Grammy Award in the context of "Light My Fire"

Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald R. Ford in 1977. The broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite stated he "helped write the story of this country, capturing the best of who we are and the dreams that shape our lives".

Born in Russia, Berlin arrived in the United States at the age of five. His family left Russia to escape pogroms against the Jewish village of Tolochin. He published his first song, "Marie from Sunny Italy", in 1907, receiving 33 cents for the publishing rights, and became known as the composer of numerous international hits, starting with 1911's "Alexander's Ragtime Band". He also was an owner of the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. For much of his career, Berlin could not read sheet music, and was such a limited piano player that he could only play in the key of F-sharp; he used his custom piano equipped with a transposing lever when he needed to play in keys other than F-sharp. He was known for writing music and lyrics in the American vernacular: uncomplicated, simple and direct, with his stated aim being to "reach the heart of the average American", who he saw as the "real soul of the country".

Martin Charles Scorsese (/skɔːrˈsɛsi/ skor-SESS-ee, Italian: [skorˈseːze, -se]; born November 17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received many accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. He has been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1997, the Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in 1998, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010, and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2012. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

Scorsese received a Master of Arts degree from New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development in 1968. His directorial debut, Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967), was accepted into the Chicago Film Festival. In the 1970s and 1980s, Scorsese's films, much influenced by his Italian-American background and upbringing in New York City, centered on macho-posturing men and explore crime, machismo, nihilism and Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption. His trademark styles of extensive use of slow motion and freeze frames, voice-over narration, graphic depictions of extreme violence and liberal use of profanity were first shown in Mean Streets (1973).

Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor, director, producer, and writer. Known for his leading roles in film and television, his accolades include an Academy Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for two British Academy Film Award and a Grammy Award.

Robbins made his acting debut in St. Elsewhere (1982) before taking supporting roles in The Sure Thing (1985), Top Gun (1986), Bull Durham (1988), and Jungle Fever (1991). He took leading roles in Jacob's Ladder (1990), The Player (1992), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), I.Q. (1994) and Nothing to Lose (1997). For his role as a man suffering from the trauma of sexual abuse in the Clint Eastwood directed drama Mystic River (2003) he won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role. He later acted in The Lucky Ones (2007), Green Lantern (2011), and Dark Waters (2019).

Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award and a Tony Award. He was honored with the Kennedy Center Honor in 2008, an AFI Life Achievement Award in 2011, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2012, and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2018. In a 2022 readers' poll by Empire, he was voted one of the 50 greatest actors of all time.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Freeman was raised in Mississippi, where he began acting in school plays. He studied theater arts in Los Angeles and appeared in stage productions in his early career. He rose to fame in the 1970s for his role in the children's television series The Electric Company. Freeman then appeared in the Shakespearean plays Coriolanus and Julius Caesar, the former of which earned him an Obie Award. In 1978, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Zeke in the Richard Wesley play The Mighty Gents.

Wicked (known in full as Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz) is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is loosely adapted from Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which itself was based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 film adaptation. Set in the Land of Oz before and after Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas, the musical explores the complex relationship between Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland — the future Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, respectively — as they are tested by their contrasting perspectives, shared love interest, and reactions to the Wizard's corrupt rule, culminating in Elphaba's tragic fall.

Produced by Universal Stage Productions with producers Marc Platt, Jon B. Platt and David Stone, director Joe Mantello and choreographer Wayne Cilento, the original production of Wicked premiered on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003, after completing pre-Broadway tryouts at San Francisco's Curran Theatre in May and June of that year. Its original stars included Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero, and Joel Grey as the Wizard. Despite mixed reviews, the production won three Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards, while its original cast album received a Grammy Award.

Edward Christopher Sheeran (/ˈʃiːrən/ SHEER-ən; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play No. 5 Collaborations Project. He signed with Asylum Records the same year.

