Honorary Degree Recipients
There is a select group of performing and recording artists, educators, and contributors to today's professional music who are recipients of the honorary doctorate degree from Berklee College of Music. Their contributions have the enduring qualities that define the musical era in which they played a leading role. Past recipients include forerunners from all different areas and styles of music and reflect the broad range of interests, talents, and aspirations of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
First name | Last name | Year |
---|---|---|
Duke | Ellington | 1971 |
Arthur | Fiedler | 1972 |
Harry Ellis | Dickson | 1973 |
William "Count" | Basie | 1974 |
Tony | Bennett | 1974 |
Mabel | Mercer | 1975 |
George | Wein | 1976 |
Woody | Herman | 1977 |
Sarah | Vaughan | 1978 |
Lawrence | Berk | 1979 |
Teddy | Wilson | 1979 |
Buddy | Rich | 1980 |
John | Williams | 1980 |
John | Hammond | 1981 |
Billy | Taylor | 1981 |
John | Dankworth | 1982 |
Cleo | Laine | 1982 |
Quincy | Jones '51 | 1983 |
Leonard | Feather | 1984 |
Oscar | Peterson | 1984 |
B.B. | King | 1985 |
Arif | Mardin '61 | 1985 |
Herbie | Hancock | 1986 |
Paul | Simon | 1986 |
Matt | Betton | 1987 |
Art | Blakey | 1987 |
Raymond | Kurzweil | 1987 |
Phil | Ramone | 1987 |
Dave | Grusin | 1988 |
Clark | Terry | 1988 |
Joe | Williams | 1988 |
Armand | Zildjian | 1988 |
Gary | Burton '62 | 1989 |
Dizzy | Gillespie | 1989 |
Percy | Heath | 1989 |
Milt | Jackson | 1989 |
Connie | Kay | 1989 |
John | Lewis | 1989 |
George | Martin | 1989 |
George | Benson | 1990 |
Willis | Conover | 1990 |
Jack | DeJohnette | 1990 |
Jerry | Goldsmith | 1990 |
Carlo | Pagnotta | 1990 |
William | Stanley | 1990 |
Phil | Collins | 1991 |
Ahmet | Ertegun | 1991 |
Roy | Haynes | 1991 |
Al | Jarreau | 1991 |
Ikutaro | Kakehashi | 1991 |
Joe | Zawinul '59 | 1991 |
Peter | Erskine | 1992 |
Frances | Preston | 1992 |
Bonnie | Raitt | 1992 |
Joseph | Smith | 1992 |
Cheryl | Bentyne | 1993 |
Karl | Bruhn | 1993 |
Michael | Greene | 1993 |
Tim | Hauser | 1993 |
Billy | Joel | 1993 |
Johnny | Mandel | 1993 |
Alan | Paul | 1993 |
Janis | Siegel | 1993 |
Oleta | Adams | 1994 |
Amar G. | Bose | 1994 |
Sting | 1994 | |
Nancy | Wilson | 1994 |
Alan | Bergman | 1995 |
Marilyn | Bergman | 1995 |
Ray | Brown | 1995 |
Pino | Candini | 1995 |
Natalie | Cole | 1995 |
Johnny | Griffin | 1995 |
Jim | Hall | 1995 |
Herb | Pomeroy '52 | 1995 |
Tito | Puente | 1995 |
Alan | Silvestri '70 | 1995 |
James | Taylor | 1995 |
Alf | Clausen '66 | 1996 |
Milt | Hinton | 1996 |
Patti | LaBelle | 1996 |
Pat | Metheny | 1996 |
Horace | Silver | 1996 |
Sadao | Watanabe '65 | 1996 |
Bruce | Cockburn '65 | 1997 |
Chick | Corea | 1997 |
Andraé | Crouch | 1997 |
Henry | Mancini | 1997 |
John | Scofield '73 | 1997 |
Toshiko | Akiyoshi '59 | 1998 |
Jerry | Leiber | 1998 |
Joe | Lovano '72 | 1998 |
Eddie | Palmieri | 1998 |
Vito | Pascucci | 1998 |
Carly | Simon | 1998 |
Mike | Stoller | 1998 |
David | Bowie | 1999 |
Curtis | Fuller | 1999 |
Benny | Golson | 1999 |
Robert | Morgan | 1999 |
Wayne | Shorter | 1999 |
Herb | Alpert | 2000 |
Patti | Austin | 2000 |
Michel | Camilo | 2000 |
Dave | Holland | 2000 |
Jennifer | Holliday | 2000 |
John | Sykes | 2000 |
Steve | Vai '79 | 2000 |
James | Moody | 2000 |
Caetano | Veloso | 2000 |
João | Gilberto | 2000 |
Walter | Becker | 2001 |
William | Davis | 2001 |
Donald | Fagen '66 | 2001 |
Elvin | Jones | 2001 |
Al | Kooper | 2001 |
Larry | Linkin | 2001 |
David | Foster | 2002 |
Shirley | Horn | 2002 |
Patty | Larkin '74 | 2002 |
Robert | Moog | 2002 |
Terri Lyne | Carrington '83 | 2003 |
Paquito | D'Rivera | 2003 |
