Awards
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The 2023 Premio Lo Nuestro awards are just days away, with Sebastian Yatra leading the pack with 10 nominations.
The Colombian artist, who’s nominated for the all-genre artist of the year, is closely followed by other top nominees Bad Bunny, Camilo, Becky G, and Grupo Firme, who each have nine nods; Maluma, Daddy Yankee, and Ozuna with eight each; power couple Rauw Alejandro and Rosalía tie with seven, as well as Carin León, Karol G, Carlos Vives, and J Balvin.
In total, 192 artists across diverse musical backgrounds are nominated in 39 categories, but in addition to its well-deserving nominees, the awards show will also feature a star-studded lineup of performers.
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Maluma, Marc Anthony, Christian Nodal, Ivy Queen, Paulina Rubio and many more acts have been confirmed to take the stage on Thursday, Feb. 23.
This year’s theme is “El Mundo Es Lo Nuestro” (“The World Is Ours”), and the 35th annual award show will broadcast live on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. ET. It will be simulcast on Galavisión in the U.S. and Canal 5 in Mexico.
Here are all of this year’s performers, in alphabetical order:
Alan Estrada
Álvaro Diaz
Arthur Hanlon
Aymée Nuviola
Carin León
Carlos Rivera
Christian Nodal
El Alfa
Elena Rose
Fuerza Regida
Gente De Zona
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Gloria Trevi
Goyo
Grupo Firme
Grupo Frontera
Isabella Castillo
Ivy Queen
Jerry Rivera
La Adictiva
Lupita Infante
Maffio
Maluma
Marc Anthony
Mau y Ricky
Melendi
Noel Schajris
Norberto Vélez
Ozuna
Paulina Rubio
Pepe Aguilar
Prince Royce
Ricardo Montaner
Sebastián Yatra
Tiago PZK
Tini
Tito Nieves
Valentina
Big Freedia has earned a lot of titles throughout her career — Queen Diva, Queen of Bounce and Grammy Award-winner, to name a few. Now, she’s ready to accept her new title courtesy of America’s oldest LGBTQ organization.
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On Friday (Feb. 17), PFLAG announced Big Freedia as their headline honoree for the organization’s 50th anniversary gala this March. Freedia will receive the organization’s inaugural Breaking Barriers award, which honors “an individual who uses their platform to help remove obstacles to LGBTQ+ and intersectional equality in pursuit of a more just, equitable, and inclusive world,” according to a statement.
Freedia said in a statement that she was honored to be the first recipient of PFLAG’s award. “I know what it is to have unconditional love and affirmation from my mother, Ms. Vera, who was my biggest champion in my life and my career. She was what every PFLAG parent strives to be, and is one of the reasons I can be the loud, proud Black, gay, gender fluid advocate I am,” she wrote.
PFLAG executive director Brian K. Bond took a moment to thank Freedia for her tireless work in the music industry. “Whether it’s making the dance floor a place where every person of every body type is welcome, or it’s being unabashedly herself on the world’s biggest stages as a genderfluid Black and beautiful musician, Big Freedia has used every part of her talent and joy to open doors and break barriers to inclusion,” he wrote.
PFLAG’s 50th Anniversary Gala will take place on March 3, 2023 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. For more information, click here.
Following the 65th Grammy Awards Feb. 5, multiple songs, albums and artists show sizable surges in U.S. streams and sales, equating to gains on Billboard charts dated Feb. 18.
Among the most impactful: Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” which lifts 5-4 on the multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 after being performed during the ceremony (broadcast on CBS) and winning for best pop duo/group performance.
In the Feb. 3-9 tracking, the former No. 1 earned 17.9 million official U.S. streams, up 16%, according to Luminate.
A pair of songs that were also part of the festivities — Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” — sport gains as well, the former returning to the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 while the latter extends its run in the region. “Cuff It,” which vaults 15-6 for a new high, earned a 37% boost in streams to 9.4 million, along with 78,000 in sales, up 4,026%, due in part to newly released remixes and its Grammy win for best R&B song.
