Pick a Day

Music History Events: Awards and Honors

August 27, 2017 Kendrick Lamar wins Video of the Year for HUMBLE. at the MTV Video Music Awards, where Taylor Swift debuts her video for "Look What You Made Me Do."More

August 14, 2017 Pantone announces a new color: a purple hue in honor of Prince named after his famous symbol (Love Symbol #2).

August 7, 2017 The Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society reports that a recently identified new species of ancient crocodile has been named Lemmysuchus obtusidens in honor of the Motörhead frontman.

June 14, 2017 The National Music Publishers Association gives Yoko Ono the Centennial Award for song of the century and adds her name to the credits of the award-winning song, "Imagine." John Lennon took the sole credit, but later admitted he got the idea from Yoko's book Grapefruit, where she wrote things like, "Imagine 1000 suns in the sky at the same time."

March 16, 2017 Ray Davies, frontman of The Kinks, is knighted for services to the arts by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.

February 10, 2017 Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

November 20, 2016 Ariana Grande wins Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. Justin Bieber is also a big winner, taking home four trophies. Green Day takes a swipe at Donald Trump, who was elected president two weeks earlier, in their performance of "Bang Bang," going into a chant of "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA."

October 13, 2016 Bob Dylan is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "For having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Previous winners in this category include William Golding, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner. He's the first American to win since Toni Morrison in 1993.

October 11, 2016 Rod Stewart is knighted at Buckingham Palace, becoming Sir Roderick David Stewart.

September 19, 2016 Tom Waits and wife/collaborator Kathleen Brennan, along with John Prine, receive the PEN Lyric Award Prize, given in partnership with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

July 31, 2016 Justin Timberlake accepts the Decade Award at the Teen Choice Awards, the first time the award is given out. He says, "As a former teen, who's made a few choices along the way, I'm here to tell you that you and your choices matter."

April 8, 2016 Steve Miller, notoriously averse to awards ceremonies, goes on a backstage rant when he is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He says the Hall is like "a private boys club," and lets loose on the organizers. "It's a bunch of jackasses and jerks and f--king gangsters and crooks."More

December 6, 2015 Carole King is celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors, where 73-year-old Aretha Franklin brings the audience to its feet with her rendition of "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman," one of many classic songs written by King.More

August 30, 2015 Taylor Swift and Kanye West make peace when Swift presents him with the Video Vanguard Award at the VMAs, where West famously interrupted Swift six years earlier. The truce doesn't last: In February 2016, West raps, "I made that bitch famous" in his song "Famous," invoking Swift's ire.

February 8, 2015 Sam Smith is the big winner at the Grammy Awards, taking Best New Artist and also Record of the Year and Song of the Year ("Stay With Me").

November 5, 2014 It's a big day in Las Vegas, as Kiss begin their first residency with a show at the Hard Rock, while Britney Spears is honored with a key to the strip in celebration of her successful concert production at Planet Hollywood, which began in December 2013.

September 14, 2014 A life-size statue of Amy Winehouse is unveiled in Camden Town, London to honor the singer.

January 26, 2014 Justin Timberlake is a big winner at the Grammy Awards, winning three of his seven nominations: Best R&B Song for "Pusher Love Girl," Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Holy Grail," and Best Music Video for "Suit & Tie" (the latter two with Jay Z).

November 20, 2013 Loretta Lynn is honored at the White House with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The singer is awarded as "one of the first successful female country music vocalists in the early 1960s, courageously breaking barriers in an industry long dominated by men."

November 10, 2013 At the MTV Europe Awards, Miley Cyrus smokes a joint while accepting her Best Video award for "Wrecking Ball." The ceremony is held in Amsterdam, so it's legal.

May 9, 2013 Rocker Sixto "Sugar Man" Rodriguez receives an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from his alma mater, Wayne State University, Detroit.

February 23, 2013 At the 33rd Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony, Rihanna is named Worst Supporting Actress for her role as weapons specialist Cora Raikes in the sci-fi action flick Battleship. Fellow nominees include Razzie vet Jennifer Lopez (What to Expect When You're Expecting), who won her first award back in 2003 as Worst Actress for Gigli.

February 10, 2013 Janis Ian wins the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for her autobiography Society's Child, beating out Bill Clinton, Michelle Obama, Rachel Maddow and Ellen DeGeneres. Ian quips: "I keep thinking there's got to be a punchline here: an ex-president, the First Lady and three lesbians walk into a bar..."

January 9, 2013 At the People's Choice Awards, One Direction win Favorite Album (Up All Night) and Favorite Song ("What Makes You Beautiful"). Katy Perry gets Favorite Music Video ("Part of Me"), Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Pop Artist, and Favorite Music Fan Following for her fan club, the Katycats.

December 13, 2012 Songwriting legend Carole King, whose career dates back to the Brill Building, wins the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize in recognition of her lifetime achievement. She is the first woman awarded this honor, which fits with her having authored "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman," among many other chart-smashers during her five-decade career.

December 1, 2012 San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders declares "Peaceful Easy Feeling Day" in honor of Jack Tempchin, who wrote the Eagles hit in the city. The ceremony takes place at a hot dog joint called the Wienerschnitzel, where he wrote the last verse while waiting for his order. Tempchin is presented with a golden wiener at the event.

November 18, 2012 At the 2012 American Music Awards (the 40th anniversary of the event), Justin Bieber wins Artist of the Year.

November 14, 2012 Brian Eno is awarded the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) distinction, established by the British Royal Society for Arts, for "his ground-breaking use of sound in technology and media and long term sustainable thinking." Eno is the only recipient awarded for sound design.

November 5, 2012 The building at 1325 Commmonwealth Avenue in Boston, where the five members of Aerosmith shared an apartment in the '70s, is declared a historic landmark. To celebrate, the band play a free concert outside the building to thousands of fans.

October 22, 2012 Garth Brooks is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. George Strait, Bob Seger, and James Taylor perform at the ceremony.