Roland and Boss have honoured electronic music pioneer and solo artist Thomas Dolby (Roland), and guitar virtuoso, artist and producer Steve Vai (Boss) with Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Designed to ‘recognise individuals for their invaluable contributions to the music industry while using Roland and/or Boss gear throughout their careers’, this is the third-annual Roland/Boss Lifetime Achievement Awards, and took place prior to the recent Namm Show.
A three-time Grammy Award winner, Vai has a style that has been embraced by fans and peers around the globe. Throughout his career, he has sold in excess of 15m albums and has received many other distinctions including accolades from the press, music schools, and music foundations. Vai’s discography includes numerous album releases, all of which he wrote, produced and engineered himself, and many of which were released by his independent record label, Favored Nations.
‘It’s very touching to be given this recognition by Boss,’ he said. ‘They have created many innovative designs over the years for crazy guitar players like me to play with… and dance on. Just about anything they came out with I wanted to feel, I wanted to use. It’s uncanny how year after year the company releases great tools for guitar players. Thank you to Boss and Roland for all of the brilliance you put into your products.’
During the 1980s, synthesiser innovator Dolby developed a unique approach to technology and blended it with his passion for music – a sound that launched his career and helped him rise to international fame during the heyday of MTV. Dolby can also lay claim to being a music technology and software maven, and a published author. He is also now a Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University.
‘As a Roland aficionado for the past four decades, I am honoured to accept this award and thrilled to see Roland’s technologies evolving,’ he said. ‘One of the new things I love is that Roland Cloud finally stuck all of Roland’s classic synths into softsynths, which is great.’
More: www.roland.com
