#002 Man Behind the Music: Ken Ehrlich, Producer of the Grammy Awards

Ken Ehrlich is a master of music media and his brilliant 50 year career was honored recently by the Scripps College of Communication with this year’s Hall of Fame Award.
He graduated in 1964 with a degree in Journalism. He met his wife while a student at Ohio University while he was playing cocktail piano at a local tavern on Court Street called the Lantern.
After working in Chicago during his early career, he started producing the national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) music series SOUNDSTAGE.
Ehrlich then moved to Los Angeles and for 38 years he has produced over 1,000 hours of award winning television events including 36 straight Grammy Awards shows and 7 Emmy Broadcasts.
During the Emmy’s, Ehrlich is known for combining musical stars and acts who have never performed together before. He prides himself in creating these unique musical combinations and he tells WOUB’s Tom Hodson about how he goes about doing that.
In addition to awards programs, he spent two years as the Supervising Producer of the television dramatic series FAME. Ehrlich also has produced single artist television specials for Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brook, The Eagles, Michael Jackson, Shania Twain, Stevie Wonder, the Rolling Stones and Celine Dion.
In 2011, he directed Celine Dion’s long running Las Vegas Show.
He created the Blockbuster Video Awards and the MTV Movie Awards and the VH1 Divas shows. He also produced several Alma and Latin Grammy Awards Shows.
His company, AEG Ehrlich Ventures LLC has produced the popular PBS In Performance At the White House.
In 2014, he produced the Grammys on one day and then 24 hours later did a 2.5 hour special for CBS celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beetles’ first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
This past December, he produced a 2 hour special celebrating the 100th birthday of Frank Sinatra.
Throughout his career he also has had a social conscience. He created an HBO special in 1988 paying tribute to Vietnam Vets; he created an epic celebration when Nelson Mandela was released from prison and he helped raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims.
He also has donated his time and his immense skills to charitable and political causes that are “dear to his heart.”