SAN DIEGO — How sweet it is: Veteran Motown Records artists Lionel Richie, The Temptations, The Four Tops and The Isley Brothers are all slated to perform Feb. 3 at the 2023 MusiCares Person of the Year fundraising concert at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This year’s edition honors Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, and one of his earliest musical proteges and enduring Motown stars, Smokey Robinson.
The 2023 MusiCares lineup also includes Dionne Warwick, Brandi Carlile, John Legend, Michael McDonald, Usher, Trombone Shorty, Mumford & Sons, Sebastián Yatra. Sheryl Crow, Jimmie Allen, Lalah Hathaway, Samara Joy, Chloe x Halle, Mumford & Sons, Molly Tuttle, Rita Wilson and PJ Morton.
“I am so excited to share the always wonderful MusiCares event with my best friend Smokey Robinson and I can’t wait to hear these wonderful artists celebrate the Motown music,” said Gordy, in a statement released Thursday.
Added Robinson: “These artists are my friends and I not only love them, but I’m honored that they will be performing my music, along with hits from the Motown catalog.”
Robinson, Richie, the Temptations and the Four Tops all rose to fame in the early 1960s making hit singles and albums for Motown, the upstart independent Detroit record label that billed its artists and music as “The Sound of Young America.”
Richie, who was himself honored as the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year, following in the footsteps of Robinson, the Four Tops, the Temptations and the Isley Brothers.
MusiCares honors artists for their artistic achievements and their support of charitable causes. The event will take place two days before the 2023 edition of the Grammy Awards on Feb. 5 at the adjacent Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as Staples Center).
A branch of the Recording Academy, under whose auspices the Grammys are also held, MusiCares has to date raised more than $100 million since its inception. The funds it raises help provide financial and medical assistance to artists and music industry professionals. Between March 2020 and July 2021 $28,000,000 was distributed to 38,000 MusiCares recipients.
“We’re bringing together such a unique lineup of artists not only to pay tribute to Mr. Gordy, Mr. Robinson and Motown, but also to raise awareness of the critical health and social service needs within the music community,” said Laura Segura, Executive Director of MusiCares.
“The funds raised ... will allow MusiCares to continue to provide vital services throughout the year to the music community and continue to serve those who make the songs and events we all love possible.”
Tickets for the Grammy Awards can only be bought by members of the Recording Academy, which has more than 12,000 voting members and thousands of nonvoting members. However, tickets for MusiCares are available to the public and can be bought at one.bidpal.net/personoftheyear/ticketing.
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