Run DMC To Get Lifetime Achievement Award From Grammys

Iconic rap group Run DMC will be honored as one of the acts receiving the Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award next month.

"I just got a call from the Grammys!! They shocked me!! We're the first rappers to get this award!! Shocked! Grateful!. God is good!!!," tweeted Joseph "Reverend Run" Simmons — who formed the group in 1982 with fellow Hollis, Queens natives Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell.

"I'm so honored to be a #GRAMMYs Lifetime Achievement Award recipient this year. Thank you to the Recording Academy!"

The group is the first hip-hop act to receive the coveted honor.

And the pioneering act has earned it. Sucker MC's sold 25 million records, and busted through ceilings and knocked down doors, to help put the genre on MTV and in the mainstream.

Run DMC won't be the only ones feted during the special merit awards portion of the biggest event in the music business. Other honorees include singer Linda Ronstadt; Jefferson Airplane; jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock; Latin crooner Celia Cruz'; '70s stalwarts Earth, Wind & Fire; and R&B singer Ruth Brown, the Recording Academy announced Wednesday.

The Lifetime Achievement Awards are usually held a day before the main Grammy telecast.

The 58th annual Grammy Awards will be held on Monday, Feb. 15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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