Honorary Degree Recipients
There is a select group of performing and recording artists, educators, and contributors to today's professional music who are recipients of the honorary doctorate degree from Berklee College of Music. Their contributions have the enduring qualities that define the musical era in which they played a leading role. Past recipients include forerunners from all different areas and styles of music and reflect the broad range of interests, talents, and aspirations of our students, faculty, and staff.
| First name | Last name | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Duke | Ellington | 1971 |
| Arthur | Fiedler | 1972 |
| Harry Ellis | Dickson | 1973 |
| William "Count" | Basie | 1974 |
| Tony | Bennett | 1974 |
| Mabel | Mercer | 1975 |
| George | Wein | 1976 |
| Woody | Herman | 1977 |
| Sarah | Vaughan | 1978 |
| Lawrence | Berk | 1979 |
| Teddy | Wilson | 1979 |
| Buddy | Rich | 1980 |
| John | Williams | 1980 |
| John | Hammond | 1981 |
| Billy | Taylor | 1981 |
| John | Dankworth | 1982 |
| Cleo | Laine | 1982 |
| Quincy | Jones '51 | 1983 |
| Leonard | Feather | 1984 |
| Oscar | Peterson | 1984 |
| B.B. | King | 1985 |
| Arif | Mardin '61 | 1985 |
| Herbie | Hancock | 1986 |
| Paul | Simon | 1986 |
| Matt | Betton | 1987 |
| Art | Blakey | 1987 |
| Raymond | Kurzweil | 1987 |
| Phil | Ramone | 1987 |
| Dave | Grusin | 1988 |
| Clark | Terry | 1988 |
| Joe | Williams | 1988 |
| Armand | Zildjian | 1988 |
| Gary | Burton '62 | 1989 |
| Dizzy | Gillespie | 1989 |
| Percy | Heath | 1989 |
| Milt | Jackson | 1989 |
| Connie | Kay | 1989 |
| John | Lewis | 1989 |
| George | Martin | 1989 |
| George | Benson | 1990 |
| Willis | Conover | 1990 |
| Jack | DeJohnette | 1990 |
| Jerry | Goldsmith | 1990 |
| Carlo | Pagnotta | 1990 |
| William | Stanley | 1990 |
| Phil | Collins | 1991 |
| Ahmet | Ertegun | 1991 |
| Roy | Haynes | 1991 |
| Al | Jarreau | 1991 |
| Ikutaro | Kakehashi | 1991 |
| Joe | Zawinul '59 | 1991 |
| Peter | Erskine | 1992 |
| Frances | Preston | 1992 |
| Bonnie | Raitt | 1992 |
| Joseph | Smith | 1992 |
| Cheryl | Bentyne | 1993 |
| Karl | Bruhn | 1993 |
| Michael | Greene | 1993 |
| Tim | Hauser | 1993 |
| Billy | Joel | 1993 |
| Johnny | Mandel | 1993 |
| Alan | Paul | 1993 |
| Janis | Siegel | 1993 |
| Oleta | Adams | 1994 |
| Amar G. | Bose | 1994 |
| Sting | 1994 | |
| Nancy | Wilson | 1994 |
| Alan | Bergman | 1995 |
| Marilyn | Bergman | 1995 |
| Ray | Brown | 1995 |
| Pino | Candini | 1995 |
| Natalie | Cole | 1995 |
| Johnny | Griffin | 1995 |
| Jim | Hall | 1995 |
| Herb | Pomeroy '52 | 1995 |
| Tito | Puente | 1995 |
| Alan | Silvestri '70 | 1995 |
| James | Taylor | 1995 |
| Alf | Clausen '66 | 1996 |
| Milt | Hinton | 1996 |
| Patti | LaBelle | 1996 |
| Pat | Metheny | 1996 |
| Horace | Silver | 1996 |
| Sadao | Watanabe '65 | 1996 |
| Bruce | Cockburn '65 | 1997 |
| Chick | Corea | 1997 |
| Andraé | Crouch | 1997 |
| Henry | Mancini | 1997 |
| John | Scofield '73 | 1997 |
| Toshiko | Akiyoshi '59 | 1998 |
| Jerry | Leiber | 1998 |
| Joe | Lovano '72 | 1998 |
| Eddie | Palmieri | 1998 |
| Vito | Pascucci | 1998 |
| Carly | Simon | 1998 |
| Mike | Stoller | 1998 |
| David | Bowie | 1999 |
| Curtis | Fuller | 1999 |
| Benny | Golson | 1999 |
| Robert | Morgan | 1999 |
| Wayne | Shorter | 1999 |
| Herb | Alpert | 2000 |
| Patti | Austin | 2000 |
| Michel | Camilo | 2000 |
| Dave | Holland | 2000 |
| Jennifer | Holliday | 2000 |
| John | Sykes | 2000 |
| Steve | Vai '79 | 2000 |
| James | Moody | 2000 |
| Caetano | Veloso | 2000 |
| João | Gilberto | 2000 |
| Walter | Becker | 2001 |
| William | Davis | 2001 |
| Donald | Fagen '66 | 2001 |
| Elvin | Jones | 2001 |
| Al | Kooper | 2001 |
| Larry | Linkin | 2001 |
| David | Foster | 2002 |
