New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The
National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) today announced it will honor singer-songwriter
Garth Brooks at its first-ever virtual Annual Meeting this June.
NMPA President & CEO
David Israelite said, "We have wanted to honor
Garth Brooks for some time, and his incredible words about being remembered as a songwriter first at this year's Gershwin Award for Popular Song compelled us to make this the year. Garth is someone who has created uplifting, joyful and meaningful music for decades. He's brought millions of fans to country music and he's brought this country together in times of hardship. His music has tackled tough issues and his lyrics have transformed everyday life into poetry that is as catchy as it is timeless.
"His career has spanned decades and genres and no one could be more fitting to honor during this challenging time. We are grateful to get to hear from him and thank him for what his songwriting has meant to so many of us."
The NMPA Songwriter Icon Award honors music creators and composers who have contributed greatly to the craft of songwriting. Past recipients include Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Ryan Tedder, Jon Bon Jovi, Pharrell, Steven Tyler,
Diane Warren and Sting. The Award is typically given at NMPA's annual gathering of the music industry in New York City, the evening prior to the Songwriters Hall of Fame gala.
About Garth Brooks:
Garth Brooks is the 7-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, a first for any artist. He is also the first and only artist in history to receive eight Diamond Awards for the now eight albums certified by the RIAA at over 10 million album sales each. He remains the #1-selling solo artist in U.S. history, certified by the RIAA with 156 million album sales. He has received every accolade the recording industry can bestow on an artist.
In January, Billboard announced that
Garth Brooks was the first artist to make it on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s and now 20s. Garth debuted "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" in 1989. Now, with "Dive Bar," a duet he sang with
Blake Shelton, he makes his appearance on the list in 2020. The single inspired a DIVE BAR tour to dive bars in country music capitals around the country which will continue its run of stops through 2022.
Garth has also now gone vinyl with his meticulously-curated vinyl package, LEGACY. This career-defining collection includes No Fences, The Chase, In Pieces,
Fresh Horses and Triple Live, plus CDs with bonus tracks for a total of 7 vinyl albums and 7 CDs in each edition.
In March 2019, Garth launched The Stadium Tour, which has broken stadium attendance records at every stop on the tour so far. Pollstar announced at the end of last year that The
Garth Brooks Stadium Tour was the best selling country music tour of 2019. In 2017, Garth finished the three-and-a-half-year long
Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood. The tour sold over 6.3 million tickets, making it the biggest North American tour in history and the biggest American tour in the world.
Garth also has Inside Studio G, a weekly Facebook Live series. It airs every Monday on Garth's Facebook page at 7:00 PM EST.
