By: MTV News Staff
December 18, 1997
The 1998 Grammy Awards will be honoring Roy Orbison, Bo Diddley, Paul Robeson and the Mills Brothers with lifetime achievement awards at the live event set for February 25, according to the Associated Press.
The bespectacled Bo Diddley, a pioneer of rock n' roll guitar, is best known for a rhythmic style that came to be known as the Bo Diddley Beat, which is showcased in dozens of his songs like "Who Do You Love." He has been seen on MTV as the pool player opposing George Thorogood (a man who has covered several Diddley hits) in the video for Bad to the Bone. Bo Diddley continues an active career in the industry to this day.
Roy Orbison's trademark three-octave range garnered him hit after hits from the fifties right through to his death in 1988 including "Pretty Woman," "Crying" and "Only the Lonely." Just prior to his passing, he was a member of the all-star Travelling Wilburys alongside Tom Petty, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne.
Paul Robeson, who died in 1976, is known for deep resonant voice on standards including "Old Man River," and for his career as a gospel singer. The Mills Brothers enjoyed eight decades of success from the early 1930's harmonizing on such hits as "Tiger Rag" and "Cab Driver." Donald Mills is the quartet's only surviving member.
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