DOLLY PARTON TO RECEIVE THE PRESTIGIOUS JOHNNY MERCER
AWARD AT THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME EVENT
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED INDUCTEES INCLUDE DON BLACK,
JACKSON BROWNE,
IRVING BURGIE, MICHAEL MASSER, BOBBY WEINSTEIN AND
TEDDY RANDAZZO
NEW YORK, N.Y. - APRIL 3, 2007 - Hal David, Chairman/CEO of
The Songwriters Hall of Fame, today announced that Dolly Parton
will be this year's recipient of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award
at the 2007 Awards dinner, slated for June 7 at the Marriott Marquis
Hotel.
The Johnny Mercer Award is exclusively reserved for a songwriter
who has already been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in
a prior year, and whose body of work is of such high quality and
impact, that it upholds the gold standard set by the legendary
Johnny Mercer. Past Johnny Mercer Award recipients have included
songwriting giants: Kris Kristofferson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie
Wonder, Carole King, Billy Joel, Jimmy Webb, Hal David, Burt
Bacharach, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Paul Simon, Alan and Marilyn
Bergman, Stephen Sondheim, Cy Coleman, Sammy Cahn and Jule
Styne.
"Dolly Parton exemplifies the term "songwriter's songwriter,"
emphasized Hal David. "She is greatly respected and admired by
her peers and fans alike, both for her talent and her famously witty
personality. Her songs have a straight-from-the-heart appeal
combined with homespun poetry. The Songwriters Hall of Fame is
proud to bestow this prestigious award upon this one-of-a-kind
songwriter."
Inductees at this year's event include Don Black, Jackson Browne,
Irving Burgie, Michael Masser, Bobby Weinstein and Teddy
Randazzo (posthumous). Other honorees to be announced.
Dolly Parton has been a pioneer of the country music genre,
blending country and pop to write and record some of the most
popular and successful music in that or any genre. Dolly originally
wrote the epic song, "I Will Always Love You" for syndicated
television show star Porter Wagoner, and it reached No. 1 for the
first time in 1974. As a solo artist, she also garnered the Country
Music Association's female vocalist award in 1975 and 1976, and
won the "Entertainer of the Year" trophy in 1978. Her hit "Here You
Come Again" spent five weeks at No. 1 in 1978.
Dolly Parton expanded into film, starring in the 1980's hit film, 9 to 5.
The title song earned her an Oscar nomination and then, Dolly
wrote the songs for the 9 to 5 Broadway musical by the same
name. 1982's rendition of "I Will Always Love You," taken from the
soundtrack of the film Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, reached
No. 1 again that year. A Bee Gees-written duet with Kenny Rogers,
"Islands In The Stream," topped the country charts in 1983 and
subsequently was named CMT’s top Country duet ever.
She returned to her acoustic roots when she recorded the 1987
landmark album Trio with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt.
Four of its singles reached the Top 10, and "To Know Him Is To
Love Him" reached No. 1. After signing to Columbia Records, she
returned to No. 1 as a solo artist in 1989 with "Why'd You Come In
Here Lookin' Like That." That same year, she starred in the hit
movie Steel Magnolias, with Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah, Sally
Field, Shirley MacLaine and Julia Roberts.
Dolly's hit song came back in full force once again when Whitney
Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for The Bodyguard
soundtrack, and both the single and the album were massively
successful. Dolly re-recorded "I Will Always Love You" with Vince
Gill, and they won a CMA award for "Best Vocal" in 1996. Taken from
the album Trio II, a cover of "After The Gold Rush" won a Grammy
for "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals" in 1999, and Dolly
Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later that
year. Also that year, Dollynteamed with respected independent label
Sugar Hill Records and recorded the acoustic album The Grass,
which garnered a Grammy for "Best Bluegrass Album." In 2006,
she earned her second Oscar nomination for "Travelin' Thru," which
she wrote specifically for the film Transamerica. She also returned
to No. 1 on the country charts later that year by lending her
distinctive harmonies to the Brad Paisley ballad, "When I Get Where
I'm Going."
Dolly Parton has donated more than 10 million books to pre-school
children across the United States and provides scholarships to
high school students in Sevier County, Tenn. She recently pledged
to raise one million dollars for her hometown hospital and, in
return, the county honored her with a life-size statue in front of the
courthouse.
About The Songwriters Hall of Fame:
The Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter
Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond.
The SHOF not only celebrates songwriters and educates the public
on their great achievements, but is also devoted to the development
of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and
scholarships. Over the course of the past 37 years, some key
Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees have included John Fogerty,
Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Steve Cropper, Richard and Robert
Sherman, Bill Withers, Carole King, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Billy
Joel, Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor,
James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Hal David and Burt Bacharach, Jim
Croce, Phil Collins, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Jimmy Webb, Van
Morrison and Cy Coleman among many, many others.