Former 15-week Hot 100 No. 1 “Was” dips 9-10 but jumped 21% in streams to 12.4 million and 289% to 7,000 sold. Styles performed the song during the broadcast, while parent album Harry’s House took home album of the year honors.
Outside the Hot 100’s top 10, Lil Uzi Vert’s “Just Wanna Rock,” the closing song of the Grammy’s 50th anniversary pf hip-hop medley, backtracks to No. 12 from its No. 10 high but is up in overall metrics, garnering a 5% gain to 15.7 million streams, alongside 2,000 sold, up 18%. Elsewhere within the top 30, Luke Combs’ “Going, Going, Gone” pushes 24-23 after his performance of the song during the telecast, with 10.7 million streams, up 6%, and 3,000 sold, up 71%.
Lizzo‘s former two-week Hot 100 No. 1 “About Damn Time” climbs 50-41 after she performed the song and it won for record of the year nod, garnering 6.2 million streams, up 20%, and 5,000 sold, up 295%.
In all, 10 songs performed during the Grammy broadcast are among the 2,000 most-streamed titles of the week Feb. 3-9 in the U.S. and garnered at least a 5% gain:
Performed
Sam Smith & Kim Petras, “Unholy” (17.9 million streams, up 16%)
Lil Uzi Vert, “Just Wanna Rock” (15.7 million streams, up 5%)*
Harry Styles, “As It Was” (12.4 million streams, up 21%)
Steve Lacy, “Bad Habit” (11.6 million streams, up 6%)
Luke Combs, “Going, Going, Gone” (10.7 million streams, up 6%)
Lil Baby, “Freestyle” (8.1 million streams, up 6%)*
Lizzo, “About Damn Time” (6.2 million streams, up 20%)
Bad Bunny, “Después de la Playa” (3.1 million streams, up 34%)
Nelly, “Hot in Herre” (1.8 million streams, up 5%)*
DJ Khaled feat. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend & Fridayy, “God Did” (1.7 million streams, up 57%)
(*performed during the Grammy’s hip-hop medley)
Additionally, nine songs that won Grammy awards, either during the main ceremony or during the pre-telecast, were both up at least 5% and within the top 2,000 songs in U.S. streams Feb. 3-9.
Won
Sam Smith & Kim Petras, “Unholy” (17.9 million streams, up 16%) (best pop duo/group performance)
Future feat. Drake & Tems, “Wait for U” (10.9 million streams, up 5%) (best melodic rap performance)
Beyoncé, “Cuff It” (9.4 million streams, up 37%) (best R&B song)
Lizzo, “About Damn Time” (6.2 million streams, up 20%) (record of the year, best remixed recording, non-classical)
Adele, “Easy on Me” (5.8 million streams, up 16%) (best pop solo performance)
Cody Johnson, “’Til You Can’t” (4.8 million streams, up 7%) (best country song)
Beyoncé, “Break My Soul” (3.5 million streams, up 41%) (best dance/electronic recording)
Muni Long, “Hrs and Hrs” (3.5 million streams, up 8%) (best R&B performance)
Taylor Swift, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” (3.3 million streams, up 9%) (best music video)
Concurrently, the Billboard 200 dated Feb. 18 reflects multiple bumps for albums either prominently featured during the Grammys or by artists who appeared at the ceremony. Leading the way, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti rises 8-7 with 45,000 equivalent album units, up 16%. Aforementioned album of the year winner Harry’s House follows, jumping 13-9 with 38,000 units, a 51% boost.
Samara Joy’s Linger Awhile also appears on the Billboard 200 for the first time, debuting at No. 158 (8,000 units, up 319%) following her best new artist victory.
Beyoncé, Berry Gordy, Clive Davis, Anita Baker and George Clinton are among 60 nominees for the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
More than 230 artists and others have been inducted since 2013. The roster includes James Brown, Prince, B.B. King, The Temptations, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Jackie Wilson and Whitney Houston.