Sheeran's debut album, + ("Plus"), was released in September 2011 and topped the UK Albums Chart. It contained his first hit single, "The A Team". In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. Sheeran's second studio album, × ("Multiply"), topped charts around the world upon its release in June 2014. It was named the second-best-selling album worldwide of 2015. In the same year, × won Album of the Year at the 2015 Brit Awards, and he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. A single from ×, "Thinking Out Loud", earned him the 2016 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

Peter James O'Toole (/oʊˈtuːl/; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivier Award.

O'Toole started his training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company. In 1959, he made his West End debut in The Long and the Short and the Tall, and played the title role in Hamlet in the National Theatre's first production in 1963. Excelling on stage, O'Toole was known for his "hellraiser" lifestyle off-stage. He received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his portrayal of Jeffrey Bernard in the play Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (1990).

Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (/ustinɒv/ OO-sti-nov; 16 April 1921 – 28 March 2004) was a British actor and humanitarian. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Silver Bear, and a Grammy Award as well as was nominated for three BAFTA Awards, two Tony Awards, and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 1992, Ustinov was awarded with the British Academy Britannia Award.

Ustinov received two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in Spartacus (1960), and Topkapi (1964). He also starred in notable films such as Quo Vadis (1951), The Sundowners (1960), Billy Budd (1962), and Hot Millions (1968). He voiced Prince John and King Richard in the Walt Disney Animated film Robin Hood (1973), and portrayed Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot six times for both film and television.

Music is the eighth studio album by American singer Madonna, released on September 18, 2000, by Maverick and Warner Bros. Records. Following the success of her previous album Ray of Light (1998), Madonna found herself in a music scene increasingly influenced by a younger generation of singers such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. This led her to seek a distinctive sound that would set her apart in the evolving musical landscape. Her collaborations with Mirwais Ahmadzaï and William Orbit resulted in a more experimental direction for the album. Music incorporates many different genres into its overall dance-pop and electronica vibe, taking influences from funk, house, techno, rock, country, folk and R&B. With the album embracing a western motif, Madonna reimagined her image in the role of a cowgirl.

Music received acclaim from music critics, with many comparing its production to Ray of Light. The album earned a total of five Grammy Award nominations, winning one for Best Recording Package at the 43rd ceremony. The record was a commercial success, selling four million copies in its first ten days of release. Music also topped the album charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It additionally became the 19th best-selling album of 2001 with a total of over 11 million copies sold worldwide, and received multi-platinum certifications in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Stephen Pate Bray (born December 23, 1956) is an American songwriter, drummer, and record producer. He is best known for his collaborations with Madonna, being a member of the band Breakfast Club, and for winning the 2017 Grammy Award for the Best Musical Theater Album of the Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple. Bray owns and operates Saturn Sound recording studios and the Soultone Records label.

Power Station at BerkleeNYC is a recording studio located at 441 West 53rd Street in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It was originally founded in 1977 as Power Station and known as Avatar Studios from 1996 to 2017. Renowned for its exceptional acoustics, the studio has been the site of hundreds of gold, platinum, and Grammy Award-winning recordings.

Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her" and standing for "Having Everything Revealed") is an American R&B singer-songwriter. She has won an Academy Award, a Children's and Family Emmy Award, and five Grammy Awards, and been nominated for a Golden Globe Award, three American Music Awards, and four Billboard Music Awards.

After initially recording under her birth name, she adopted the stage name H.E.R. in 2016 and signed with RCA Records to release her debut extended play (EP), H.E.R. Volume 1, in September of that year. It was followed by four EPs, the first two of which were part of her self-titled compilation album (2017), which peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 and, from five total nominations, won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance for its single, "Best Part" (with Daniel Caesar). Her second compilation album, I Used to Know Her (2019), met with similar commercial success and also received five Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for its single, "Hard Place".

