The Recording Academy (the group behind the Grammys) announced its recipients for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Thankfully, this year we’ve got a diverse set of artists. For those who don’t know, the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to people who have made a powerful impact on the recording industry over the course of their career. Nina Simone recorded over 40 albums (and this doesn’t include EPs and compilation albums) through her 50+ year career.
It’s only fitting that the legendary artist be honored posthumously as this year there were three different biopics on her. The jazz singer/songwriter still has a large impact on the industry today, with many artists doing covers of her work and producers sampling her eclectic and prolific career. We can talk all day about Nina Simone’s accolades in the recording industry, but many understate everything she’s done for civil rights.
Simone was upfront and unapologetic in her fight for equality, creating songs like “Mississippi Goddamn,” that was a response to the murder of Medgar Evers (another activist) and the bombing in Birmingham, Alabama which killed four girls and injured a fifth. This song was protested in southern states, but Simone kept creating music challenging the opposition to equality. This continued until she passed in 2003.
Nina Simone is a legend, peace to the Recording Academy for getting this one right. You can peep her song "Mississippi Goddamn" below.
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