Usher Raymond and Roberta Flack are being formally recognized as the masters of music they’ve long been.
Per an announcement from the Berklee College of Music, the legends will receive honorary doctorate degrees from the institution on May 13 during a ceremong at the school where fellow graduates, current students and staff will also be in attendance to witness the special moment.
Known for her hits “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Tonight I Celebrate My Love,” “Where Is the Love,” and “The Closer I Get to You”, Roberta Flack has been an iconic figure in contemporary music for nearly 60 years. She is a classically trained pianist who began playing at the age of nine and received a full scholarship to Howard University, where she met her friend and musical partner Donny Hathaway. She is the only solo artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year consecutively with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1973, and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” in 1974, the college pointed out in a news release.
Usher, an eight-time-grammy winner and multiplatinum selling artist is a multigenerational star.
Along with the and Flack, Gambian musician Sona Jobarteh will also be honored with a doctorate degree during the ceremony.
Other honorees include John Legend, Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington (the first, in 1971), Quincy Jones ’51, Celine Dion, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, esperanza spalding B.M. ’05, Willie Nelson, and Missy Elliott.