The Beatles’ producer Sir George Martin has been given a career award in America by The Recording Academy’s Grammy Foundation.
The ceremony, at the McCarthy Quad, University of Southern California in Los Angeles, featured performances from Burt Bacharach, Jeff Beck and Tom Jones in Martin’s honour. Yoko Ono and George Harrison’s widow Olivia were also in attendance.
Yoko and Olivia are here tonight. Paul and Ringo can’t be here, because they’re doing their own tour. They’re workaholics. I can’t understand why, but they are.I miss a lot of people. I miss so many people who have died on me. God knows I’m old enough. But younger people have left the scene, and I miss them, as you do.
Great people; John and George particularly.
Martin is the most successful record producer of all time, with more than 50 chart-topping hits and one billion units sold. He also holds the record for the longest run of number one chart hits in history, spanning 36 years.