Full biographies and a complete list of inductees are available at
the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Virtual Museum at songhall.org.
Ticket Information:
Tickets for the Songwriters Hall of Fame begin at $1000 each, and
are available through Buckley Hall Events, (212) 573-6933. Net
proceeds from the event will go towards the Songwriters Hall of
Fame programs.
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SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME TO INDUCT DESMOND CHILD, ALBERT
HAMMOND, LORETTA LYNN, ALAN MENKEN AND JOHN SEBASTIAN AT
2008 EVENT
NEW YORK, N.Y. - FEBRUARY 28, 2008 - Desmond Child, Albert Hammond,
Loretta Lynn, Alan Menken and John Sebastian will be inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame this year, SHOF Chairman/CEO Hal David
announced today. The organization, which is dedicated to recognizing the
work and lives of those composers and lyricists who create popular music
around the world, returns for its highly anticipated 39th annual induction and
awards dinner, scheduled for Thursday, June 19 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel
in New York City. Special award honorees will be announced at a later date.
"From seminal rock to cross-over country, from pop anthems to Oscar-winning
musicals, this year's inductees truly have contributed to the soundtrack of our
lives," commented Hall of Fame Chairman and songwriter extraordinaire, Hal
David. "We are immensely gratified with the growing impact of our event,
which is now one of the industry's high points of the year, and we are looking
forward to another memorable evening where we honor the accomplishments
of our 2008 inductees."
Desmond Child:
Desmond Child has been one of the most successful, versatile songwriters in
the music business for more than three decades. After starring in the 1970's
group Desmond Child & Rouge, he focused on songwriting, his breakthrough
coming in 1978 with Kiss's hit "I Was Made For Loving You."
His list of songwriting credits reads like a "Who's Who" of pop and rock royalty,
and Child has demonstrated a remarkable knack for writing in all pop genres.
This has included a very diverse mix over the years, with hits for Aerosmith,
Ricky Martin, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett, Michael Bolton, Hanson, Hilary Duff, LeAnn
Rimes, Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Jesse McCartney, Daryl Hall & John Oates,
Cher, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Robbie Williams, Iggy Pop and Ronnie Spector,
among many others. His own solo album, Discipline, featured the Top 40 hit,
"Love on a Rooftop." True to his Cuban-American heritage, Child has enjoyed
success in the Latin music field, co-producing and/or co-writing such mega
smashes as Ricky Martin's #1 worldwide hits "Livin' La Vida Loca" and the
1998 World Cup Theme, "The Cup Of Life," which was #1 in 20 countries. He
continued to collaborate with Martin on "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to be
Lonely" from Martin's Sound Loaded album, also released featuring Christina
Aguilera dueting with Ricky Martin, in both Spanish and English versions. In
addition, Child co-wrote and co-produced "Livin' La Vida Loca" as the finale
in the film Shrek 2.
Among his many collaborations, he co-wrote the Grammy award-winning
"Crazy" and "Dude Looks Like A Lady" for Aerosmith, "Livin' On A Prayer" and
"You Give Love A Bad Name" for Bon Jovi, and Hanson's "Weird" from their
multi-platinum CD, Middle of Nowhere.
Albert Hammond:
England's Albert Hammond has achieved tremendous success on both sides of
the Atlantic. With chief collaborator Mike Hazelwood, he wrote "Gimme Dat
Ding," a novelty hit for The Pipkins in 1970, and "It Never Rains In Southern
California," which established Hammond himself as a recording star two years
later.
By the end of the 1970s, Hammond was one of the busiest men in music,
maintaining two full-fledged recording careers; not only his string of
English-language hit singles and albums, but also a late-'70s series of releases
aimed at Spanish-speaking audiences, which gave him a new round of hits,
and a songwriting career that included Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us
Now," and Chicago's "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love," in collaboration
with Diane Warren, and a monster hit for Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias in "To
All the Girls I've Loved Before," in collaboration with Hal David.
Hammond's songs have been recorded by many critically acclaimed artists
such as José Carreras, Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, Chris de Burgh, Neil
Diamond, Céline Dion, Art Garfunkel, The Hollies, Whitney Houston, Julio
Iglesias, Tom Jones, Johnny Mathis, Roy Orbison, José Luis Rodriguez, Diana
Ross, Leo Sayer, Starship and Tina Turner. Their hits with Hammond's songs
include "One Moment In Time," "Don't Turn Around," "Nothing's Gonna Stop
Us Now," "When I Need You," "The Air That I Breathe" and "99 Miles From
L.A," to mention just a few. He has also co-produced Julio Iglesias, Lani Hall
(on her Grammy winning LP, Es Facil Amar which contains several Hammond
tunes), and José Luis Rodriguez, among others. In the Latin world, his hits have
included "Echame A Mi La Culpa," "Eres Toda Una Mujer," and "Espinita."