| Shirley | Horn | 2002 |
| Patty | Larkin '74 | 2002 |
| Robert | Moog | 2002 |
| Terri Lyne | Carrington '83 | 2003 |
| Paquito | D'Rivera | 2003 |
| Bobby | McFerrin | 2003 |
| Makoto | Ozone '83 | 2003 |
| Dianne | Reeves | 2003 |
| Sonny | Rollins | 2003 |
| Giovanni | Tommaso | 2003 |
| Steven | Tyler | 2003 |
| Lee Eliot | Berk | 2004 |
| Michael | Brecker | 2004 |
| Dennis | Chambers | 2004 |
| Chaka | Khan | 2004 |
| Phil | Wilson | 2004 |
| Anita | Baker | 2005 |
| Ruben | Blades | 2005 |
| Ron | Carter | 2005 |
| Kevin | Eubanks '79 | 2005 |
| Steve | Gadd | 2005 |
| Hank | Jones | 2005 |
| Abe | Laboriel Sr. '72 | 2005 |
| Marian | McPartland | 2005 |
| Enrico | Rava | 2005 |
| Patrice | Rushen | 2005 |
| Earl | Scruggs | 2005 |
| McCoy | Tyner | 2005 |
| Ornette | Coleman | 2006 |
| Melissa | Etheridge ’80 | 2006 |
| Aretha | Franklin | 2006 |
| Israel "Cachao" | Lopez | 2006 |
| Branford | Marsalis ’80 | 2006 |
| Andy | McGhee | 2006 |
| Elliot | Scheiner | 2006 |
| The | Edge | 2007 |
| Clint | Eastwood | 2007 |
| Emilio | Estefan | 2007 |
| Gloria | Estefan | 2007 |
| Christopher | Guest | 2007 |
| Andrew | Hill | 2007 |
| Loretta | Lynn | 2007 |
| Philip | Bailey | 2008 |
| Rosa | Passos | 2008 |
| Howard | Shore ’69 | 2008 |
| Ricky | Skaggs | 2008 |
| Maurice | White | 2008 |
| Steve | Winwood | 2008 |
| Burt | Bacharach | 2009 |
| Dave | Brubeck | 2009 |
| Juan Luis | Guerra ’82 | 2009 |
| Emmylou | Harris | 2009 |
| George | Massenburg | 2009 |
| Bernice Johnson | Reagon | 2009 |
| Smokey | Robinson | 2009 |
| Linda | Ronstadt | 2009 |
| Renzo | Arbore | 2010 |
| Kenny | Barron | 2010 |
| Paco | de Lucia | 2010 |
| Stefano | Bollani | 2010 |
| Kenneth | Gamble | 2010 |
| Horacio "El Negro" | Hernandez | 2010 |
| Giovanni | Hidalgo | 2010 |
| Leon | Huff | 2010 |
| Angelique | Kidjo | 2010 |
| Doc | Watson | 2010 |
| Kenny | Garrett | 2011 |
| Michael | McDonald | 2011 |
| Pandit Ravi | Shankar | 2011 |
| Mavis | Staples | 2011 |
| Bebo | Valdés | 2011 |
| Chucho | Valdés | 2011 |
| Mulatu | Astatke ’58 | 2012 |
| George | Clinton | 2012 |
| Glenn | Frey | 2012 |
| Don | Henley | 2012 |
| Alison | Krauss | 2012 |
| Timothy | Schmit | 2012 |
| Joe | Walsh | 2012 |
| William | Cepeda ’85 | 2013 |
| Eddie | Gomez | 2013 |
| Carole | King | 2013 |
| Annie | Lennox | 2013 |
| Willie | Nelson | 2013 |
| Alejandro | Sanz | 2013 |
| Geri | Allen | 2014 |
| Harry | Belafonte | 2014 |
| Plácido | Domingo | 2014 |
| Thara | Memory | 2014 |
| Jimmy | Page | 2014 |
| A. R. | Rahman | 2014 |
| Al | Schmitt | 2014 |
| Valerie | Simpson | 2014 |
| Dee Dee | Bridgewater | 2015 |
| Paolo | Fresu | 2015 |
| Julio | Iglesias | 2015 |
| Charles | Lloyd | 2015 |
| Harvey | Mason ’67 | 2015 |
| Doug | Morris | 2015 |
| Lucian | Grainge | 2016 |
| Ernie | Isley | 2016 |
| Ronald | Isley | 2016 |
| Wang | Leehom ’99 | 2016 |
| Rita | Moreno | 2016 |
| Milton | Nascimento | 2016 |
| Ray | Santos | 2016 |
| Bill | Frisell ’77 | 2017 |
| Michael | Gibbs ’63 | 2017 |
| Shin Joong | Hyun | 2017 |
| John | McLaughlin | 2017 |
| Neil | Portnow | 2017 |
| Lionel | Richie | 2017 |
| Todd | Rundgren | 2017 |
| Lucinda | Williams | 2017 |
| Rosanne | Cash | 2018 |
| Al | Di Meola | 2018 |
| Ellis | Marsalis | 2018 |
| Nile | Rodgers | 2018 |
| Gary | Slaight | 2018 |
| Esperanza | Spalding ’05 | 2018 |
| Imogen | Heap | 2019 |
| Missy | Elliott | 2019 |
| Alex | Lacamoire ’94 | 2019 |
| Justin | Timberlake | 2019 |
| Sylvia | Rhone | 2019 |
| Zakir | Hussain | 2019 |
| John | Legend | 2020 |
| Sheila | E. | 2020 |
| Cassandra | Wilson | 2020 |
| Lila | Downs | 2020 |
| Gilberto | Gil | 2021 |
| Celine | Dion | 2021 |
| Pharrell | Williams | 2021 |
| Chad | Hugo | 2021 |
| Donald | Harrison ’81 | 2021 |