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk, punk rock, hard rock, hip hop, and psychedelic rock, and have influenced genres including funk metal, rap metal, rap rock, and nu metal. With over 120 million records sold worldwide, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the top-selling bands of all time. They hold the records for most number-one singles on the American Alternative Songs charts (15), most cumulative weeks at number one (91), and most top-ten songs on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart (28). They have won three Grammy Awards, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2022 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed in Los Angeles by Kiedis, Flea, the guitarist Hillel Slovak, and the drummer Jack Irons. Due to commitments to other bands, Slovak and Irons did not play on their 1984 self-titled debut album, which instead featured the guitarist Jack Sherman and the drummer Cliff Martinez. Slovak rejoined for their second album, Freaky Styley (1985), and Irons for their third, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987). Irons left after Slovak died of a drug overdose in June 1988.

The ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given annual ceremony. From 2015 to 2019, and since 2021, the ceremony has aired live on sister broadcast television network ABC, while ESPN continues to air them in the form of replays. Because of the ceremony's rescheduling prior to the 2002 iteration thereof, awards presented in 2002 were for achievement and performances during the seventeen-plus previous months. As the similarly styled Grammy (for music), Emmy (for television), Academy Award (for film), and Tony (for theater), the ESPYs are hosted by a contemporary celebrity; the style, though, is lighter, more relaxed and self-referential than many other awards shows, with comedic sketches usually included.
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James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. As a six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the № 3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first № 1 hit in 1971 with his recording of "You've Got a Friend", written by Carole King in the same year. Taylor's 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 11 million copies in the US alone, making it one of the best-selling albums in US history. Following his 1977 album JT, Taylor has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over 1 million copies; his combined album and single sales in the US is certified at 33 million. Taylor enjoyed a resurgence in chart performance during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his most-awarded work (including Hourglass, October Road, and Covers). Taylor achieved his first number-one album in the US in 2015 with Before This World.

The Slammy Awards, also known as the Slammys, is a concept used by WWE, where awards, similar to the Academy and Grammy Awards, are given to professional wrestlers and other individuals within WWE, such as commentators and managers. Introduced in 1986, there have been 13 editions of the concept. The awards are a mixture of "serious" and "tongue-in-cheek". Winners of the award receive a statuette that depicts one wrestler holding another over his head.

The awards were discontinued after 2015. The same year, the NXT brand debuted its own exclusive awards, the NXT Year-End Awards (also rewarding the NXT UK brand in 2019 and 2020), with wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown being instead rewarded by the WWE Year-End Award in 2018 and 2019.

Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish musician, singer and songwriter whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK Top 40, as well as internationally, including in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

He has scored top ten albums in the UK in four consecutive decades, following the success of 2021's Latest Record Project, Volume 1. Eighteen of his albums have reached the top 40 in the United States, twelve of them between 1997 and 2017. Since turning 70 in 2015, he has released – on average – more than an album a year. His accolades include two Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, the 2017 Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting, and inductions into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2016 he was knighted for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland.

Francis Ford Coppola (/ˈkoʊpələ/ KOH-pə-lə; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. Considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood era as well as one of the pioneers of the gangster film genre, Coppola is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Coppola is the recipient of five Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Palmes d'Or, in addition to nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. Coppola was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 2010, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2024, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2025.

Coppola started his career directing The Rain People (1969) and co-writing Patton (1970), the latter of which earned him and Edmund H. North the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Coppola's reputation as a filmmaker was cemented with the release of The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974) which both earned Academy Awards for Best Picture, and the latter earned him Best Director. The films revolutionized the gangster genre. Coppola released the thriller The Conversation (1974), which received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.. Yoakam had considerable success throughout the late 1980s onward, with a total of ten studio albums for Reprise Records. Later projects have been released on Audium (now MNRK Music Group), New West, Warner, Sugar Hill Records, and Thirty Tigers.

His first three albums—Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc., Hillbilly Deluxe, and Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room—all reached number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Yoakam also has two number-one singles on Hot Country Songs with "Streets of Bakersfield" (a duet with Buck Owens) and "I Sang Dixie", and twelve additional top-ten hits. He has won two Grammy Awards and one Academy of Country Music award. 1993's This Time is his most commercially successful album, having been certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).