The Rhythm and Blues Foundation�s eleventh annual Pioneer Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place next month in New York City, the organization has announced. R&B legend Smokey Robinson will host the event for the third year in a row.

This year�s Pioneer Awards will take place on Wednesday, September 6, at the Manhattan Center's Hammerstein Ballroom. The event is open to the public, and tickets cost from $75 to $500 dollars apiece.

Honorees at this year�s ceremony will include Stevie Wonder [ tickets ], who will be given the organization�s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the late Marvin Gaye [ tickets ], who is being honored with the Second Annual Legacy Tribute Award, as well as a musical tribute. Also receiving awards will be Johnnie Johnson, Clyde Otis, Sylvia Robinson, Huey "Piano" Smith, Betty Wright and singing groups the Chi-Lites and the Impressions.

The R&B Foundation will also honor Atlantic Records Chairman Ahmet Ertegun with the First Annual Founders Award. Ertegun, through Atlantic, donated the initial seed money that started the R&B Foundation in 1989 and has been an active advocate and board member since the organization was founded, the group said in its announcement.

Presenters at this year�s ceremony will include Aretha Franklin [ tickets ], Isaac Hayes, Patti LaBelle, Natalie Cole, Mary Wilson and Bonnie Raitt [ tickets ]. Raitt is a trustee with the Foundation.

An all-star band led by Benjamin Wright will include Kamau Adilifu, Hamiet Bluiett, Jefro DeSilva, Gordon Edwards, James Gadsen, Rodney Jones, Lenny Pickett, Benny Powell, Paul Shaffer, Warren Smith and Fred Wesley.

The R&B Foundation is a not-for-profit service organization whose mission is to foster wider recognition, financial support, and historic and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music and artists of the �40s, �50s and �60s, according to its mission statement.