FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing® Announces
Premier Sponsors for GRAMMY® Week Celebration Honoring Jack White
Partners Pledge Their Support for 10th Annual GRAMMY Week Event Highlighting Sound Quality and Honoring White's Career
Santa Monica, Calif. (January 26, 2017) — Premier Sponsors have been announced for the 10th annual GRAMMY Week® event hosted by The Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing®, this year honoring multi-GRAMMY® winner Jack White for his commitment to creative and sonic excellence, his initiatives to preserve and reissue historic recordings, and his ongoing support for the art and craft of recorded music.
The list of Premier Sponsors currently includes HARMAN® Professional brands AKG®, dbx®, JBL® Professional and Lexicon®; Iron Mountain Entertainment Services; ELS Studio® Premium Audio - Powered by Panasonic/Driven Communications and TIDAL HiFi. Additional sponsors will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event.
This annual event will be held Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, at The Village Studios in West Los Angeles. Now in its milestone 10th year, it will also celebrate the artistic contributions of the P&E Wing's 6,500-plus professional members. GRAMMY Week culminates with the Annual GRAMMY Awards® on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, airing live on the CBS Television Network, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. For updates and breaking news, please visit www.grammy.com, and The Recording Academy®'s social networks on Twitter and Facebook.
Maureen Droney, The Recording Academy Managing Director, P&E Wing and Recording Technology, stated, "This special annual celebration kicks off GRAMMY Week and is a clear highlight of the P&E Wing's yearly itinerary. This year's honoree, the inimitable producer, songwriter, singer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, label head, archivist and musical ambassador Jack White, is an industry icon, and we are thrilled to celebrate his career at our signature event. A special thanks goes out to our Premier Sponsors, without whom this event would not be possible. These companies help us support the professionals who represent the essential backbone of the recording industry, and we look forward to sharing this evening with them, our membership and all in attendance."
When The White Stripes started in 1997, no one, least of all White, expected that a red, white and black two-piece band would take hold in the mainstream. The band's self-titled debut and sophomore effort, De Stijl, amassed critical acclaim and built a passionate underground following, but it was the release of 2001's White Blood Cells that thrust The White Stripes onto magazine covers as they captivated audiences through worldwide touring. The release of Elephant in 2003 solidified the band’s reputation and offered the hit “Seven Nation Army,” which has arguably become the most popular chant in sports stadiums around the world.
In 2004, White teamed with Loretta Lynn to produce and perform on her Van Lear Rose album, winning GRAMMY Awards for Best Country Album and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for the single "Portland, Oregon."
White formed The Raconteurs in 2006, whose debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, featured the #1 hit single "Steady, As She Goes" and showed a different side of White, one where songwriting, vocal, and guitar duties were shared. Their follow up, 2008's Consolers Of The Lonely, was awarded the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical GRAMMY.
In 2009, White returned to his original instrument, the drums, and started The Dead Weather with members of The Kills, Queens of The Stone Age, and The Greenhornes – further cementing his musical versatility. Also in 2009, White opened the doors to his own Nashville-based label, Third Man Records, which has released more than 300 records, with a catalogue from artists as varied as Jerry Lee Lewis and Stephen Colbert and wildly innovative vinyl configurations, including the GRAMMY-winning Rise & Fall of Paramount Records Volumes 1 & 2 box sets.
In 2012, White released his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, which premiered at #1 on the U.S. albums chart. Blunderbuss also received five GRAMMY nominations, including Album Of The Year, Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song for "Freedom at 21," and, the following year, Best Rock Performance and Best Music Video for "I'm Shakin'." White released Lazaretto, the follow-up to Blunderbuss, in 2014. Again debuting at #1, Lazaretto became the biggest selling vinyl album of 2014 and any year of the SoundScan era. The album's title track won a GRAMMY Award for Best Rock Performance and received two additional GRAMMY nominations for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song. Highlighting White's softer side as one of the great American songwriters, Jack White Acoustic Recordings 1998 – 2016 was released on September 9, 2016. The career-spanning, 26-track double-LP and double-CD acoustic compilation – featuring songs from The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and Jack White – was White's third Billboard 200 Top 10 debut and #1 selling vinyl album in a row.
As the Producers & Engineers Wing 2017 honoree, White joins an impressive list of past honorees: 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, and Neil Young.
Photo file: JackWhite.jpg
Photo credit: Jo McCaugheyAbout The Recording Academy: Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers and recording professionals dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Recording Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @RecordingAcad on Twitter, like "Recording Academy / GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The Recording Academy’s social communities on Google+, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube.
About The Producers & Engineers Wing: Currently more than 6,500 professionals comprise The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing, which was established for producers, engineers, remixers, manufacturers, technologists, and other related creative and technical professionals in the recording field. This organized voice for the recording community addresses issues that affect the craft of recorded music, including the development and implementation of new technologies, technical guidelines and recommendations, and archiving and preservation initiatives. For more information, please visit www.producersandengineers.com.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Andie Cox / The Recording Academy / 310.581.8654 /andie.cox@grammy.com
Robert Clyne / Clyne Media, Inc. / 615.662.1616 / robert@clynemedia.com
Lisa Roy / Rock & Roy / 310.463.1563 / lisaroyaudio@mac.com
For Jack White:
Big Hassle / weinstein@bighassle.com
All Rights Reserved.