Recording Academy® Adds New Members to the Black Music Collective

Honorary Chairs and Leadership Council Will Continue Mission to Elevate Black Music Creators and Professionals

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Recording Academy^®'s Black Music Collective (BMC) has added new music creators and professionals to their esteemed Honorary Chairs and Leadership Council. The Black Music Collective is dedicated to the inclusion, recognition and advancement of Black music and its creators and professionals within the Recording Academy and music industry at-large. Since the launch of the BMC in 2020, groundbreaking initiatives and events have been established including a collaboration with Amazon Music for the "Your Future Is Now" scholarship, the launch of the HBCU Love Tour created in partnership with GRAMMY U^®, and the inaugural Recording Academy Honors Presented By The Black Music Collective event where John Legend received the first-ever Recording Academy Global Impact Award along with D-Nice, Love Renaissance, MC Lyte, and Riggs Morales.

"The Black Music Collective has remained steadfast in its mission to advance Black music since its founding in 2020. We are thrilled to have inaugural members of the BMC returning and honored to have an esteemed community of new industry leaders joining us to accelerate progress," said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. "Black music is an integral part of all music, and we are committed to the long-term work required to drive real and measurable change."

"There have been moments where I knew I had to be the one young girls saw pick up a guitar, or advocate for the right to be creatively free, to stand for myself. They needed to see a dark-skinned, plus-size woman do that, so this moment feels like a deepening of my mission for representation for all of that. For this and so many more reasons, I'm so profoundly honored to join the Black Music Collective Leadership Council," said singer-songwriter, musician and actress Yola.

The below list of accomplished music professionals will join returning Honorary Chairs Jeff Harleston, Jimmy Jam, Quincy Jones, and John Legend as well as new Honorary Chairs Yolanda Adams, Valeisha Butterfield Jones, Ethiopia Habtemariam, and Yvette Noel-Schure, and work hand in hand with the Academy's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team and BMC leads, Ryan Butler and Ricky Lyon, to elevate the mission of the collective. Recording Academy's Board of Trustees Vice Chair Rico Love serves as the new BMC Chair.

The Black Music Collective's Honorary Chairs and Leadership Council include the following returning and new members:

HONORARY CHAIRS

Returning

• Jeff Harleston
• Jimmy Jam
• Quincy Jones
• John Legend

New

• Yolanda Adams
• Valeisha Butterfield Jones
• Ethiopia Habtemariam
• Yvette Noel-Schure

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

Returning

• Brianna Agyemang
• Tunde Balogun
• Tuma Basa
• Catherine Brewton
• Binta Niambi Brown
• Terri Lyne Carrington
• D-Nice
• Phylicia Fant
• H.E.R.
• Jeriel Johnson
• Om'Mas Keith
• Rico Love, Chair
• Heather Lowery
• MixedByAli
• Riggs Morales
• Steve Pamon
• Tayla Parx
• Ryan Press
• Rashad Robinson
• Jamila Thomas

New

• Prince Charles Alexander
• Jimmie Allen
• Denzel Baptiste & David Biral (Take a Daytrip)
• Jennifer Goicoechea
• Mickey Guyton
• Claudine Joseph
• Ledisi
• Herb Trawick
• Ebonie Ward
• Yola

Stay up to date on the BMC's progress here.

ABOUT THE RECORDING ACADEMY

The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Academy honors music's history while investing in its future through the GRAMMY Museum^®, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares^®, and celebrates artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards^® — music's only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement. As the world's leading society of music professionals, we work year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators.

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