Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
Harry Connick Jr. and his daughter Georgia, a filmmaker, are featured in the TV special “United We Sing: A Grammy Tribute To The Unsung Heroes,” airing on June 21.
(Photo: CBS.com)Harry Connick Jr., Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Jon Batiste, John Fogerty, Andra Day and Dave Matthews are among the musicians featured in the TV special “United We Sing: A Grammy Tribute To The Unsung Heroes,” airing on CBS on June 21 at 8 p.m. EST.
Connick is the host of the special, which chronicles a trip that he and his daughter Georgia, a filmmaker, took from their home in Connecticut to the pianist and singer’s hometown, New Orleans. During the trek, which they made in an RV, the Connicks make stops to listen to the stories of essential workers in healthcare, food preparation, sanitation, law enforcement, trucking and other fields that have remained in full operation during the pandemic.
The show culminates with musical performances in New Orleans, featuring Connick and other Crescent City artists, including Trombone Shorty and Irma Thomas.
The special—which also will be available via CBS All Access—will serve as a fundraiser for charities that support underserved children, such as No Kid Hungry and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in New Orleans, as well as to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, a charitable organization of the Recording Academy.
Among the other celebrities participating in the show are Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Foxx, Sandra Bullock, Renée Zellweger, Queen Latifah and Drew Brees. DB
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
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Every April for the past quarter century, something remarkable has happened across the United States and far beyond.…