Little Richard, Kenny Rogers and more honoured during Grammys' In Memoriam

15 March 2021

Little Richard, Kenny Rogers, John Prine, and Gerry Marsden were honoured with musical tributes at this year's Grammy Awards.

Little Richard

Sunday's (14.03.21) ceremony saw artists including Chris Martin, Bruno Mars and Lionel Richie perform during the annual In Memoriam segment, which takes a look back at the performers who have passed away over the last year.

The segment began with Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak teaming up on 'Good Golly, Miss Molly' in honour of Little Richard, who died of cancer aged 87 last May.

Next, Lionel took to the stage to perform Kenny's 'Lay Down Beside Me' to pay tribute to his friend, who died from natural causes aged 81 last March.

He said afterwards: "I miss you, Kenny. I miss you, man." Kenny died in March 2020 at age 81 from natural causes.

Brandi Carlile sang in honour of John - who passed away from coronavirus complications aged 73 last April - giving a moving rendition of his song 'I Remember Everything', which was the winner of the Grammy for Best American Roots Performance.

To conclude the segment, Coldplay singer Chris was joined by Brittany Howard in a rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' for Gerry and the Pacemakers frontman Gerry Marsden, who died aged 78 in September following an infection in his heart.

Throughout the segment, other artists who lost their lives over the last year were honoured, with the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Mary Wilson, Bonnie Pointer, Charlie Daniels, SOPHIE, Charley Pride, Adam Schlesinger, MF Doom and Pop Smoke remembered on the screens.

Introducing the In Memoriam, host Trevor Noah acknowledged the "immense" loss to the music community over the last year, as well as the "historic" loss of life due to the global health crisis.

He said: "Now as we put the Grammy spotlight on workers at independent music venues tonight, we remain thankful for all of our essential workers around the world who have done so much to ensure that so many of us have survived. We also recognised that during this past year, unlike any other, the loss of life has been historic.

"And so tonight we want to remember the enduring impact of those in our music community who we have lost this past year. That loss has been immense."