The Recording Academy has announced its 2017 Special Merit Awards recipients, and Charley Pride will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Awards celebrate performers who have made outstanding contributions in the recording field. Pride, 78, has had a long and successful career in country music career; in fact, he celebrated his 50th year in the industry in 2016. Pride is one of the most successful artists in country music and, even more significantly, he helped break barriers within the genre by becoming the first black superstar in country music.

 

johnny cash feud grand ole opry
Hulton Archive, Getty Images
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In 2017, CMT will debut 'Sun Records', a new show inspired by the so-called Million Dollar Quartet's recording sessions at Sun Studio. Set in Memphis and inspired by true events, Sun Records will focus on a chance meeting in 1956 that turned out to be a sizeable moment in modern music history. On December 4 of that year, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins met by chance at Sun Studio in Memphis, and stumbled into an impromptu jam session. Sun Records owner Sam Phillips was smart enough to record the session and the rest is history becoming an unforgettable contribution to the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.

 

Michael Loccisano, Getty Images
Michael Loccisano, Getty Images
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Maren Morris is not about having her autograph sold for a profit online! The rising star sounded off on Twitter after she discovered someone trying to make money off her signature. On Friday, Morris shared on Twitter that her guitar player had discovered on eBay a Morris-signed pick guard being sold for $100 pure profit. Morris said she would gladly take pictures and sign autographs, but it blows when people just use it for profit and they aren’t even fans. Morris’ autograph is in high demand right now: Since releasing her debut album, Hero, in June and earning critical and fan acclaim, Morris has earned seven CMA Awards nominations and won New Artist of the Year, and recently received four 2017 Grammy Awards nods.

 

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