Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, soul, gospel, funk and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of R&B. He also helped drive the genre into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive, consistent socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.
Chicago is an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967. The group was initially billed as The Big Thing before calling themselves the Chicago Transit Authority in 1968, and then shortening the name in 1969. A self-described "rock and roll band with horns", Chicago's songs often combine elements of classical music, jazz, R&B, and pop music.
The 19th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 19, 1977, and were broadcast live on American television (CBS). It was the seventh and final year Andy Williams hosted the telecast. The ceremony recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1976.
The 17th Annual Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1975, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1974.
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom Rolling Stone described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include "The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Little Ghetto Boy". Hathaway is also renowned for his renditions of "A Song for You", "For All We Know", and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", along with "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Dutch director David Kleijwegt made a documentary called Mister Soul – A Story About Donny Hathaway, which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2020.
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop songs on which singers collaborate. Awards in several categories are distributed annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position."
India Arie Simpson, also known as India Arie, is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over 5 million records in the US and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album.
Gregory Arthur Phillinganes is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous albums representing a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with notable artists, such as Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and Toto, served as musical director for Michael Jackson, and has released two solo studio albums.
Gregg Alan Rolie is an American singer and keyboardist. Rolie served as lead singer of the bands Santana and Journey – both of which he co-founded. He also helmed rock group The Storm, performed in Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, and currently performs with his Gregg Rolie Band. Rolie is a two-time inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, having been inducted both as a member of Santana in 1998 and as a member of Journey in 2017.
Lynda Laurence is an American singer.
William Bradford Champlin is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. He performed lead vocals on three of Chicago's biggest hits of the 1980s, 1984's "Hard Habit to Break" and 1988's "Look Away" and "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love". During live shows, he performed the lower, baritone, vocal parts originated by original guitarist Terry Kath, who had died in 1978. He has won multiple Grammy Awards for songwriting.
Jason Randolph Scheff is an American bassist, singer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 2016, he was the bassist and one of the lead vocalists for the rock band Chicago.
Mic Gillette was an American brass player, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay. He is best known for being a member of the bands; Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and The Sons of Champlin. He played in the horn section with Tower of Power for 19 years.
For the fictional character from the Al-Qadim campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons, see Selan. For the village in Albania, see Selan, Albania.
Roomful of Blues is an American blues and swing revival big band based in Rhode Island. With a recording career that spans over 50 years, they have toured worldwide and recorded many albums. Roomful of Blues, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, "Swagger, sway and swing with energy and precision". Since 1967, the group’s blend of swing, rock and roll, jump blues, boogie-woogie and soul has earned it five Grammy Award nominations and many other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards. Billboard called the band "a tour de force of horn-fried blues…Roomful is so tight and so right." The Down Beat International Critics Poll has twice selected Roomful of Blues as Best Blues Band.
Timothy Drury is an American composer, keyboardist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and visual artist. His big breakthrough came in 1989 when Don Henley invited him to join The End of the Innocence tour as his pianist, keyboardist and backup vocalist. A few years later, he was back on tour playing keyboard, guitar and singing backup vocals with the Eagles for their "Hell Freezes Over" reunion, a tour that lasted from 1994 to 2000. He toured for seven years with the rock band Whitesnake, and with a friendly departure in September 2010, he left the band to pursue a solo career. As a composer, lyricist and songwriter, Drury has several co-writes to his credit, including music with guitarist Don Felder, formerly with the Eagles, songs with Henley and Scott F. Crago, and with Stevie Nicks and Crago. His father is the late James Drury, best known for his starring role in the TV series, The Virginian.
Stevie "Keys" Roseman is a keyboardist and performer born in Oakland, California. He has worked as a session and live musician since the late 1960s, most notably with the rock band Journey.
P.J. Morton is an American Grammy winning musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been one of the keyboardists, alongside Jesse Carmichael, for the pop rock band Maroon 5. Morton originally joined the band as a touring member in 2010 and became an official member in 2012 after Carmichael went on indefinite hiatus.
Yvonne Lowrene Wright was an American songwriter and vocalist best known for co-writing with Stevie Wonder in the 1970s. Their songs appear on the albums Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants".
