The late Michael Jackson is among 2010 Special Merit Awards recipients announced Thursday by the Recording Academy.
Jackson joins Leonard Cohen, Bobby Darin, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Loretta Lynn, André Previn and Clark Terry as Lifetime Achievement Award honorees.
This year’s Trustees Award honorees are Harold Bradley, Florence Greenberg and Walter C. Miller.
AKG and Thomas Alva Edison are this year’s Technical Grammy Award honorees.
The honorary awards will be presented Jan. 30 at an invitation-only ceremony, with a formal acknowledgment made during the 52nd annual Grammy Awards telecast Jan. 31 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Separately, the Recording Academy announced that Louis J. Horvitz will direct the Grammys, which will air live at 8 p.m. (EST) on CBS.
Horvitz joins executive producers Ken Ehrlich and John Cossette on the show, which is produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures.
"Lou Horvitz is one of the most accomplished and prolific directors in live television event broadcasting who continually facilitates seamless and elegant work," Recording Academy president-CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement.
In addition to directing the 2009 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute concert honoring Neil Diamond during Grammy Week 2009, Horvitz has directed the annual Academy Awards telecast a record 12 times, earning 10 Emmy nominations and five wins for his work. He also has directed the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast 14 times; "The Kennedy Center Honors" for 16 years, which has resulted in an Emmy win; and the "American Film Institute Life Achievement Award" tributes a total of 18 times.
