Hal David Starlight Award

SZA will receive the Hal David Starlight Award at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards dinner on Thursday, June 13, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
The award, named after the late lyricist and SHOF chairman emeritus, is presented to “gifted young songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry with their original songs,” according to the announcement.

It is meant as a balance to the Johnny Mercer Award, the organization’s top award, which is a career-capping honor. This year’s Mercer Award will be presented to Diane Warren. This marks only the second time that both the Mercer Award and the Hal David Starlight Award will be presented to female artists. In 2019, Carole Bayer Sager took the Mercer prize, while Halsey won the Starlight Award.

SZA will become the second Black woman to receive the honor, following Alicia Keys in 2005.

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SZA and Warren competed for an Academy Award for best original song in 2019. SZA was nominated for co-writing “All the Stars” from Black Panther; Warren for writing “I’ll Fight” from RBG, a documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Neither song won. The award went to “Shallow” from A Star Is Born.

The “Snooze” singer was the most nominated artist at the 66th annual Grammy Awards, with nine nods. She won three Grammys in February for her sophomore album SOS, though she lost the top prize, album of the year, to Taylor Swift (the 2010 recipient of the Hal David Starlight Award).

“This is such an exciting time for songwriters and music,” SHOF chairman Nile Rodgers said in a statement. “Phenomenal artists like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are pushing the envelope of what success looks like, but who could argue that the last two years belong to SZA. Incredible songwriting, incredible performances, incredible artistry.  She so deserves to be the 2024 recipient of the Hal David Starlight Award!”

SOS topped the all-genre Billboard 200 for 10 weeks and headed Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 24 weeks. “Kill Bill” and “Snooze” reached No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.

Previously announced 2024 inductees are Hillary Lindsey; Timothy Mosley (aka Timbaland); Dean Pitchford; R.E.M. (Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe) and Steely Dan (Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker).

Here’s the complete list of recipients of the Hal David Starlight Award.

2004: Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty)

2005: Alicia Keys

2006: John Mayer

2007: John Legend

2008: John Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls)

2009: Jason Mraz

2010: Taylor Swift

2011: Drake

2012: Ne-Yo

2013: Benny Blanco

2014: Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons)

2015: Nate Ruess (fun.)

2016: Nick Jonas (Jonas Brothers)

2017: Ed Sheeran

2018: Sara Bareilles

2019: Halsey

2022: Lil Nas X

2023: Post Malone

2024: SZA

The Songwriters Hall of Fame announced on Thursday (May 4) that Post Malone will receive the Hal David Starlight Award at its 2023 Induction and Awards Dinner, which is slated for Thursday, June 15, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.
According to the SHOF, Hal David Starlight Award recipients are “gifted young songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry with their original songs.” The award, named after the lyricist who is best known for the many classic hits he co-wrote with Burt Bacharach, was introduced in 2004. Rob Thomas was the first recipient.

None of the Starlight honorees have yet been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, but many are expected to be as they become eligible. Songwriters become eligible 20 years after their first song gained wide exposure. Five early recipients of the Starlight Award – Thomas, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, John Rzeznik and Jason Mraz – are already eligible. (Mraz’s breakthrough hit first made the Billboard Hot 100 20 years ago this week.)

Most of the Starlight Award honorees are best known for their solo work, but a handful are also known for their work with groups – Thomas (Matchbox Twenty), Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls), Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons), Nate Ruess (Fun.) and Nick Jonas (Jonas Brothers).

One Starlight recipient, Benny Blanco, is best-known for songs he has written for other artists. Blanco didn’t hit the Hot 100 as an artist until 2018, when he scored with “Eastside,” a collab with Halsey (another Starlight recipient) and Khalid.

Three of the Starlight Award recipients — Keys, John Legend and Ruess (as a member of Fun.) won the Grammy Award for best new artist, which is a similar vote of confidence in a promising young talent.

