RESOLUTION NO. RS2009-906

A resolution recognizing Brenda Lee upon receiving the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

WHEREAS, famed musician Brenda Lee, a highly esteemed member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy; and

WHEREAS, the highest honor given by the Grammy Awards, the Lifetime Achievement Award is a special merit award presented by a vote of the Recording Academy’s National Trustees and given to performers who, during their lifetime, have made creative contributions of outstanding significance to the field of recording; and

WHEREAS, in receiving this award, Brenda Lee joins the ranks of music greats who have received it before her, including world-renowned artists such as Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, John Lennon, Fred Astaire, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat ”King” Cole, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley, among a host of others; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Lee is most celebrated for her pop hits “Sweet Nothin’s,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and “I’m Sorry,” which she recorded as a teenager in Nashville prior to embarking on her successful country music career; and

WHEREAS, during her years of performing, she enjoyed the success of many top-ten singles, including “I’m Sorry” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” which turned out to be two of the biggest sellers of her long career; and

WHEREAS, Brenda Lee earned the nickname “Little Miss Dynamite” after releasing the record Dynamite in 1957 on the Decca label; she was a contemporary of Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, and the Beatles, the last of whom opened for her in 1962 during a tour of the United Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, she moved to Tennessee in 1957, and is a graduate of Maplewood high School; and

WHEREAS, during a concert at the old Fairgrounds Coliseum in Nashville, she met Ronnie Shacklett, whom she married on April 24, 1963, in Flatrock at the Radnor Church of Christ; and

WHEREAS, she continues to perform and tour, she also attended the first “hands together in flatrock music and arts festival” and while on stage she said “Why do I live in Flatrock – because I can”; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the Metropolitan Council recognizes Brenda Lee upon receiving the greatly esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy, celebrate the contributions she has made to the growth of country music and extend to her best wishes in the future.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:

Section 1. The Metropolitan Council hereby goes on record as recognizing Brenda Lee upon receiving the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Section 2. The Metropolitan Council Office is directed to prepare a copy of this Resolution to be presented to Brenda Lee.

Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.

Sponsored by: Anna Page