Woody Guthrie

Center to honor rapper Chuck D

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Rapper Chuck D is this year’s winner of the Woody Guthrie Prize, an award that recognizes artists who speak out for the less fortunate.

Chuck D was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 as part of the groundbreaking hip-hop group Public Enemy. He’ll be honored at a ceremony in Tulsa on Nov. 16.

Woody Guthrie Center Director Deana McCloud noted that Guthrie was “a fighter for the people.” She says Chuck’s D’s work has aligned with that message to “choose a side, fight the power, and work for a better world.”

Chuck D is the sixth recipient of the prize named for the Oklahoma native.

Past recipients of the award include John Mellencamp, Norman Lear, Kris Kristofferson, Mavis Staples and Pete Seeger.

Queen Latifah receives Harvard black culture award

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Music artist and actress Queen Latifah was among the honorees recognized by Harvard University for their contributions to black history and culture.

Harvard awarded the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal to Queen Latifah and six other recipients on Tuesday, according to the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

Other honorees include poet and educator Elizabeth Alexander, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie Bunch III, poet Rita Dove, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television Sheila Johnson, artist Kerry James Marshall and Robert Smith, founder, chairman and chief executive of Vista Equity Partners.

The award is named after Du Bois, a scholar, writer, editor, and civil rights pioneer who became the first black student to earn a doctorate from Harvard in 1895.

Dolly Parton,

Chris Stapleton,

Pink to perform

at CMA Awards

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dolly Parton will perform a new song “Faith” in a gospel medley, Reba McEntire will revisit her hit “Fancy” and Chris Stapleton will perform a duet with Pink at this year’s Country Music Association Awards.

CMA announced Wednesday the first round of performers for the Nov. 13 awards show in Nashville, Tennessee. Parton will also sing “God Only Knows” with Christian duo for KING & COUNTRY and “There Was Jesus” with Zach Williams.

Carrie Underwood, who is nominated for entertainer of the year and will host the show with McEntire and Parton, will perform “Drinking Alone,” while Miranda Lambert will sing her new single, “It All Comes Out in the Wash.”

Additional performers include Eric Church, Luke Combs, Keith Urban and the show’s top nominee, Maren Morris.