Hip Hop pioneers Run DMC will be the first hip hop act to win the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. When Run DMC busted on the scene in 1984 they become the first rap group to release a gold-certified album “Run DMC” in the US – their debut – and the first to receive a multi-platinum album certification, for 1986’s “Raising Hell”.
“I just got a call from the Grammys!!” Joseph Simmons AKA Rev Run tweeted on Wednesday. “They shocked me!! We’re the first rappers to get this award!! Shocked! Grateful! God is good!!! I’m so honored to be a #GRAMMYs Lifetime Achievement Award recipient this year. Thank you to the Recording Academy!” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels are the two surviving members of the group, since Jason Mizell AKA Jam Master Jay was shot dead in 2002.
The rappers are due to be honored along with late R&B singer Ruth Brown, jazz legend Herbie Hancock, R&B pioneers Earth, Wind & Fire, psych-rockers Jefferson Airplane, late Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz, and 11-time Grammy award-winning folk and country musician Linda Ronstadt.
This has been a long time coming. Just think people thought hip hop would be just a trend, but they helped advance the music to another level. Now it is here to stay.