Written by Michael O’Hearn

Legendary singer-songwriter and Tryon native Nina Simone will be honored by the Recording Academy with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Special Merit Awards, Feb. 12.

Lifetime Achievement Awards are given to individuals who have made a significant impact in the recording industry. The Recording Academy’s National Board of Trustees selected all recipients, according to Variety.

Simone, who died in 2003, is the subject of the recent Netflix documentary “What Happened, Miss Simone?” directed by Liz Garbus. She was born in 1933 and would have been 84 on Feb. 21.

Simone recorded more than 40 albums over five decades and is known for her covers of “I Loves You, Porgy,” “Feeling Good” and “Sinnerman,” according to Variety. Simone was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.

Her commitment to the civil rights movement gave birth to such classics like “Four Women” and “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.” Simone was known as the “High Priestess of Soul.” •