Wednesday Video Spotlight: Drake to receive Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Hal David Starlight Award
Oklahoma native and Songwriters Hall of Fame Chairman Jimmy Webb announced recently that rising hip-hop star Drake will be the recipient of the prestigious Hal David Starlight Award, to be presented at the 42nd Annual Induction and Awards Dinner June 16 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
Drake is one of music’s brightest new stars lauded for his songwriting prowess, melodious hooks and emotionally transparent performances. His genre-bending singing and rapping abilities earned him a recording deal with Aspire/Young Money/Cash Money in 2009, the same year The Recording Academy awarded him two Grammy nominations (Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song) for his single “Best I Ever Had.” This opus, featured on his mixtape/EP So Far Gone, spent more weeks perched at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart than any other debut single this decade.
Drake’s platinum selling debut, “Thank Me Later,” landed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart with nearly 450,000 sold during its first week of release. This feat led to four additional Grammy nominations this year for Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance (“Over”), and Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group (“Fancy” featuring T.I. and Swizz Beatz). Drake’s skill of commanding a diverse audience through composition solidifies his position in the pantheon of great songwriters of this generation.
“Drake shines as a talented songwriter with a unique vision,” Webb said in a news release, “and we are pleased to honor him with the prestigious Hal David Starlight Award.”
And in honor of the aware, Drake is featured in the Wednesday Video Spotlight today here at BAM’s Blog.
Drake
The Hal David Starlight Award, created in 2004, was renamed in honor of the former songwriters hall chairman Hal David for his longtime support of young songwriters. Award recipients are gifted songwriters who are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs. Drake joins the prestigious company of Rob Thomas, Alicia Keys, John Mayer, John Legend, John Rzeznik, Jason Mraz and Taylor Swift – the past recipients of the Hal David Starlight Award.
This year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees include Owasso resident Garth Brooks, Lawton native Leon Russell, John Bettis, Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly and Allen Toussaint. The prestigious Johnny Mercer Award will be presented to Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
About The Songwriters Hall of Fame:
The Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates songwriters, educates the public with regard to their achievements, and produces a spectrum of professional programs devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. There are fewer than 400 inductees who make up the impressive roster enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The list includes Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland, Albert Hammond, Desmond Child, Paul Williams, Hal David and Burt Bacharach, John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Richard and Robert Sherman, Carole King, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Curtis Mayfield, Jim Croce, Phil Collins, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Loretta Lynn, Jimmy Webb, Van Morrison, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Diane Warren and Leonard Cohen among many others.
Tickets for the Songwriters Hall of Fame event begin at $1,000 each, and are available through Buckley Hall Events at (212) 573-6933. Net proceeds from the event will go towards the Songwriters Hall of Fame programs.
-BAM
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