Most of this year’s nominees are Black, but the list also includes Davis, who has signed and championed many Black artists, including Sly & the Family Stone, Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys, throughout his long career; Burt Bacharach, the peerless composer who wrote hits for Dionne Warwick, Patti LaBelle, Chuck Jackson and many more; Daryl Hall & John Oates, the blue-eyed-soul duo that topped Hot Soul Singles (as the chart was called in 1982) with “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” and Average White Band, which had such hits as “Pick Up the Pieces” and “Cut the Cake.”
Most of the nominees are primarily known as artists, but the list also includes record executives Gordy, Davis and Dick Griffey; songwriters Bacharach, David Porter and Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff; radio personalities Jeff Fox, King Arthur and Jae The Gospelkidd; music and event producers and promoters Robert Brown and Sweet Boogie Productions; Malaco Records, the Mississippi-based indie label that signed Johnnie Taylor Bobby Bland, Denise LaSalle, Dorothy Moore, Tyrone Davis and more; and The Recording Academy.
The latter nomination will be welcome news to the Academy, which has been criticized by such major figures in the culture as Magic Johnson and Spike Lee for perceived disrespect. The criticism flows from frustration that Beyoncé has been nominated four times for album of the year (as a lead artist), but has yet to win what is widely regarded as the Grammys’ top award.
Most of the nominees are individuals, but the list includes 14 groups – New Edition, Jr. Walker & the All Stars, The Isley Brothers, Bell Biv Devoe, SWV, Xscape, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Stubbs Girls, Blue Magic, Jodeci and The Controllers – as well as Hall & Oates and AWB.
Fans may vote now at rbhofvote.com. Voting is set to run through April 24. This year’s inductees will be announced at a press conference on May 1.
The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Foundation had its groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 30, 2022, in Marks, Miss.
The foundation will honor four individuals with the following awards, to be given annually — The LaMont D. Robinson Founders Award, The Aretha Franklin Lifetime Achievement Award, The Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Living Legend Award and The Mary Wilson Global Music Industry Award.
The foundation has also developed another annual musical event coming in 2024, the R&B Music Honors, that will honor and showcase the best of today’s R&B music.
Here’s the complete list of 2023 nominees for the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. The capsule descriptions of each nominee are provided by the organization.
Beyoncé – singer
Jay-Z – rapper/producer
John Legend – singer/songwriter
Berry Gordy – music executive/songwriter
Burt Bacharach – composer/songwriter/producer
David Porter – singer/songwriter/producer
New Edition – group
Recording Academy – Grammys
Clive Davis – music executive
Aaliyah – singer
Mary J. Blige – singer
Morris Day – singer
Dee Dee Warwick – singer
Dick Griffey – music executive
Gerald Alston – singer
Anita Baker – singer
Roz Ryan – singer
Carla Thomas – singer/songwriter
Daryl Hall & John Oates – group
Janet Jackson – singer
Robert Brown – music & event promoter
Malaco Records – record company
George Clinton – performer/songwriter
Clyde McPhatter – singer
Brook Benton – singer
Jr. Walker & The All Stars – group
Rufus Thomas – singer
The Isley Brothers – group
Frankie Beverly – singer
Mavis Staples – singer
Ruby Andrews – singer
Jeff Fox – radio personality
Jermaine Dupri – music executive/producer
Chaka Khan – singer
Bell Biv DeVoe – group
Dee Dee Sharp – singer
SWV – group
King Arthur – radio personality
Xscape – group
Latimore – singer
Willie Clayton – singer
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – group
Earth Wind & Fire – group
Peabo Bryson – singer
Tyrone Davis – singer
Sweet Boogie Productions – music production & events
Deniece Williams – singer
Luther “Skywalker” Campbell – rapper/music executive/songwriter
The Stubbs Girls – group
Priscilla Price – singer
Freddie Jackson – singer
Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff – songwriters
Jae The Gospelkidd – radio personality
Average White Band – group
Blue Magic – group
Babyface – singer/songwriter
Jodeci – group
G.C. Cameron – singer
Al Lindsey – singer
The Controllers – group
It’s been nearly two weeks since Sam Smith and Kim Petras danced with the devil at the 2023 Grammys. Now, thanks to a new performance, they’re back in the controversial spotlight.
