This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of The Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers* who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. (*Through 1972, recipients included non-performers.)
Past Recipients
| Roy Acuff Awarded: 1987 | Allman Brothers Band Awarded: 2012 | Marian Anderson Awarded: 1991 |
| Julie Andrews Awarded: 2011 | Louis Armstrong Awarded: 1972 | Eddy Arnold Awarded: 2005 |
| Fred Astaire Awarded: 1989 | Chet Atkins Awarded: 1993 | Gene Autry Awarded: 2009 |
| Burt Bacharach Awarded: 2008 | Joan Baez Awarded: 2007 | The Band Awarded: 2008 |
| Count Basie Awarded: 2002 | Beach Boys Awarded: 2001 | Harry Belafonte Awarded: 2000 |
| Tony Bennett Awarded: 2001 | Irving Berlin Awarded: 1968 | Leonard Bernstein Awarded: 1985 |
| Chuck Berry Awarded: 1984 | Art Blakey Awarded: 2005 | Bobby "Blue" Bland Awarded: 1997 |
| The Blind Boys Of Alabama Awarded: 2009 | Booker T. & The MG's Awarded: 2007 | David Bowie Awarded: 2006 |
| James Brown Awarded: 1992 | Dave Brubeck Awarded: 1996 | Maria Callas Awarded: 2007 |
| Cab Calloway Awarded: 2008 | Glen Campbell Awarded: 2012 | Benny Carter Awarded: 1987 |
| (Original) Carter Family Awarded: 2005 | Enrico Caruso Awarded: 1987 | Pablo Casals Awarded: 1989 |
| Johnny Cash Awarded: 1999 | Ray Charles Awarded: 1987 | Van Cliburn Awarded: 2004 |
| Patsy Cline Awarded: 1995 | Rosemary Clooney Awarded: 2002 | Leonard Cohen Awarded: 2010 |
| Nat "King" Cole Awarded: 1990 | Ornette Coleman Awarded: 2007 | John Coltrane Awarded: 1992 |
| Perry Como Awarded: 2002 | Sam Cooke Awarded: 1999 | Cream Awarded: 2006 |
| Bing Crosby Awarded: 1962 | Bobby Darin Awarded: 2010 | Sammy Davis Jr. Awarded: 2001 |
| Miles Davis Awarded: 1990 | Doris Day Awarded: 2008 | Bo Diddley Awarded: 1998 |
| Fats Domino Awarded: 1987 | The Doors Awarded: 2007 | Bob Dylan Awarded: 1991 |
| David "Honeyboy" Edwards Awarded: 2010 | Duke Ellington Awarded: 1966 | Bill Evans Awarded: 1994 |
| Everly Brothers Awarded: 1997 | Ella Fitzgerald Awarded: 1967 | The Four Tops Awarded: 2009 |
| Aretha Franklin Awarded: 1994 | The Funk Brothers Awarded: 2004 | Judy Garland Awarded: 1997 |
| Marvin Gaye Awarded: 1996 | Dizzy Gillespie Awarded: 1989 | Benny Goodman Awarded: 1986 |
| Glenn Gould Awarded: 2013 | Morton Gould Awarded: 2005 | Stephane Grappelli Awarded: 1997 |
| Grateful Dead Awarded: 2007 | Al Green Awarded: 2002 | Woody Guthrie Awarded: 2000 |
| Charlie Haden Awarded: 2013 | Merle Haggard Awarded: 2006 | Roy Haynes Awarded: 2011 |
| Jascha Heifetz Awarded: 1989 | Jimi Hendrix Awarded: 1992 | Woody Herman Awarded: 1987 |
| Billie Holiday Awarded: 1987 | Buddy Holly Awarded: 1997 | John Lee Hooker Awarded: 2000 |
| Lightnin' Hopkins Awarded: 2013 | Lena Horne Awarded: 1989 | Vladimir Horowitz Awarded: 1990 |
