John Mellencamp To Be Honored With Prestigious ASCAP Founders Award

JOHN MELLENCAMP TO BE HONORED WITH PRESTIGIOUS ASCAP FOUNDERS AWARD; AT 2016 ASCAP POP MUSIC AWARDS IN LOS ANGELES, APRIL 27

NEW YORK, March 30, 2016 -- ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, will present acclaimed songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member John Mellencamp with its prestigious Founders Award at the 33rd annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards on April 27.  The exclusive, invitation-only gala, which celebrates the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP’s most performed pop songs of 2015, takes place at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.

“For the last four decades, John Mellencamp has captured the American experience in his songs,” said ASCAP President Paul Williams. “His infectious melodies and compassionate lyrics, wrapped in workingman’s rock, crystallize life’s joys and struggles and illuminate the human condition. A national treasure, he’s also one of the truly great music creators that can make us care, move, clap and sing along.”

The ASCAP Founders Award goes to pioneering ASCAP songwriters who have made exceptional contributions to music by inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators. Past recipients include Ashford & Simpson, Burt Bacharach & Hal David, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, Annie Lennox, Sir Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Tom Petty, Smokey Robinson, Carly Simon, Patti Smith, Steely Dan, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Tom Waits, Ann & Nancy Wilson (Heart), Stevie Wonder and Neil Young.

John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp’s career in music, spanning more than 35 years, has seen him transition from pop star to one of the most highly regarded songwriters of a generation. The Voice of The Heartland continued to evolve artistically with Plain Spoken, John's 22nd full-length album. Mellencamp is incredibly acclaimed. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a Grammy winner, a recipient of the John Steinbeck Award, ASCAP Foundation’s Champion Award, The Woody Guthrie Award and Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also one of the most successful live concert performers in the world. The social activism reflected in his songs helped catalyze Farm Aid, the concert series and organization that has addressed the struggle of American family farmers for more than 25 years. John recently completed an 80-city tour in North America and Canada that began in January 2015 and will see Mellencamp hitting 13 all-new cities kicking off on April 1 in Tulsa. John continues to focus on another facet of his artistic expression: painting. His style has progressed over the years as evidenced by several gallery shows and published portfolios, and in recent years he has increased his output by completing over 100 new works. His pieces were shown in 2012 at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville under the title “Nothing Like I Planned: The Art Of John Mellencamp” and, more recently at the Butler Institute of American Art in an exhibition entitled “The Paintings Of John Mellencamp.” “The Paintings of John Mellencamp” traveled to the Museum of Art-DeLand, Florida and John’s art is at ACA Gallery in New York. The unique instrumentation of his band and his poignant songs about everyday life in the American heartland, are widely credited with being the forbearer of the Americana/No Depression genre of rural-inflected music. An extraordinary collaboration 16 years in the making performed by an ensemble cast of 15 actors and a four-piece live band, comprised of members of John Mellencamp’s band is The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a musical with music and lyrics by John Mellencamp, a libretto by author Stephen King and production by T Bone Burnett. John is currently working on a new album featuring Carlene Carter.