Ray Charles’ five posthumous awards were the talk of Grammy night—Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s syrupy duet notwithstanding—so an after-party in his honor at Spago attracted tons of celebs, and went past 3 AM. Concord Records/Hear Music, the label that produced his last album, Genius Loves Company, hosted the party (cohosted by Starbucks, which carries the CD), and Concord PR director Jo Foster brought aboard Sharon Sacks of Sacks Productions to produce it. (Extreme Bodyguard security kept out everyone but the 450 invited guests.)
Sacks created 10 dining tables, one for each of Charles’ previous Grammy wins and his lifetime achievement award. Each glass table encased a photograph of the award, the sheet music for the song, a microphone, and a reproduction of the outfit Charles wore on the album cover.
But the real story of the event was the nonstop entertainment. Stevie Wonder performed, along with Billy Preston, Ellis Hall, not-quite American Idol La Toya London, and the Fred Martin gospel choir.
—Alesandra Dubin
Photos by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Sacks created 10 dining tables, one for each of Charles’ previous Grammy wins and his lifetime achievement award. Each glass table encased a photograph of the award, the sheet music for the song, a microphone, and a reproduction of the outfit Charles wore on the album cover.
But the real story of the event was the nonstop entertainment. Stevie Wonder performed, along with Billy Preston, Ellis Hall, not-quite American Idol La Toya London, and the Fred Martin gospel choir.
—Alesandra Dubin
Photos by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images