On April 9, the Recording Academy will unite the worlds of music and politics at the annual GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards.
The Awards will honor four-time GRAMMY-winning gospel artist Yolanda Adams for her advocacy on behalf of fellow creators and Tony- and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth for her philanthropic contributions to the music community. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) will also be honored for their contributions to advance music creators’ rights and support legislation that protects the future of music.
“GRAMMYs on the Hill clearly has an impact and makes a difference,” said Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow. “It is no coincidence that just one week after last year’s Awards and Advocacy Day, the Music Modernization Act unanimously passed the House of Representatives, paving the way for the bill to later be signed into law. Through the continued dialogue between music creators and Congress, we are ensuring a viable future for music makers.”
Adams will be honored with the Recording Academy’s Creators Leadership Award for decades of advocacy work supporting her fellow artists and songwriters. Adams currently serves as the Recording Academy Texas Chapter President and is a consistent supporter of MusiCares, a charity founded by the Academy that provides a safety net of support for the music community. She also works to help fight childhood cancer with St. Jude and often performs charity concerts to support causes, including Aspiring 2B A Better Me, a counseling/mentoring program by the L.M. Foundation that helps families of domestic violence rebuild their lives.
Chenoweth, whose talents span recorded music, musical theater, film, and television, and who is a strong philanthropist in the music community, is being honored with the GRAMMYs on the Hill Philanthropist Award. Trained in opera, with a gospel music background, Chenoweth’s roles onscreen and onstage, as well as her albums, often showcase how music can transcend audiences and genres. Chenoweth is a longtime supporter of MusiCares, having performed at the 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Barbra Streisand. She also has a charity partnership with the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center Foundation in her home state of Oklahoma, where she launched an annual Broadway Boot Camp to provide Broadway hopefuls with an opportunity to take classes, hold performances, and learn from top mentors in the entertainment industry.
Grassley and Jeffries are the congressional honorees being recognized for their roles in the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA). As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018, Grassley led the committee’s vote that resulted in unanimous passage of the MMA. Grassley sponsored and introduced the Allocation for Music Producers Act (AMP Act), which was later folded into the MMA, to recognize producers in copyright law, and was one of the MMA’s initial cosponsors. Jeffries served on the House Judiciary Committee and was the lead cosponsor of the MMA in the House of Representatives. Both members of Congress helped achieve bipartisan support for the bill and met with members of the music industry to understand the issues and ensure proper representation within the legislation.
The awards dinner and show will take place at the Hamilton Live in Washington, D.C., with live performances from the musical honorees and additional special guests. The GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards are sponsored by music rights organization SESAC.
The following day, April 10, the Recording Academy will host the annual GRAMMYs on the Hill Advocacy Day, which brings current and past GRAMMY winners and nominees, along with other esteemed industry leaders, to meet with lawmakers to discuss issues facing today’s music creators. The day is recognized as Capitol Hill’s largest and most prestigious legislative event for music. Participants will acknowledge and thank Congress for its support of the Music Modernization Act, and ask that the work be continued to ensure fair compensation for artists, songwriters, and producers on unresolved issues.
