The Temptations to Receive

AutoZone Liberty Bowl’s Outstanding Achievement Award

“Get Ready” to Party at Presidents’ Gala and Halftime

Legendary Motown vocal group The Temptations have been selected as the recipient of the 2012 AutoZone Liberty Bowl’s Outstanding Achievement Award. Each year, this award is presented in recognition of excellence in the field of music and entertainment, as well as service to the community. The Temptations will receive the award at the Presidents’ Gala at the Peabody Hotel on December 30, 2012. Past recipients include Danny Thomas, Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Lou Rawls, Clint Black, Little Richard, Alabama, The Beach Boys, LeAnn Rimes, The O’Jays and last year’s honoree, KC & The Sunshine Band.

The Temptations will be the headline entertainment at the Presidents’ Gala Dinner Dance and star in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl’s halftime spectacular on December 31, 2012.

Otis Williams, Founding member of The Temptations stated, “The Temptations are proud to be honored with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl’s Outstanding Achievement Award. The AutoZone Liberty Bowl has a wonderful history and great traditions, just as The Temptations have established a long tradition of smash hit songs which have endured for fifty years. We look forward to receiving the award and performing many of our Top Ten Hits at the Presidents’ Gala and during halftime of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl football game.”

For more than five decades, fans around the world have danced and partied to the music of The Temptations, one of the most successful groups in music history. The Temptations have 23 Top Ten Singles and 10 Top Ten Albums. Their first Top Ten hit was “The Way You Do the Things You Do” in 1964. In 1965, The Temptations released their next Top Ten tune, “My Girl”, which became the group’s signature song. “My Girl” was among the Motown hits featured in the 1983 movie “The Big Chill”.

The Temptations have sold tens of millions of records, including eighteen #1 hits on the Billboard charts. Three classic songs by The Temptations, “My Girl”, “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me”), and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”. Among their other long list of hit songs are “Get Ready”, “Since I Lost My Baby” and “I Wish It Would Rain”. Otis Williams, The Temptations’ founder who is still performing today, wrote many of their award-winning songs including “Treat Her Like A Lady”.

The Temptations have 17 Gold Albums and 6 Platinum Albums. They were the first Motown act to earn a Grammy Award and have won a total of four Grammys. The Temptations were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

In 1998, their story was the subject of the NBC mini-series “The Temptations”, which was a ratings success and won an Emmy Award. In 2008, Rolling Stone named The Temptations “One of the Top 50 Bands of All Time”.

The 2012 AutoZone Liberty Bowl Presidents' Gala will be held on December 30, 2012 at The Peabody Hotel at 7:00 pm CST.

The 54th AutoZone Liberty Bowl will be played December 31, 2012 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm CST.

For information on tickets to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl game or Presidents' Gala, call the AutoZone Liberty Bowl at (901) 795-7700 or visit the Request Tickets Page.