Recording Academy™ Producers & Engineers Wing® 12th Annual GRAMMY® Week Celebration Honors Willie Nelson Alongside Music's Studio Professionals

Annual Event Honored Nine-time GRAMMY Winner Willie Nelson for his Commitment to Creative and Sonic Excellence and his Ongoing Support for the Art and Craft of Recorded Music

Santa Monica, Calif. — Returning to California after last year’s sojourn in New York City for the 60th anniversary of the GRAMMY Awards, the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing once again presented its highly anticipated GRAMMY Week celebration on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. Held at The Village Studios in West Los Angeles, the event, now in its 12 year, marked the official start of GRAMMY Week, which culminated with the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, airing live on the CBS Television Network.

This year's gathering featured the presentation of the President's Merit Award to Willie Nelson, recognizing both his commitment to creative and sonic excellence and his ongoing support for the art and craft of recorded music. The nine-time GRAMMY winning artist Willie Nelson is now added to the decade-plus list of honorees chosen for their singular contributions to music production: Chris Blackwell, T Bone Burnett, Tom Dowd, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, Jimmy Iovine, Quincy Jones, Arif Mardin, Nile Rodgers, Rick Rubin, Al Schmitt, Jerry Wexler, Neil Young, Jack White, Alicia Keys, and Kaseem Dean (aka Swizz Beatz). The event also acknowledges the overall industry contributions of the Producers & Engineers Wing’s more than 6,400 professional members.

Music industry luminaries and GRAMMY nominees and winners including Kacey Musgraves (this year's Album of The Year recipient) packed this star-studded evening, which featured a surprise performance by Dave Matthews, who opened the musical portion of the ceremony. Guests included such notable figures as Diane Warren, Daniel Lanois, Emily Lazar, Ryan Bingham, Larry Klein, Jimmy Jam, Mindi Abair, Lisa Loeb,