Cher, Whitney Houston, Fela Kuti and more honoured with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards

The Recording Academy presented Lifetime Achievement Awards to Chaka Khan, Cher, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon, Fela Kuti and Whitney Houston at the Grammys Special Merit Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The ceremony took place at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on the eve of the main Grammy Awards.

Chaka Khan was the only recipient to attend in person. Accepting her award, she said: "Music has been my prayer, my healing, my joy, my truth. Through it, I saved my life." A short documentary preceded her appearance, highlighting her career with Rufus and as a solo artist, including songs such as "Tell Me Something Good," "I'm Every Woman," "Ain't Nobody" and "I Feel For You."

Wearing a shimmering sea green gown, Khan thanked collaborators from across her five-decade career, adding with a pause that she had worked alongside many creatives, "and cuckoos." Family members accepted awards on behalf of Whitney Houston, who died in 2012, and Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, who died in 1997.

"Her voice — that voice! — remains eternal," said Pat Houston, Whitney Houston’s sister-in-law and longtime manager. "Her legacy will live forever." Kuti’s son Femi described the recognition as significant for Africa and global culture, calling his father a figure of international importance.

Cher and Carlos Santana appeared via video messages. Cher joked: "The only thing I ever wanted to be was a singer… Things haven't changed all that much." Santana spoke after his son Salvador accepted the award, describing music as a source of hope and healing.

Additional honours were presented during the ceremony. Bernie Taupin received a Trustees Award and paid tribute to Paul Simon as "the greatest American songwriter alive." Eddie Palmieri, Sylvia Rhone, John Chowning and educator Jennifer Jimenez were also recognised, alongside Raye’s "Ice Cream Man," which received the Harry Belafonte Song for Social Change Award.