On Wednesday (Feb. 15), U.K. broadcasting regulator Offcom revealed that Smith and Petras’ performance at the 2023 Brit Awards on Sunday (Feb. 12) had received more than 100 complaints, despite not engaging in the same devilish imagery as their Grammys set.
For the Brit Awards, Sam and Kim took a more literal approach to their “Body Shop” metaphor from the song’s lyrics, with an industrial set, flying sparks and mechanic’s outfits on both performers and their dancers. While it is unclear which parts of the performance received complaints, Offcom received 106 complaints for the 2023 Brit Awards, the majority of which were aimed at Smith and Petras.
The complaint comes after the pair’s highly publicized Grammy’s performance, which also drew plenty of criticism for its use “satanic” imagery from viewers and even a few right-wing politicians, including Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Church of Satan itself ended up weighing in, saying the pair’s performance felt pretty tame.
The ongoing controversy seems to have followed Smith into their daily life — in a viral video posted on Wednesday, Smith can be seen in New York’s Central Park Zoo ignoring a yelling woman, who refers to them as a “pedophile,” “demonic,” and “evil,” while also declaring “Sam Smith belongs in hell.”
Check out what all the fuss was about with Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” performance at the Brit Awards above.
Two 2023 Oscar contenders, Son Lux and Diane Warren, each won awards in competition at the fourth annual SCL Awards, presented by The Society of Composers & Lyricists. Emmy winner Darren Criss hosted the event, which was held on Wednesday (Feb. 15) at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
Son Lux, Oscar-nominated for best original score for Everything Everywhere All at Once, won outstanding score for an independent film. The award was accepted by the trio’s Ryan Lott. Warren, Oscar-nominated for best original song for “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman, won outstanding song for a drama/documentary.
Michael Abels was a double winner on the night. He won outstanding original score for a feature film for Nope as well as a Jury Award for Omar, an opera he composed with Rhiannon Giddens.
The SCL presented two 2023 Jury Awards in recognition of the increasing number of ways music is used in an audiovisual context. These awards are voted on by the SCL board of directors. The other went to the audiovisual concert experience Women Warriors: The Voices of Change, for which Amy Andersson is musical director.
The Spirit of Collaboration Award was presented to composer Justin Hurwitz and director Damien Chazelle, who have collaborated on five films, including La La Land, for which they each won Oscars, and the 2022 film Babylon, for which Hurwitz is again nominated for an Oscar for best original score. The presentation was accompanied by a musical performance which included “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from La La Land, the First Man theme for harp and theremin, and a Babylon medley.
The Spirit of Collaboration Award, considered the SCL’s most distinctive and perhaps most meaningful, is presented to a composer and filmmaker who maintain a distinguished creative partnership. Previous recipients are Thomas Newman and Sam Mendes, Carter Burwell and the Coen Brothers, and Terence Blanchard and Spike Lee.
Additionally, filmmaker/lyricist Guillermo del Toro and lyricist Roeban Katz accepted their award for outstanding original song for a musical or comedy for “Ciao Papa” from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which they co-wrote with Alexandre Desplat.
Nami Melumad, who became Star Trek’s first female composer with Star Trek: Prodigy, won the David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Stephanie Economou, who received the first ever David Raksin Award at last year’s ceremony, won best original score for interactive media for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök. Also, Emmy-winning composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer won outstanding original score for a television production for White Lotus for the second year in a row.
The Society of Composers & Lyricists is a leading organization for professional film, television, video game, and musical theater composers and lyricists. The 77-year-old organization is focused on education and addressing the creative, technological and legal issues affecting the music for visual media community.
Here are the nominees for the 2023 SCL Awards, with winners identified:
Outstanding score for a studio film
Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Carter Burwell – The Banshees of Inisherin
Winner: Michael Abels – Nope
Michael Giacchino – The Batman
John Powell – Don’t Worry Darling
Outstanding score for an independent film
Leo Birenberg, Zach Robinson – Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Sharon Farber – Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power
WINNER: Son Lux – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Rob Simonsen – The Whale
Mark Smythe – The Reef: Stalked
Outstanding song for a musical/comedy
WINNER: Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo Del Toro – “Ciao Papa” From Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Khiyon Hursey, Sukari Jones, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Mark Sonnenblick – “Good Afternoon” From Spirited
Danny Elfman – “Light the Match” From Central Park
Billy Eichner, Marc Shaiman – “Love Is Not Love” From Bros
Weird Al Yankovic - “Now You Know” From Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Outstanding song for a drama/documentary
WINNER: Diane Warren – “Applause” From Tell It Like a Woman
Taylor Swift – “Carolina” From Where the Crawdads Sing
Lady Gaga, Bloodpop – “Hold My Hand” From Top Gun: Maverick
Tems, Rihanna, Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler – “Lift Me Up” From Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – “(You Made It Feel Like) Home” From Bones and All
Outstanding score for television
Nicholas Britell – Andor
Siddhartha Khosla – Only Murders in the Building
Bear Mccreary – The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Theodore Shapiro – Severance
WINNER: Cristobal Tapia De Veer – The White Lotus
Outstanding score for interactive media
Nainita Desai – Immortality
WINNER: Stephanie Economou – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök
Bear Mccreary – God of War Ragnarök
Winifred Phillips – Jurassic World Primal Ops
Christopher Wiliis – Cat Burglar
David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent
Dara Taylor – The Invitation
Anna Drubich – Barbarian
DeAndre James Allen-Toole – God’s Country
Esin Aydingoz – Simchas and Sorrows
WINNER: Nami Melumad – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Billy Porter received the 2023 Anthem Beacon Award at the second annual Anthem Awards. The virtual awards program was launched by The Webby Awards in 2021 to recognize social impact work across the globe.
Porter received the award “to recognize his career-long commitment to breaking barriers for LGBTQ folks, destigmatizing HIV and empowering marginalized people everywhere.”
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work,” Porter said in accepting the award. “There’s no time for despair, no place for self-pity. No need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. This is how civilizations heal. Please remember this, and know, be hopeful, because the change has already happened. God bless.”
Porter has won two Tonys (for his starring role in Kinky Boots and as one of many producers of A Strange Loop), an Emmy (for his starring role in Pose) and a Grammy (for the Kinky Boots cast album).
Poet Amanda Gorman, who received her first Grammy nomination in November for best spoken word poetry album for Call Us What We Carry: Poems, received the Anthem New Icon award.
Gorman was honored “for the joy, elegance, intelligence and hope she brings to all her poems, from the Presidential Inauguration to the Super Bowl.”
“My call to action would be to vote,” Gorman said in accepting the award. “The future isn’t just something we hope for, it’s a future we must vote for.”
Other special honors went to: Gloria Steinem, Anthem Lifetime Achievement; Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry’s, Anthem Vision Award; Gabrielle Giffords, Anthem Advocate of the Year; Oleksandra Matviichuk on behalf of the Center for Civil Liberties and the People of Ukraine, Anthem Movement of the Year; Quannah Chasinghorse, Anthem Special Achievement; Abigail E. Disney, Anthem Special Achievement; and Hamdi Ulukaya, Anthem Special Achievement.
Winners in other categories included Lil Nas X, Ciara, Killer Mike, Tracee Ellis Ross, Stephen Colbert, Last Week Tonight, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Selma Blair and the cast of This Is Us.
Anthem winners were selected from nearly 2,000 submissions from 43 countries around the world by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.
“Since launching The Anthem Awards in June of 2021, we have seen that social change continues to emerge as a dominant force in mainstream culture,” Jessica Lauretti, Anthem Awards managing director, said in a statement.
The Anthem Awards were founded by The Webby Awards in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, GLAAD, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF and XQ.
Fans can experience Anthem Call-To-Action Speeches from every winner including special achievement honorees at anthemawards.com.
Sting will become an Academy Fellow, the highest honor The Ivors Academy bestows, at the 2023 Ivors, which will be presented at Grosvenor House in London on May 18.
Sting is the 23rd Fellow that the Academy has inducted in its 79-year history. He follows such songwriting greats as Sir Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Joan Armatrading and Peter Gabriel. The latter received the award last year.
“Of all the awards in the world of music, The Ivors are for me, the most prestigious,” Sting said in a statement. “Songwriting is a skilled craft and The Ivors Academy are its guild. So, I am delighted and honoured to be offered this Fellowship of the Academy, joining and acknowledging this extraordinary group of fellow songwriters, and all of those who went before us.”
Sting has won seven Ivor Novellos, including their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. He was inducted into the New York-based Songwriters Hall of Fame that same year.
Sting has won 17 Grammys, including two in songwriting categories – the 1983 award for song of the year for “Every Breath You Take” and the 1991 award for best rock song for “The Soul Cages.” He won a 2002 Primetime Emmy for outstanding individual performance in a variety or music program for A&E in Concert: Sting in Tuscany…All This Time. In addition, he has been nominated for the two other EGOT awards. He has amassed four Oscar nods for best original song and a 2015 Tony nod for original musical score for The Last Ship.
Speaking on behalf of The Ivors Academy, Armatrading, Sting’s labelmate at A&M Records from the late ’70s into the early ’90s, said: “Across all of Sting’s work as a solo artist and with the iconic band The Police, he is without doubt one of the UK’s foremost successful songwriters and performers and is certainly deserving of one of the most prestigious awards in the music business. My huge congratulations on being made a Fellow of The Ivors Academy, Sting.”
Sting is managed by Martin Kierszenbaum of Cherrytree Music Company.
The Ivor Novellos, which were first presented in 1956, are judged by songwriters and composers from The Ivors Academy, the U.K.’s professional association for songwriters and composers. Past winners include Adele, Stormzy, Little Simz, Cathy Dennis, Annie Lennox, Amy Winehouse, Dave and John Lennon.
This year’s nominations will be announced on Tuesday April 18. The winners will be revealed at The Ivors on Thursday May 18.
The Ivors Academy also announced that Amazon Music is the new title sponsor of The Ivors as part of a multi-year, global deal. Amazon Music will bring music creators to the forefront through exclusive content offerings, as well as live performances, an immersive red carpet and backstage interviews that will be livestreamed on the Amazon Music UK Twitch channel in 2023.
Tom Gray, chair of The Ivors Academy, said, “Globally, songwriters are justly demanding the recognition that they deserve. As we push back against the historic undervaluing of the song and songwriter, we are delighted to collaborate with Amazon Music to celebrate songwriters, explore their craft and firmly place their value and originality at the centre of music. Together, we will make sure that The Ivors is recognised around the world as the most important celebration of songwriting.”
Amazon Music will integrate this year’s Rising Star nominees into their global developing artist program, Breakthrough, which provides long-term, customized global plans for emerging artists. This support includes video and audio content, global marketing, increased visibility across Amazon Music playlists and programming and high-profile Amazon Original tracks available only on Amazon Music.
Tom Winkler, head of songwriter, publisher and society relations for Amazon Music explains, “By globally amplifying the exceptional work of The Ivors Academy, Amazon Music will continue to celebrate songwriters and empower fans to discover the craft behind the music.”
To commemorate Sting’s honor, an unheard, Amazon Original demo of “If It’s Love,” taken from the musician’s most recent studio album, 2021’s The Bridge, is being released exclusively via Amazon Music. This is the seventh installment of the newly-launched demos program, which provides Amazon Music customers with the opportunity to hear demos of artists’ songs. Previous demo releases include songs by Walker Hayes and Maren Morris.
As we reported earlier on Wednesday (Feb. 15), Tim Rice is this year’s recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award, the top honor given by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Rice joins a long list of Mercer Award recipients which includes Burt Bacharach & Hal David, Paul Simon, Stephen Sondheim, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Dolly Parton and Neil Diamond.