Loretta Lynn:
Although country music icon Loretta Lynn came out of a coal mining
community in Kentucky, she wrote songs that everyone could relate to
(including The White Stripes' Jack White, who produced her acclaimed 2004
comeback album "Van Lear Rose"). Foremost among them, of course, was the
autobiographical "Coal Miner's Daughter," a No. 1 country hit in 1970 that
became the title of her 1978 autobiography and was later made into an
Oscar-winning biopic. The song is also in the Grammy Hall of Fame, along
with other hits like "You Ain't Woman Enough (to Take My Man)" and "Don't
Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)," all of which paved the way
for her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The immense popularity of these songs, as well as other straight-shooting hits
like "Your Squaw Is on the Warpath," "Women of the World (Leave My World
Alone)," and
"You're Looking at Country," culminated in 1972 when Lynn won the second of
her Best Female Vocalist awards from the Country Music Association, and
when she became the first woman to win the CMA's most prestigious award,
Entertainer of the Year.
Collaborations include her dear friend, Conway Twitty ("After the Fire Is Gone,"
"Lead Me On," "As Soon As I Hang up the Phone," and "Feelin's"), and Loretta
won her first "Vocal Duo of the Year" award in 1972 with Conway, a title the
team held through 1976. By the time her hit "I Lie" topped the charts in 1982,
Lynn could count fifty-two Top 10 hits and sixteen #1's.
Alan Menken:
Distinguished composer and lyricist, Alan Menken possesses the innate ability
to
translate guileless wonder and adventure into soaring musical triumphs. The
creative force behind timeless songs synonymous with both chart-topping
success and motion picture magic, Menken's compositions include the
Oscar-winning "Under the Sea," from Disney's The Little Mermaid, "A Whole
New World" from Aladdin, the title song from Beauty and the Beast and
"Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas.
Along with his longtime collaborator, the esteemed late playwright and lyricist
Howard
Ashman, Menken transformed the 1960 film Little Shop of Horrors into an
off-Broadway phenomenon, which would later become a major motion
picture. Other collaborators have included Tim Rice, Stephen Schwartz,
David Zippel, Lynn Ahrens and Glenn Slater.
Most recently he composed the original score and earned three Oscar
nominations for Disney's Enchanted. An alumnus of the prestigious BMI
Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, Alan Menken has earned eight
Oscars, seven Golden Globe and ten Grammy awards.
John Sebastian:
His hit group The Lovin' Spoonful played a major role in the mid-'60s
rock revolution, but what leader, singer and songwriter Sebastian had in mind
was actually a counter-revolution. His songs were deeply rooted in folk, blues
and jug band traditions. The Lovin' Spoonful succeeded like nobody before or
since, putting their first seven singles into the Top 10. This was
unprecedented, and utterly unthinkable at the height of Beatlemania.
Sebastian wrote or co-wrote the Spoonful's great hits, including "Do You
Believe in Magic," "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," "Daydream" and
"Summer In The City."
As a solo artist, Sebastian started writing for film, including Francis Ford
Coppola's You're A Big Boy Now and Woody Allen's What's Up Tiger Lily, but
when producers of a TV show called Welcome Back Kotter commissioned a
theme song in 1976, Sebastian's "Welcome Back" became a chart-topping
solo record.
In 2000, John Sebastian was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. He is
the subject of the recent PBS special Do You Believe In Magic: The Music of
John Sebastian, and recently recorded an album of duets with David Grisman.
He has also lent his music in support of social, environmental and animal
rights causes. Recently he joined a delegation of songwriters (including
Lamont Dozier, Allen and Marilyn Bergman, and Mike Stoller) in Washington,
DC to campaign on behalf of the rights of music creators.
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The stars came out last year for the 38th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame
Awards event at the Marriott Marquis' Grand Ballroom. Among the honorees
were Dolly Parton and John Legend, along with presenters and performers that
included Kanye West, Clive Davis and Neil Sedaka. Recent induction galas
have featured a constellation of stars including Paul McCartney, Billy Joel,
Stevie Wonder, Peter, Paul and Mary, Smokey Robinson, Gloria and Emilio
Estefan, Kris Kristofferson, John Mayer, Alicia Keys, and Garth Brooks.
About The Songwriters Hall of Fame:
The Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates songwriters, educates the public with
regard to their achievements, and produces a spectrum of professional
programs devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through
workshops, showcases and scholarships. Over the course of the past 39 years,
some key Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees have included John Fogerty,
Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Steve Cropper, Richard and Robert Sherman,
Bill Withers, Carole King, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John,
Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Hal
David and Burt Bacharach, Jim Croce, Phil Collins, Alan and Marilyn
Bergman, Jimmy Webb, Van Morrison and Cy Coleman among many, many
others. The Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter
Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond.
Full biographies and a complete list of inductees are available at the
Songwriters Hall of Fame's Virtual Museum at www.songhall.org.
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