MusiCares announced on Wednesday (Oct. 23) that Grateful Dead will be honored as the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year at the annual benefit gala, to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, two nights before the 67th Annual Grammy Awards at the adjoining Crypto.com Arena.

Grateful Dead is the third band to receive the honor, following Fleetwood Mac in 2018 and Aerosmith in 2020. Original members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir will be recognized for their contributions to music, their philanthropic efforts and their pioneering role in fostering communities through their concerts and activism. The event will also include posthumous tributes to Jerry Garcia, one of the band’s founders, who died in 1995 at age 53.

According to MusiCares, the person of the year award “celebrates our honoree’s creative accomplishments and philanthropic work. This star-studded dinner and concert experience raises funds for MusiCares’ vital programs and relief efforts.”

That blurb hints at what MusiCares is looking for in an honoree. They certainly want to recognize an accomplished artist who seems worthy of the honor, but just as important, they want to sell tables and individual tickets, ads in the program book and auction offerings. So, they’re looking for someone who has the connections and history in the music industry to fill the room. That’s why most of the honorees are well along in their careers by the time they are selected.

Here are all of the person of the year honorees to date, shown in reverse chronological order. All years refer to the year the person of the year event was held and the year of the corresponding Grammy telecast.