The Grammy Museum hosted an exclusive reception and ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the official opening of The Ray Charles Terrace on Monday, January 29. The official Grammy Week Event was hosted by Grammy-winning producer Jimmy Jam with music curated by DJ Khalil and a special performance by Grammy-nominated singer Aloe Blacc.
The Grammy Musuem honored Ray Charles’ lasting legacy by renaming the Rooftop Terrace as The Ray Charles Terrace, located on the Museum’s fifth floor. Alongside The Ray Charles Foundation, the Museum celebrated one of the most iconic artists of all time. The night kicked off with a red carpet appearance of all guests and a reception with light appetizers and open bar, all accompanied by selections from DJ Khalil.
At 8 o’clock former Recording Academy Chairman Jimmy Jam made his way to the podium to commence the program. In his signature shades and black suit, the multiple Grammy-winning producer brought attention to the Ray Charles Foundation’s and the Grammy Museum Foundation’s joint focus on empowering young people through education. A $2 million donation from the Ray Charles Foundation will further enable the Museum’s educational focus.
“We all know about that little show The Grammy’s we do once a year, on a night, but this is about the other 364 days a year and what we can do to truly not only tell history but also help those young people who are trying to make history.” said Jam. “I can’t think of a more inspiring person to name this [Terrance] after, than Ray Charles.”
Grammy Museum’s President and CEO Michael Sticka took to the podium and shared some statistics of the museum’s reach. These included 500,000 students served over the course of the museum’s 15 years and $500,000 donated to school music programs in the last 11 years. The museum’s Campaign for Music Education is a nationwide effort, featuring co-chairs including Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes and Rosalia. Sticka also stated that the Grammy Museum has been affiliated with the Ray Charles Foundation since 2010, making it the museum’s longest affiliation with another non-profit.
The Ray Charles Foundation President Valerie Ervin added, “It’s our great honor to invest in a shared vision of fostering the next generation of musical talent.” Ervin also revealed that the foundation is currently working on a new music project, featuring DJ Khalil and John Burk, where hip-hop meets Ray Charles.
Jam, Sticka, and Ervin were accompanied by Rita George, John Burk, Yakub Hazzard, Clarence Daniels, Wes Coleman, Tammy Hurt, Harvey Mason Jr, and Tim Bucher to officially unveil The Ray Charles Terrace with a ribbon cutting ceremony. With gold scissors in-hand all eleven members cut the gold ribbon symbolizing the definitive opening of the renamed Terrance.
All the way from Live Oak, Florida, Jac Ross performed Charles’ “You Don’t Know Me,” becoming one of the first artists to perform at the newly renamed Terrance. His powerful vocals vibrated throughout the Los Angeles night sky. Ross’ moving rendition was met with a standing ovation and cheers and whistles from the audience. The performance portion of the night continued with Grammy nominee Aloe Blacc, who gave props to Ross for his powerful “generational voice.” Blacc performed Charles’ hit “Georgia” and “I Got a Woman,” which was met with claps, dancing and sing-a-longs.
The Ray Charles Terrance is open to the public during the Grammy Museum’s public programs. The ceremony was part of the first Grammy Week Events leading up to the Grammy Awards being held on Sunday, February 4 at the Crypto.com Arena.
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