| Mahalia Jackson Awarded: 1972 | Michael Jackson Awarded: 2010 | Etta James Awarded: 2003 |
| Ella Jenkins Awarded: 2004 | Antonio Carlos Jobim Awarded: 2012 | Robert Johnson Awarded: 2006 |
| George Jones Awarded: 2012 | Hank Jones Awarded: 2009 | Janis Joplin Awarded: 2005 |
| Juilliard String Quartet Awarded: 2011 | B.B. King Awarded: 1987 | Carole King Awarded: 2013 |
| The Kingston Trio Awarded: 2011 | Led Zeppelin Awarded: 2005 | Brenda Lee Awarded: 2009 |
| Peggy Lee Awarded: 1995 | John Lennon Awarded: 1991 | Jerry Lee Lewis Awarded: 2005 |
| Little Richard Awarded: 1993 | Loretta Lynn Awarded: 2010 | Henry Mancini Awarded: 1995 |
| Bob Marley Awarded: 2001 | Dean Martin Awarded: 2009 | Johnny Mathis Awarded: 2003 |
| Curtis Mayfield Awarded: 1995 | Paul McCartney Awarded: 1990 | the Memphis Horns Awarded: 2012 |
| Glenn Miller Awarded: 2003 | Mitch Miller Awarded: 2000 | Mills Brothers Awarded: 1998 |
| Charles Mingus Awarded: 1997 | Joni Mitchell Awarded: 2002 | Thelonious Monk Awarded: 1993 |
| Bill Monroe Awarded: 1993 | Jelly Roll Morton Awarded: 2005 | Willie Nelson Awarded: 2000 |
| Jessye Norman Awarded: 2006 | Roy Orbison Awarded: 1998 | Patti Page Awarded: 2013 |
| Charlie Parker Awarded: 1984 | Dolly Parton Awarded: 2011 | Tom Paxton Awarded: 2009 |
| Pinetop Perkins Awarded: 2005 | Itzhak Perlman Awarded: 2008 | Oscar Peterson Awarded: 1997 |
| Elvis Presley Awarded: 1971 | André Previn Awarded: 2010 | Leontyne Price Awarded: 1989 |
| Richard Pryor Awarded: 2006 | Tito Puente Awarded: 2003 | Ramones Awarded: 2011 |
| Otis Redding Awarded: 1999 | Max Roach Awarded: 2008 | Paul Robeson Awarded: 1998 |
| Smokey Robinson Awarded: 1999 | Rolling Stones Awarded: 1986 | Sonny Rollins Awarded: 2004 |
| Diana Ross Awarded: 2012 | Artur Rubinstein Awarded: 1994 | Gil Scott-Heron Awarded: 2012 |
| Earl Scruggs Awarded: 2008 | Pete Seeger Awarded: 1993 | Andrés Segovia Awarded: 1986 |
| Ravi Shankar Awarded: 2013 | Artie Shaw Awarded: 2004 | George Beverly Shea Awarded: 2011 |
| Simon & Garfunkel Awarded: 2003 | Frank Sinatra Awarded: 1965 | Bessie Smith Awarded: 1989 |
| Georg Solti Awarded: 1996 | The Staple Singers Awarded: 2005 | Isaac Stern Awarded: 1987 |
| Igor Stravinsky Awarded: 1987 | Barbra Streisand Awarded: 1995 | Art Tatum Awarded: 1989 |
| the Temptations Awarded: 2013 | Clark Terry Awarded: 2010 | Mel Tormé Awarded: 1999 |
| Arturo Toscanini Awarded: 1987 | Sarah Vaughan Awarded: 1989 | Fats Waller Awarded: 1993 |
| Muddy Waters Awarded: 1992 | Doc Watson Awarded: 2004 | The Weavers Awarded: 2006 |
| Kitty Wells Awarded: 1991 | The Who Awarded: 2001 | Hank Williams Awarded: 1987 |
| Bob Wills Awarded: 2007 | Stevie Wonder Awarded: 1996 | Frank Zappa Awarded: 1997 |