The 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala will feature a special appearance from Diane Warren, who has been named this year’s recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award. The award, to be presented at the ceremony on June 13, is considered to be the institution’s highest honor. It is reserved for songwriters and songwriting teams that have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame and whose catalogue of work matches the quality and standards set by esteemed songwriter Johnny Mercer.
“I’m beyond honored to receive the Johnny Mercer Award, especially looking at the names of the other songwriters who have gotten this great honor,” said Warren, who was inducted in 2001. “When I was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, my mom was there and finally understood that I could make a living and life being what I was born to be and wake up every day loving to be… a songwriter. Now, both she and my dad will be looking down on me with big smiles on their faces. Thank you, Songwriters Hall of Fame.”
Warren has penned dozens of top 10 hits for artists including Cher, Celine Dion, Brandy, Aaliyah, and more over the past four decades. She joins past Johnny Mercer Award recipients Tim Rice, Paul Williams, Carole Bayer Sager, Neil Diamond, Alan Menken, Lionel Richie, Van Morrison, and more.
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“The songwriting community is filled with many special people who have delivered incomparable songs that have made the world go round. Within that special group of people, Diane Warren is unique,” Nile Rodgers, chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, shared in a statement. “She is a force of nature that, despite her enormous success from “Rhythm Of The Night” to “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” and at least 100 (15!) Academy Award nominations, she shows up to write songs every morning at 8 am! I am delighted to see her receive the esteemed Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which is the gold bar standard. Diane is that and more!”
This year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony will also see the induction of a new class of greats, including Hillary Lindsey, Timbaland, Dean Pitchford, Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, and Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.