Music icons who died in the last year — from Tina Turner to Tony Bennett — will be honored at Sunday’s 2024 Grammys with performances by Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Fantasia Barrino and Jon Batiste.
A source close to the situation tells The Hollywood Reporter that Barrino, on the heels of her success in The Color Purple, will honor Turner with a performance, which will be introduced by Color Purple producer Oprah Winfrey, who was announced as a Grammy presenter earlier this week. Wonder will pay tribute to Bennett onstage, while Batiste will remember music executive Clarence Avant with a performance to be introduced by Lenny Kravitz.
Lennox will honor Sinead O’Connor and will be joined by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, the Grammy- and Emmy-winning musicians who played in Prince’s band The Revolution (Prince also wrote O’Connor’s biggest hit “Nothing Compares 2 U.”)
The performances will take place during the In Memoriam segment of Sunday’s show, which will also include special video package tributes and photos of members of the music community who died in the last year.
Trevor Noah will host the Grammys, airing live on CBS from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Other performers include SZA, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Joni Mitchell, U2, Billy Joel, Luke Combs, Burna Boy and Travis Scott, while Meryl Streep, Lionel Richie, Christina Aguilera, Maluma, Mark Ronson, Taylor Tomlinson and Samara Joy will present awards.
SZA is the top contender with nine nominations; Victoria Monét and Phoebe Bridgers follow with seven nominations; Taylor Swift, Eilish and Rodrigo earned six nominations apiece. Female acts dominate this year and count for all of the nominees in the top three categories apart from Jon Batiste. Album of the year contenders are SZA’s SOS, Swift’s Midnights, Rodrigo’s Guts, Batiste’s World Music Radio, Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation, boygenius’ the record, Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd and Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure.