National Museum of African-American Music ‘Legends Luncheon’ to Honor Patti LaBelle, Kirk Franklin

*Patti LaBelle, Kirk Franklin and Teddy Riley are among the artists to be honored at the National Museum of African-American Music’s (NMAAM) fourth annual Legends Luncheon in Nashville.

A component of the museum’s ongoing “My Music Matters” campaign, the luncheon benefits NMAAM’s educational programs.

Songwriter/producer David Porter will also be honored at the ceremony, to be held on June 1 at Nashville’s City Winery.

The event will follow an April 18 ground-breaking ceremony at the museum’s long-anticipated formal residence at Fifth Avenue and Broadway in Nashville, followed by a private reception. NMAAM is expected to be completed by first quarter 2020.

“The National Museum of African American Music is the story of the American soundtrack; one that fits perfectly into the narrative of Nashville’s Music City brand,” NMAAM president/CEO H. Beecher Hicks III tells Billboard. “We’re proud to be entrusted to tell a story so important to the fabric of our country. As Bruno Mars recently said [in an interview with Latina magazine], ‘Black music is what gives America its swag.’ We look forward to celebrating the more than 50 genres of music created, influenced or inspired by African Americans.”