NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - April 23, 2009) - More than 600 songwriters, recording artists,
industry leaders and members of the music community gathered at the 26th
Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards on Wednesday, April 22nd at the Renaissance
Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, California to salute the songwriters and
publishers behind some of today's most popular music.
Top awards were given to:
-- Songwriter of the Year: Stargate's Mikkel Eriksen & Tor Hermansen
-- Song of the Year: "Bleeding Love," written by Jesse McCartney and
Ryan Tedder
-- Publisher of the Year (tie): EMI Music Publishing and Sony/ATV Music
Publishing
Special awards were presented to Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart who were
honored with the ASCAP Founders Award; Wyclef Jean who received the ASCAP
Creative Voice Award; and Santigold who received ASCAP's Vanguard Award.
Awards were also presented to the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's
most performed pop songs of 2008.
ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams and ASCAP CEO John A. LoFrumento
presented Norwegian songwriters/producers Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Hermansen
with ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year award. Collectively known as Stargate,
the duo was responsible for penning an impressive six of the most performed
songs of the past year: Chris Brown's "With You," Ne-Yo's "Closer" and
"Miss Independent," Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" and "Take a Bow," and
Jordin Sparks's "Tattoo." This is the second time that Stargate has been
named Songwriters of the Year -- the hit-making duo picked up the coveted
prize at the 2007 ASCAP Awards in London after taking the charts by storm
with a string of hits, including the Billboard #1 "So Sick" by Ne-Yo.
The sought-after Song of the Year award went to Jesse McCartney and Ryan
Tedder for the Grammy-nominated song "Bleeding Love," performed by British
singer Leona Lewis. McCartney and Tedder were on hand to accept their
awards, and Tedder along with OneRepublic bandmates also collected Pop
Awards for "Apologize" and "Stop and Stare."
The Top 5 most performed songs of 2008 (in alpha order) were:
-- "Apologize," written by Ryan Tedder
-- "Bleeding Love," written by Jesse McCartney and Ryan Tedder
-- "Love Song," written by Sara Bareilles
-- "Low," written by Flo-Rida
-- "No One," written by Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, DJ Dirty Harry and
Alicia Keys
ASCAP Publisher of the Year honors went to both EMI Music Publishing and
Sony/ATV Music Publishing, who tied with 20 award-winning songs each.
ASCAP CEO John A. LoFrumento and Chairman of Paramount Allegra Music and
ASCAP Board Member Irwin Z. Robinson presented the awards to Roger Faxon,
Chairman and CEO of EMI Music Publishing and Martin Bandier, Chairman and
CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing and their creative teams.
Jerry Cantrell of the influential band Alice in Chains and ASCAP President
and Chairman Paul Williams presented Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart with
ASCAP's Founders Award.
During their extraordinary 35-year career, Heart have sold more than 30
million records, had 21 Top 40 hits, sold out arenas worldwide and kicked
down barriers that once held back women in Rock & Roll. The group will be
hitting the studio this year to record what will be its 14th album, and is
gearing up to mark the 30th anniversary of its classic multi-platinum album
"Dog & Butterfly" with special events and celebrations.
The ASCAP Founders Award is among the most prestigious honors that ASCAP
gives to songwriters who have made pioneering contributions to music by
inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators. Each recipient is a
musical innovator who possesses a unique style of songwriting genius that
will enrich generations to come. Past recipients include Jackson Browne,
Elvis Costello, Melissa Etheridge, Annie Lennox, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan,
James Taylor, Tom Waits and Neil Young, to name a few.
ASCAP Senior Vice President Domestic Membership Randall Grimmett presented
Wyclef Jean with ASCAP's Creative Voice Award, which is bestowed upon an
ASCAP member or group whose significant career achievements are equally
informed by their creative spirit and by their contributions to the role
that a creator can play in their community. Wyclef's work, both as a
humanitarian and as a musician, has had an incredibly positive impact on
people all over the world. As a songwriter, musician and producer, a solo
artist and as a member of the Fugees, he has earned multiple Grammy Awards
as well as countless Top 10 albums and singles. His seventh solo LP, "To
Sir With Love," will be released this fall. As a dedicated humanitarian,
Wyclef founded Yéle Haiti in 2005 to provide aid and assistance to his
native country of Haiti.
Past recipients of ASCAP's Creative Voice Award are Metallica and Green
Day, who received this honor in 2004 and 2006, respectively.
Downtown Music Publishing artist Santi White (aka Santigold) was honored
with ASCAP's Vanguard Award, which recognizes the impact of musical genres
that help shape the future of American music. Previous honorees include
The All-American Rejects, The Arcade Fire, Sara Bareilles, Beck, Modest
Mouse, the Strokes, Built to Spill, the Mars Volta, Joseph Arthur and Jack
Johnson.
The awards celebration featured several performances throughout the
evening, including those by special honorees Ann & Nancy Wilson and Wyclef
Jean. New ASCAP member Natasha Bedingfield performed two songs, including
"Pocketful of Sunshine" which earned her co-writer John Shanks a Pop Award.
Jesse McCartney sang his hit "Leavin'," which was penned by Corron Cole,
Terius "The Dream" Nash and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. OneRepublic
performed their Pop Award-winning hits "Apologize" and "Stop and Stare;"
and Jason Reeves and Mikal Blue were on stage to sing their award-winner,
"Realize" (a hit for Colbie Caillat) with songwriter and "American Idol"
judge Kara DioGuardi, who signed Reeves to Warner Bros. Records.
Many of the evening's winning songwriters were on hand to collect their
awards, including multiple winners Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald who received
four awards; Terius "The Dream" Nash, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Ryan
Tedder who collected three awards each; Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, Stacy
"Fergie" Ferguson, Andre Merritt, Jason Reeves, and Brian Kennedy Seals who
won two awards each; and Quincy Jones for "Good Life;" Kardinal Offishall
for "Dangerous;" Johntá Austin for "With You;" and Webbie for
"Independent."
The complete list of winners is available at
www.ascap.com.
Honorees, performers and notables in attendance were: Ann & Nancy Wilson of
Heart; Wyclef Jean; Quincy Jones; Santigold; Fergie; Ryan Tedder; Jesse
McCartney; Mikkel Eriksen & Tor Hermansen (Stargate); Natasha Bedingfield;
Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald; Terius "The Dream" Nash; Christopher "Tricky"
Stewart; Kerry "Krucial" Brothers; OneRepublic; Jason Reeves; Kara
DioGuardi; Johntá Austin; Just Blaze; Mikal Blue; Desmond Child; Cri$tyle;
DJ Dirty Harry; Estelle; Ron Fair, Chairman of Geffen Records; Toby Gad;
Lil' Kim; LeRoy P. Marinell; Harvey Mason Jr.; Christina Milian; Colby
O'Donis; Kardinal Offishall; Neil Portnow, President of the Recording
Academy; John Shanks; Damon Thomas; Waddy Wachtel; Webbie; and many others.
The 26th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards is part of an entire week of events
planned by ASCAP to celebrate the voice of the music creator.
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights
Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over
8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more
than 350,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has
representation arrangements with similar foreign organizations so that the
ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world
where copyright law exists. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and
foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their
copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed
performances. ASCAP is the only American PRO owned and governed by its
writer and publisher members.
www.ascap.com