LOS ANGELES, CA – The 2016 GRAMMY Awards happen Monday, February 15th. During the multi-genre show and awards, a tribute to late blues icon, B.B. King, will be performed by Bonnie Raitt, Gary Clark, Jr. and country-roots artist, Chris Stapleton.

During his career, B.B. King received 15 GRAMMYs, plus a lifetime achievement award in 1987. He received his first Grammy in 1970 for Male R&B Vocal Performance with “The Thrill Is Gone,” the hit that made him known and loved worldwide.

The “Thrill is Gone” will actually be performed on the show by rising country star, singer, songwriter, guitarist Stapleton. Why? Well, the GRAMMY’s executive producer Ken Ehrlich had wanted to include the talented, rising country (bluesy) artist in some way and came across what he felt was an amazing performance of Stapleton singing “The Thrill Is Gone.” Gary Clark Jr. and Bonnie Raitt, who was a friend and disciple of King’s distinctive approach to the blues, will also be a part of this heartfelt tribute to the late, beloved blues man. “I can’t think of any artist who has had as much as an influence on modern rock ‘n’ roll or R&B as B.B. King, and the blues as well,” said Raitt.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honorees who have made contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording, include the late Ruth Brown (aka “Miss Rhythm”), and the late Celia Cruz, (aka “the Queen of Salsa”) Earth, Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock, Jefferson Airplane, Linda Ronstadt, and RUN DMC (rap/hip-hop pioneers).

Artists up for a 2016 GRAMMY in blues and roots categories include:

Best Blues Album Nominees (in alpha-order):

– Cedric Burnside Project’s Descendants Of Hill Country

– Shemekia Copeland’s Outskirts Of Love

– Buddy Guy Born To Play Guitar

– Bettye LaVette Worthy

– John Primer & Various Artists Muddy Waters 100

Best American Roots Performance:

– Buddy Guy ”Born To Play Guitar” (from Born To Play Guitar)

– Mavis Staples “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” (from Your Good Fortune)

Best Regional Roots Music Album:

– Jon Cleary’s Go Go Juice 

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging

– The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume Two (1928-32)

Best Album Notes:

– Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection (Jeff Place, album notes writer)

Best Historical Album:

– Parchman Farm: Photographs And Field Recordings, 1947–1959

Best Music Film

– Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown 

More info about the GRAMMYS here