Bobby | McFerrin | 2003 |
Makoto | Ozone '83 | 2003 |
Dianne | Reeves | 2003 |
Sonny | Rollins | 2003 |
Giovanni | Tommaso | 2003 |
Steven | Tyler | 2003 |
Lee Eliot | Berk | 2004 |
Michael | Brecker | 2004 |
Dennis | Chambers | 2004 |
Chaka | Khan | 2004 |
Phil | Wilson | 2004 |
Anita | Baker | 2005 |
Ruben | Blades | 2005 |
Ron | Carter | 2005 |
Kevin | Eubanks '79 | 2005 |
Steve | Gadd | 2005 |
Hank | Jones | 2005 |
Abe | Laboriel Sr. '72 | 2005 |
Marian | McPartland | 2005 |
Enrico | Rava | 2005 |
Patrice | Rushen | 2005 |
Earl | Scruggs | 2005 |
McCoy | Tyner | 2005 |
Ornette | Coleman | 2006 |
Melissa | Etheridge ’80 | 2006 |
Aretha | Franklin | 2006 |
Israel "Cachao" | Lopez | 2006 |
Branford | Marsalis ’80 | 2006 |
Andy | McGhee | 2006 |
Elliot | Scheiner | 2006 |
The | Edge | 2007 |
Clint | Eastwood | 2007 |
Emilio | Estefan | 2007 |
Gloria | Estefan | 2007 |
Christopher | Guest | 2007 |
Andrew | Hill | 2007 |
Loretta | Lynn | 2007 |
Philip | Bailey | 2008 |
Rosa | Passos | 2008 |
Howard | Shore ’69 | 2008 |
Ricky | Skaggs | 2008 |
Maurice | White | 2008 |
Steve | Winwood | 2008 |
Burt | Bacharach | 2009 |
Dave | Brubeck | 2009 |
Juan Luis | Guerra ’82 | 2009 |
Emmylou | Harris | 2009 |
George | Massenburg | 2009 |
Bernice Johnson | Reagon | 2009 |
Smokey | Robinson | 2009 |
Linda | Ronstadt | 2009 |
Renzo | Arbore | 2010 |
Kenny | Barron | 2010 |
Paco | de Lucia | 2010 |
Stefano | Bollani | 2010 |
Kenneth | Gamble | 2010 |
Horacio "El Negro" | Hernandez | 2010 |
Giovanni | Hidalgo | 2010 |
Leon | Huff | 2010 |
Angelique | Kidjo | 2010 |
Doc | Watson | 2010 |
Kenny | Garrett | 2011 |
Michael | McDonald | 2011 |
Pandit Ravi | Shankar | 2011 |
Mavis | Staples | 2011 |
Bebo | Valdés | 2011 |
Chucho | Valdés | 2011 |
Mulatu | Astatke ’58 | 2012 |
George | Clinton | 2012 |
Glenn | Frey | 2012 |
Don | Henley | 2012 |
Alison | Krauss | 2012 |
Timothy | Schmit | 2012 |
Joe | Walsh | 2012 |
William | Cepeda ’85 | 2013 |
Eddie | Gomez | 2013 |
Carole | King | 2013 |
Annie | Lennox | 2013 |
Willie | Nelson | 2013 |
Alejandro | Sanz | 2013 |
Geri | Allen | 2014 |
Harry | Belafonte | 2014 |
Thara | Memory | 2014 |
Jimmy | Page | 2014 |
A. R. | Rahman | 2014 |
Al | Schmitt | 2014 |
Valerie | Simpson | 2014 |
Dee Dee | Bridgewater | 2015 |
Paolo | Fresu | 2015 |
Julio | Iglesias | 2015 |
Charles | Lloyd | 2015 |
Harvey | Mason ’67 | 2015 |
Doug | Morris | 2015 |
Lucian | Grainge | 2016 |
Ernie | Isley | 2016 |
Ronald | Isley | 2016 |
Wang | Leehom ’99 | 2016 |
Rita | Moreno | 2016 |
Milton | Nascimento | 2016 |
Ray | Santos | 2016 |
Bill | Frisell ’77 | 2017 |
Michael | Gibbs ’63 | 2017 |
Joong Hyun | Shin | 2017 |
John | McLaughlin | 2017 |
Neil | Portnow | 2017 |
Lionel | Richie | 2017 |
Todd | Rundgren | 2017 |
Lucinda | Williams | 2017 |
Rosanne | Cash | 2018 |
Al | Di Meola | 2018 |
Ellis | Marsalis | 2018 |
Nile | Rodgers | 2018 |
Gary | Slaight | 2018 |
Esperanza | Spalding ’05 | 2018 |
Imogen | Heap | 2019 |
Missy | Elliott | 2019 |
Alex | Lacamoire ’94 | 2019 |
Justin | Timberlake | 2019 |
Sylvia | Rhone | 2019 |
Zakir | Hussain | 2019 |
John | Legend | 2020 |
Sheila | E. | 2020 |
Cassandra | Wilson | 2020 |
Lila | Downs | 2020 |
Gilberto | Gil | 2021 |
Celine | Dion | 2021 |
Pharrell | Williams | 2021 |
Chad | Hugo | 2021 |
Donald | Harrison ’81 | 2021 |
Joni | Mitchell | 2022 |
Alberto | Iglesias | 2022 |
Ringo | Starr | 2022 |
Lalah | Hathaway ’90 | 2022 |
James | Newton Howard | 2022 |
Chuck | Rainey | 2022 |
Usher | 2023 | |
Roberta | Flack | 2023 |
Sona | Jobarteh | 2023 |
Yvette | Noel-Schure | 2023 |
Q-Tip | 2024 | |
Ledisi | 2024 | |
Gilberto | Santa Rosa | 2024 |
Youssou | N'Dour | 2024 |