Mercer died in 1976, so you can be excused if you don’t know all that much about him. Mercer was a top lyricist of the Great American Songbook era, but his creative peak extended beyond that era. He won back-to-back Oscars in 1962-63 for co-writing “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses.” Henry Mancini, who composed both of those hits, saluted Mercer with a memorable line from “Moon River” when they won for “Days of Wine and Roses,” saying “and my huckleberry friend, Johnny Mercer.”
Mercer’s other most famous songs include “Hooray for Hollywood” (a perennial on the Oscars), “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)” (a classic saloon song that is one of Frank Sinatra’s signature hits), “Summer Wind” (another Sinatra classic from 1966), “Fools Rush In” (which Rick Nelson revived in 1963), “Dream” (one of the most melancholy ballads of the World War II years), “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate-the-Positive” (it appeared recently in M3GAN), “I’m an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)” (Lucy and Ethel sang it on a 1954 episode of I Love Lucy), “That Old Black Magic” (Louis Prima & Keely Smith’s classic version was a winner at the first Grammy Awards) and “I Wanna Be Around” (Tony Bennett’s highest-charting Hot 100 hit).
Here are more Mercer songs you probably know: “Autumn Leaves,” “Blues in the Night,” “Jeepers, Creepers!,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “I Remember You,” “Charade,” “Skylark” and “Too Marvelous for Words.”
Scan these 13 Fun Facts and learn more about the man for whom the Songwriters Hall of Fame named their top award.
Tim Rice will be the 2023 recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award at the 52nd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner, which is slated for Thursday, June 15, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
Rice, who teamed with Andrew Lloyd Webber to write such classics as Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, is the first songwriter primarily known for his work in theater to receive this award since Stephen Sondheim in 1999.
Rice is the second EGOT recipient to receive the Johnny Mercer Award – following Alan Menken. The two songwriters shared an Oscar and three Grammys for their work on Aladdin.
He’s the fifth songwriter or songwriting team from the U.K. to receive the honor, following Jule Styne (1993), Phil Collins (2010), Elton John & Bernie Taupin (2013) and Van Morrison (2015).
The Mercer Award, the SHOF’s highest honor, is reserved for a songwriter or songwriting team who has already been inducted in a prior year and whose body of work upholds the standards set by Johnny Mercer, a four-time Oscar-winner.
“I am truly honoured to be chosen to receive the Johnny Mercer Award,” Rice said in a statement. “My induction into the SHOF in 1999 was itself a highlight of my writing career and I never expected to receive any further recognition from the most distinguished gathering of songwriters in the world. So, I am bowled over (a cricketing metaphor) with gratitude. I have attended quite a few SHOF events in the past 25 years and they have always been among the most enjoyable of entertainment world extravaganzas – unpretentious, unpredictable, and spectacular. So, June 15, 2023, is a golden booking in my electronic diary.”
Inductees at this year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner are Sade Adu, Glen Ballard, Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne, Teddy Riley and Liz Rose. The recipient of a second honorary award, the Hal David Starlight Award, will be announced at a later date.
SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said, “Tim Rice is an artisan. He has crafted some of the greatest lyrics and stories in musical history with Jesus Christ Superstar, and his incredible work with Andrew Lloyd Webber being amongst my favorites.”
Rice has won an Emmy, five Grammys, three Oscars and three Tonys. He won an Oscar and three Grammys for his work on Aladdin; two Tonys, a Grammy and an Oscar for Evita and its film adaptation; a Tony and a Grammy for Aida; an Oscar for The Lion King and an Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert.
Rice has worked in music, theatre, and films since 1965. In addition to his work with Webber, Rice has worked with such other top composers as Elton John (The Lion King, Aida), Menken (Aladdin, King David, Beauty and the Beast) and Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (Chess). He has also written with Freddie Mercury, Burt Bacharach and Rick Wakeman, among others.
Rice’s recent musical From Here to Eternity returned to London in November 2022. A new Broadway presentation of Chess is set to open in the fall of 2023. In early 2024, a new production of Aida will make its U.K/West End début. Rice is currently writing and presenting a podcast, Get Onto My Cloud, in which he reminisces about his years in music, theater and film.