GRAMMY®-winning country icon to be recognized for his contributions to American music during special ceremony
GRAMMY®-winning country musician Marty Stuart will be the recipient of the third annual Crossroads of American Music Award at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi’s 2021 Gala, which will take place at the Museum in Cleveland, Mississippi, on Wednesday, December 1, at 6 pm. Presented by Walmart, the 2021 GRAMMY Museum Gala will feature a special appearance by Stuart, who will accept the award and perform live. Tickets for the 2021 Gala went on sale on October 15. Additional sponsors include Quality Steel Corporation and Visit Mississippi. More details will be announced soon.
“I am so proud of my Mississippi musical heritage. I’ve proclaimed that all over the world,” said Stuart. “The Crossroads of American Music Award is a tangible reminder of where I come from and what I’m a part of. When you cross the state line the sign reads Birthplace of America’s Music. That says it all. To be recognized by GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi for doing something I love and to be mentioned alongside of past recipients Bobby Rush and Charley Pride is indeed an honor.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate Marty Stuart as this year’s recipient of our Crossroads of American Music Award,” said Emily Havens, Executive Director of GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi. “As a native Mississippian and five-time GRAMMY winner, Marty has made such an incredible impact on the country music industry, and the American musical landscape. We look forward to welcoming back guests to our first in-person gala since 2019 and celebrating all that Marty Stuart has achieved and contributed.”
GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi’s Red Carpet Guild, an organization of committed volunteers whose mission is to promote, support and sustain the Mississippi Museum, is currently developing plans for the Mississippi Museum’s 2021 Gala, with this year’s theme being “Sparkle and Twang.” The event will take place on Wednesday, December 1, at 6 pm at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi and will feature a reception and cocktails, live music, and a silent and live auction. This year’s event will also feature the presentation of the 2021 L.U.C.Y. Award, which honors a K-12 educator from the state of Mississippi who embodies the educational mission of GRAMMY Museum Mississippi.
Tickets to the virtual gala can be purchased at www.grammymuseumms.org. Additional details regarding the 2021 Gala are forthcoming.
Established by the Museum’s Board of Directors, the Crossroads of American Music Award honors an artist who has made significant musical contributions influenced by the creativity born in the cradle of American music. The inaugural recipient of the Crossroads of American Music Award was three time GRAMMY Award winner, the late Charley Pride, and the 2020 recipient was GRAMMY-winning blues icon Bobby Rush.
The annual GRAMMY Museum Mississippi Gala is the Museum’s signature fundraising event. Proceeds from this year’s gala will benefit the Museum’s education program, which seeks to use music as a gateway to learning by inspiring and cultivating creativity, critical thinking, and self expression.
ABOUT MARTY STUART
With legends like George Jones, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard all passed on, country music purists often echo the question Jones himself asked: “Who’s going to fill their shoes?” The answer, in part, is Philadelphia, Mississippi, native Marty Stuart. While he’s too gracious to admit it himself, the GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter, and musician is living, breathing country music history. Since learning guitar and mandolin as a child, he’s played alongside the masters, from Cash to Lester Flatt, who discovered him; been a worldwide ambassador for Nashville, Bakersfield, and points in between; and safeguarded country’s most valuable traditions and physical artifacts, including its literal shoes. Stuart counts the brogan of Carter Family patriarch A.P. Carter and an assortment of Cash’s black boots among his vast collection of memorabilia.
Since becoming one of the most eclectic country artists to come onto the scene in the ’80s, Stuart has moved between honkey tonk (1994’s Love and Luck), rockabilly (1986’s self-titled album), country rock (2003’s Country Music), traditional country (1992’s Let There Be Country), California-inspired western music (2017’s Way out West), gospel (2005’s Souls’ Chapel), and bluegrass (1982’s Busy Bee Cafe).
But most importantly, Stuart continues to record and release keenly relevant music, records that honor country’s rich legacy while advancing it into the future. Way Out West, his 18th studio album, hits both of those marks. Produced by Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), the album is a cinematic tour-de-force, an exhilarating musical journey through the California desert that solidifies Stuart as a truly visionary artist.
A five-time GRAMMY winner, Stuart won his first GRAMMY in 1992 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration for The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’.
