NEW YORK (By
Pamela Lipshitz) - Hal David, Chairman/CEO of The Songwriters Hall of Fame, today announced that Kris Kristofferson will be this year's recipient of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award at the 2006 Awards dinner, slated for June 15 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: 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.
"Kris Kristofferson is definitely a songwriter's songwriter. And by that I mean that he is greatly respected and admired by his peers. His songs have a straight-from -the-heart, deep appeal that express passion, yearning and social concerns with a directness that belies their poetry. The Songwriters Hall of Fame is proud to bestow this one-of-a-kind award to this one-of-a-kind songwriter."
Inductees at this year's event include Thom Bell, Mac Davis, Will Jennings, Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby. Other honorees to be announced.
America's legacy, culture and ability to reflect is nurtured by poets like Kris Kristofferson. The songwriter and actor turns 70 this year, and one week before that milestone, he'll be recognized with the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award — a fitting tribute to the free-spirited troubadour. Kristofferson's story is now firmly embedded in music world lore. It is the tale of a Rhodes Scholar who turned his back on job security and familial expectations, his head full of wild dreams and song, and headed to Nashville determined to create for a living. Once he arrived in Music City, Kristofferson took a job as a janitor for Columbia Records; less than a year after his appearance in those hallways, he forever changed the scope and literary possibilities of country music songwriting. Songs like 'Me and Bobby McGee,' 'For the Good Times,' and 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' were recorded by icons and musical architects Janis Joplin, Ray Price, and Johnny Cash, respectively. That was merely the beginning. 3 Grammys and 17 top 40 albums later, over 450 artists have covered Kristofferson-penned tunes, and that staggering number continues to grow. 2006 ushers in two Kristofferson albums, one of which, the upcoming The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson, features some of America's most resilient voices, including Rodney Crowell, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and Rosanne Cash, singing Kristofferson songs. In addition to the tribute, the impending release of This Old Road offers Kris Kristofferson's first album of new recordings in 11 years. Many fans of the man see him as a charismatic actor, an outlaw, or the resolute young songwriter who turned Nashville on its head. Kris Kristofferson is all of those things, but most of all, he is a writer.
About The Songwriters Hall of Fame:
The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The NAPM/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 36 years, some key Songwriters' Hall of Fame inductees have included Steve Cropper, John Fogerty, Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Richard and Robert Sherman, Bill Withers, Carole King, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Paul Simon, Jim Croce, Phil Collins, Sting, Randy Newman, Hal David, Burt Bacharach, Barry Manilow and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Jimmy Webb, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Cy Coleman, Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Stephen Sondheim, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Don McLean and Al Green, among many, many others.
Full biographies and a complete list of inductees are available at the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Virtual Museum at www.songhall.org.
Ticket Information:
Tickets for the Songwriters Hall of Fame begin at $850 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.
