Van Morrison To Receive Johnny Mercer Award At Songwriters Hall Of Fame

Van Morrison (Credit: Bradley Quinn)

VAN MORRISON will receive the prestigious JOHNNY MERCER AWARD at the SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME's 46th ANNUAL INDUCTION AND AWARDS DINNER on THURSDAY, JUNE 18th at the MARRIOTT MARQUIS HOTEL in NEW YORK CITY (NET NEWS, 2/18).

"We are thrilled to be honoring the songwriter who has combined CELTIC fire with rhythm & blues in an unforgettable way,” said SHOF Pres./CEO LINDA MORAN. "VAN MORRISON and his songs have been a powerful cultural force on both sides of the ATLANTIC for five decades."

The JOHNNY MERCER AWARD, the highest honor bestowed by the SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME, is exclusively reserved for a songwriter or songwriting team who has already been inducted 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 songwriter who gives the award his name. VAN MORRISON was inducted into the SHOF in 2003.

MORRISON won six GRAMMY AWARDS, was inducted into THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME in 1993 and garnered other accolades, including the IVOR NOVELLO AWARD for LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT in 1995 and a BMI ICON award in 2004. He just released "Duets: Re-Working The Catalogue," featuring collaborations with BOBBY WOMACK, STEVE WINWOOD, MARK KNOPFLER, MAVIS STAPLES, NATALIE COLE, JOSS STONE and MICHAEL BUBLE, among others.

Past JOHNNY MERCER AWARD recipients have included GAMBLE & HUFF, ELTON JOHN & BERNIE TAUPIN, BARRY MANN & CYNTHIA WEIL, PHIL COLLINS, HOLLAND-DOZIER-HOLLAND, PAUL ANKA, DOLLY PARTON, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, SMOKEY ROBINSON, STEVIE WONDER, CAROLE KING, BILLY JOEL, JIMMY WEBB, HAL DAVID & BURT BACHARACH, LEIBER & STOLLER, PAUL SIMON, ALAN & MARILYN BERGMAN, STEPHEN SONDHEIM, CY COLEMAN, SAMMY CAHN and JULE STYNE.

Inductees at this year’s event include BOBBY BRADDOCK, WILLIE DIXON, ROBERT HUNGER & JERRY GARCIA, TOBY KEITH, CYNDI LAUPER and LINDA PERRY. FUN.’s NATE RUESS will receive the HAL DAVID STARLIGHT AWARD (NET NEWS, 3/18).

Full biographies and a complete list of inductees are available at the SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME's VIRTUAL MUSEUM at http://songwritershalloffame.org/.  Joining online is quick and easy: http://songhall.org/join 

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