Sting, Dave Matthews, Vince Gill and the Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams have signed on for a Grammy tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ first U.S. television appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
They join Prince, Beyonce Knowles and Black Eyed Peas with Justin Timberlake as newly confirmed performers for the Grammys, to be held Feb. 8 in Los Angeles.
In addition, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Jorge Calderon and the Eagles’ Timothy B. Schmit will offer a musical tribute to the late Warren Zevon, who is up for five Grammys.
Newly announced presenters Britney Spears, Keith Urban, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Joshua Bell join the previously confirmed presenters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Hilary Duff, Faith Hill, B.B. King, Brian McKnight, Carlos Santana, Kurt Elling, Norah Jones, John Mayer and actors Sean Astin and Amber Tamblyn.
Other performers set for the telecast are 50 Cent, the highly unusual pairing of modern rock act Foo Fighters and jazz pianist Chick Corea, a Luther Vandross tribute with Celine Dion, Alicia Keys and Richard Marx, the White Stripes, Martina McBride, Christina Aguilera and a funk tribute segment with Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Earth, Wind & Fire, OutKast and Parliament Funkadelic.
Knowles, Jay-Z, OutKast and Williams are tied with a leading six Grammy nominations apiece.