The SHOF’s inner circle selects the nominees for each year’s induction class. The final choices are made by the Hall’s voting members. But you could give the SHOF a little guidance on which recipient of the Hal David Starlight Award you would most like to see voted in. Are you pulling for Keys, who was the first woman to receive the honor? Legend, who went on to become an EGOT? Drake, the first hip-hop artist/writer to be honored? Ed Sheeran, the only Brit to receive the honor? Taylor Swift, who was mostly known as a country artist when she got the honor in 2010, but has since made a spectacular transition to pop?

Here’s a complete list of winners of the Hal David Starlight Award (with the year they received the honor). Who do you think is most deserving of a spot in the Songwriters Hall of Fame? Vote!

Post Malone is slated to receive the Hal David Starlight Award at the 2023 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner, which will be held Thursday, June 15, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.
SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said in a statement, “Over the last few years I have had the pleasure of watching Posty become one of the biggest artists in the world and he’s done it by writing phenomenal songs. Way before Post Malone was a superstar, he was a great songwriter, and this is his first step into the Songwriters Hall of Fame!”

According to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Hal David Starlight Award recipients are “gifted young songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry with their original songs.” The award is meant as a balance to the Johnny Mercer Award, which is a career capper for a legendary writer. Tim Rice is this year’s winner of the Johnny Mercer Award.

Post Malone is the third recipient of the Starlight Award who hails from the world of hip-hop, following Drake, the 2011 recipient, and Lil Nas X, who received the honor last year.

Post Malone, a Universal Music Publishing Group writer, has amassed 10 Grammy nominations – though he has yet to win. His nominations include three consecutive nods for record of the year, for “Rockstar” (featuring 21 Savage), “Sunflower” (a collab with Swae Lee) and “Circles.” The latter song was also nominated for song of the year – Post Malone’s only songwriting nod to date. Posty (real name: Austin Post) co-wrote that silky smash with Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk and Billy Walsh. He has also nabbed two album of the year nods for beerbongs & bentleys and Hollywood’s Bleeding.

“Rockstar,” “Sunflower” and “Circles” all reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as did “Psycho” (featuring Ty Dolla $ign). Both of the aforementioned albums had long runs at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Inductees at the 52nd Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner are Glen Ballard, Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne, Teddy Riley and Liz Rose. (Sade Adu had to defer her induction due to a schedule change.)

Songwriters become eligible for SHOF induction 20 years after their first song gained wide exposure. None of the Starlight honorees (see complete list below) have yet been inducted, but many are expected to be as they reach that two-decade mark.

The Starlight Award is named in honor of Hal David, who teamed with Burt Bacharach to write dozens of pop hits from the late ‘50s to the early ‘70s. Bacharach and David were elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972 and received the Johnny Mercer Award in 1996. Their 1965 classic, “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” received the organization’s Towering Song award in 2004. It was voted into the National Recording Registry this year.

Bacharach and David received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 1997. In 2012, they became the first songwriting team to win the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

David was chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame from 2000-10, and served as chairman emeritus from 2010 until his death in 2012. He was awarded the organization’s first Visionary Leadership Award in 2011.

Tickets for the Songwriters Hall of Fame event begin at $2,000 each and are available through Buckley Hall Events, 914-579-1000, and SHOF@buckleyhallevents.com. Net proceeds from the event will go toward the Songwriters Hall of Fame programs. Songwriters Hall of Fame is a 501(c)3 organization. Contributions are fully tax-deductible as provided by law. The non-deductible portion of each ticket is $215.

Here’s a complete list of past winners of the Hal David Starlight Award.

2022: Lil Nas X

2019: Halsey

2018: Sara Bareilles

2017: Ed Sheeran

2016: Nick Jonas

2015: Nate Ruess

2014: Dan Reynolds

2013: Benny Blanco

2012: Ne-Yo

2011: Drake

2010: Taylor Swift

2009: Jason Mraz

2008: John Rzeznik

2007: John Legend

2006: John Mayer

2005: Alicia Keys

2004: Rob Thomas