GRAMMY®-WINNING MUSICIAN TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN MUSIC DURING SPECIAL CEREMONY
Courtesy: GRAMMY Museum® Mississppi
CLEVELAND, Miss. (October 16, 2025) — GRAMMY®-winner and multi-time GRAMMY-nominee Trombone Shorty will be the recipient of the seventh annual Crossroads of American Music Award at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi’s 2025 Gala, which will take place at the Museum in Cleveland, Miss, on Thursday, Oct. 30, at 5:30 p.m. The 2025 Gala is presented by Quality Steel Corporation with additional support provided by Platinum Sponsors CANNON BUICK GMC of Cleveland, Kirk Auto Group, the Paul Janoush Family, and Whole Cellars Package Store. Additional sponsors will be announced soon.
Tickets to the 2025 Gala will go on sale to GRAMMY Museum Mississippi Members on September 16th and can be purchased at grammymuseumms.org, or by calling the Mississippi Museum’s Box Office. Pending availability, tickets will go on sale to the public on Oct. 2.
“Trombone Shorty is one of the most celebrated musicians of this generation,” said Emily Havens, Executive Director of GRAMMY Museum Mississippi. “His genre-crossing talents combined with his commitment to music education through his Trombone Shorty Foundation make him beyond deserving of this year’s Crossroads of American Music Award. We can’t wait to honor this natural born showman and undeniable star at this year’s Gala.”
“For me, music has always been about carrying on traditions while pushing them forward,” said Trombone Shorty. “I grew up surrounded by the sounds of New Orleans and those influences are in every note I play. To be honored with the Crossroads Award is really about celebrating that culture, and I’m humbled to be a part of that story.”
Trombone Shorty is one of New Orleans’ most celebrated cultural ambassadors, and just released a new album with fellow GRAMMY-nominees New Breed Brass Band entitled Second Line Sunday. Released twenty years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the album is an homage to the music and culture that Trombone Shorty grew up on: the distinct and vital Crescent City traditions of brass band music and second line parades.
“Quality Steel Corporation is proud to once again support GRAMMY Museum Mississippi’s Gala supporting music education,” said Sean Wessel, CEO of Quality Steel Corporation. “This event not only celebrates outstanding artists like Trombone Shorty but also strengthens our community by supporting the Museum’s mission to inspire and connect people through music. We’re honored to play a role in bringing opportunities like this to our community.”
GRAMMY Museum Mississippi’s Red Carpet Guild, an organization of committed volunteers whose mission is to promote, support and sustain the Mississippi Museum, is currently developing plans for the Museum’s 2025 Gala. The theme for this year’s Gala is “Brass & Bayou: Crescent City to the Crossroads”. The event will take place on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at GRAMMY Museum Mississippi and will feature a reception, dinner and cocktails, live music, and a silent and live auction. The event will also feature the presentation of the 2025 L.U.C.Y. Award, which honors a k-12 educator from the state of Mississippi who embodies the educational mission of GRAMMY Museum Mississippi.
Established by the Museum’s Board of Directors, the Crossroads of American Music Award honors an artist who has made significant musical contributions influenced by the creativity born in the cradle of American music. Past recipients of the Crossroads of American Music Award are GRAMMY winners the late Charley Pride and Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Rush, Marty Stuart, Keb’ Mo’, and Rosanne Cash.
The annual GRAMMY Museum Mississippi Gala is the Museum’s signature fundraising event. Proceeds from this year’s Gala will benefit the Museum’s education programs, which seek to use music as a gateway to learning by inspiring and cultivating creativity, critical thinking, and self expression.
ABOUT TROMBONE SHORTY
Born Troy Andrews in New Orleans, Trombone Shorty got his start earlier than most: at 4 years old, he made his first appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival performing with Bo Diddley; at age 6 he was leading his own brass band; and by the time he was a teenager, he was hired by Lenny Kravitz to play on his Electric Church World Tour.
Since 2010, Trombone Shorty has released five Top 10 hits on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart, including 2022’s Lifted; toured with everyone from Jeff Beck to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and collaborated across genres with Pharrell, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, Foo Fighters, ZHU, Zac Brown, Normani, Ringo Starr, and countless more. Trombone Shorty has also played countless major music festivals, including Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, and Newport Jazz; he’s performed four times at the GRAMMY Awards®, six times at the White House, on dozens of TV shows, and at the star-studded Sesame Street Gala, where he was honored with his own Muppet. In 2011, he launched the Trombone Shorty Foundation to support youth music education. In 2016, he received the prestigious Caldecott Honor for his first self-titled children’s book. In 2022, Trombone Shorty won his first GRAMMY as a featured artist on Jon Batiste’s Album of the Year-winning record We Are.
Meanwhile in New Orleans, Shorty leads his own Mardi Gras parade atop a giant float crafted in his likeness, hosts the annual Treme Threauxdown shows that have drawn guests such as Usher, Nick Jonas, Dierks Bentley, Andra Day, and Leon Bridges to sit in with his band, and has taken over the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival’s hallowed final set, which has seen him closing out the internationally renowned gathering after performances by the likes of Neil Young, the Black Keys and Kings of Leon.
In addition to touring across the globe nearly year-round, Trombone Shorty leads a cultural exchange trip to Cuba with his Trombone Shorty Foundation wherein 100 students gather over a 5-day period for music workshops and concerts. The fourth trip of his kind took place in January of 2025 and included an ever-expanding group of special guest artists.
ABOUT GRAMMY MUSEUM MISSISSIPPI
Developed by the Cleveland Music Foundation—a nonprofit organization founded in 2011—the 28,000-square-foot GRAMMY Museum Mississippi is housed near the campus of Delta State University, home of the Delta Music Institute’s Entertainment Industry Studies program, which features the most unique audio recording facilities in the South. Affiliated with the GRAMMY Museum Foundation™, GRAMMY Museum Mississippi is dedicated to exploring the past, present, and future of music, and the cultural context from which it emerges, while casting a focused spotlight on the deep musical roots of Mississippi. The Museum features a dynamic combination of public events, educational programming, engaging multimedia presentations, and interactive permanent and traveling exhibits, including a Mississippi-centric area that introduces visitors to the impact of Mississippi’s songwriters, producers, and musicians on the traditional and modern music landscape.
For more information, visit grammymuseumms.org.
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