This past Friday, Oct 7 The Living Legends Foundation, Inc. (LLF), celebrated its 30th Anniversary sold-out dinner in Hollywood at the Taglyan Complex. As a board member and a huge fan of the organization I have been to several of the dinners but this one was by far the absolute best. Considering we have all been on event hiatus for the last couple/few years because of COVID, it was not just great it was amazing to see so many industry friends and colleagues.
This year’s event took a different turn incorporating more of a welcomed variety and a new perspective to the list of honorees that will surely benefit the organization as well as the industry in years to come. Honorees included: Ronald “Slim” Williams and Bryan “Birdman” Williams, co-founders of Cash Money Records, who were the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by rapper and producer Polow Da Don and Cash Money’s longtime attorney Vernon Brown; Charlamagne Tha God, entertainment personality, author, and co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show, “The Breakfast Club” accepted the Jerry Boulding Radio Executive Award, presented by George “Geo” Cook, brand manager of K-104 Radio/Service Broadcasting; Curtis Symonds, CEO of HBCUGO.TV was the recipient of the Media Icon Award, presented by Yvette Moyo, Co-founder, and CEO of Real Men Charities; Geo Bivins, CEO of Port Perry Entertainment accepted the Music Executive Award, presented by Samantha Selolwane, head of promotions for R&B, hip-hop, and mix shows for RCA Records; Johnnie Walker, founder, and CEO of the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment, Inc. (NABFEME) received the Mike Bernardo Female Executive Award, presented by Judge Bevanne Bowers, the first Black female judge appointed in Maui County, Hawaii; Tuma Basa, Director of Black Music and Culture at YouTube accepted the Digital Executive Award, presented by Richelle Cross, CEO and President of Class and Sass Promotions; Sharon Heyward, founder, and CEO of The Solutionist LLC and music industry legend (formerly of Perspective, Virgin, and Harmony Records) received the A.D. Washington Chairman’s Award, presented by David C.
Linton, Chairman of the Living Legends Foundation; Hank Caldwell, founder, and CEO of Expert Fixer and music industry legend (formerly of WEA, SOLAR, Epic, and Death Row Records) accepted The Founders Award, presented by top-selling recording artist Johnny Gill. The evening event was hosted by DeDe McGuire, the nationally syndicated DeDe In The Morning show, and musical entertainment was provided by DJ Battlecat. This year’s chairpersons were TT Torrez, Hot 97 Radio and Wayne Barrow, ByStorm Entertainment In addition to a great awards show, there was also a great tribute to our industry friends who are no longer with us. Click any picture to start a slideshow.
Video courtesy of Anthony Depree – Instagram
