50th Grammy Awards presentation announced

Los Angeles -- The half-century Grammy event honoring the best music has to offer for the year will occur seven months before the Grammy Museum opens in Los Angeles.

The 50th Grammy Awards will be Feb. 10 at Staples Center, across the street from the entertainment complex that will house the museum, Variety reported Wednesday. In addition, the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, will be honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year at a gala scheduled for Feb. 8.

The 30,000-square-foot Grammy Museum is scheduled to open in September 2008 at the L.A. Live entertainment complex being built across from Staples Center. The museum will celebrate legacies of all forms of music, the creative process, the art and technology of the recording process, and the history of the Grammys.

Quincy Jones, who attended Tuesday's announcement along with singer Joss Stone, will be the official ambassador of the 50th Grammys and will be given the Grammy Foundation Leadership Award at Starry Night, a benefit concert and dinner on July 28. Grammy officials said Jones was being given the award in recognition of his dedication to social, cultural, economic and educational issues.

Grammy nominations will be announced Dec. 6.

Copyright 2007 United Press International.