs. Des'ree provided vocals on 'Plenty Lovin'.
Claytoven Richardson is an American singer, instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and author. His musical career spans nearly three decades, during which he has been awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards.
William Riser III, better known as Ricky Lawson, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston, Steely Dan, Earl Klugh, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and other artists. He co-founded the jazz-fusion band Yellowjackets and won the 1987 Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance for "And You Know That" from their album Shades.
Aretha is the thirty-first studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, originally released on October 27, 1986, by Arista Records. It is the third album with the Aretha title to be released by Franklin, following her 1961 album and 1980 album.
Through the Storm is the thirty-second studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released on April 25, 1989, by Arista Records.
Ren Klyce is a Japanese-American sound designer and sound mixer. He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards; six for Best Sound and three for Best Sound Editing. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with director David Fincher, having been the primary sound designer on every one of his films since Seven, including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He is also known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Jonze and films by Pixar Animation Studios.
Preston Glass is an American musician, songwriter and producer. Glass is the winner of six BMI Awards. He has also worked with several famous artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Kenny G, Natalie Cole and Earth, Wind & Fire.
While the City Sleeps... is a 1986 studio album by American guitarist and singer George Benson, released on Warner Bros. Records. It features musicians like Paulinho da Costa, Preston Glass, Paul Jackson, Jr., Marcus Miller and Narada Michael Walden, alongside young talents of the time like Kenny G, Randy Jackson and Kashif. Although it does not have any instrumental tracks, Benson's guitar playing is somewhat in the headlight in songs like "Love Is Here Tonight", "Teaser" and "Too Many Times". The most successful single of the album, "Kisses in the Moonlight", is still frequently played by Benson at live performances and is present on many of his compilation albums On the B-side of the "Kisses in the Moonlight" single – alongside "Breezin'" on the 12" version – is the instrumental song "Open Your Eyes" which is not available elsewhere.
Bashiri Johnson is a New York City-based percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, videogames, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded percussionists in the music business, as well as one of the most visible. While he has recorded with such artists as Luther Vandross, Miles Davis, and Patti LaBelle, he has also been a part of numerous on-stage performances; he has performed on stage with artists such as Sting, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, Aretha Franklin, and Steve Winwood.
Jeffrey E. Cohen is an American R&B, soul and funk songwriter and record producer who is best known for the collaboration with prolific singer-songwriter, record producer and drummer Narada Michael Walden. Together, they wrote for numerous artists like Jermaine Stewart, Patti Austin, Aretha Franklin, Shanice, Stacy Lattisaw, George Benson, Gladys Knight, Angela Bofill, Regina Belle, actor-singer Eddie Murphy and Clarence Clemons. As a solo songwriter, he wrote songs for Ryuichi Sakamoto, Herbie Hancock, Rick Astley and Santana. He's won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song along with Narada Michael Walden, for their work "Freeway of Love" by Aretha Franklin. Their songs have been sampled by some hip hop/R&B artists, such as Kris Kross, Faith Evans, Mariah Carey.
