NEW YORK (NYCRA Official Website) - The New York Chapter of the Recording Academy has selected Marc Anthony, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Clive Davis, Beverly Sills, and Dionne Warwick as its 2002 New York Heroes Award recipients, it was announced today. Recording artist Mariah Carey, Atlantic Records Founder and Chairman Ahmet Ertegun, and N.Y. Chapter President and GRAMMY- nominated songwriter Phil Galdston are among those scheduled to make presentations at the exclusive affair, which will be held on Wednesday, December 11 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. Other presenters and participants will be announced shortly.
Proceeds from the VIP event -- which attracts recording artists as well as leaders of the cultural community and entertainment industry -- will be dedicated to the education and community outreach programs of the Academy's New York Chapter. This year, BMG is the presenting sponsor of the event. ASCAP, BMI, and the Toys 'R Us Foundation are participating sponsors.
"The Board of the New York Chapter of the Recording Academy is thrilled to honor Marc Anthony, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Clive Davis, Beverly Sills, and Dionne Warwick with our Heroes Award -- the highest honor we bestow," said Galdston. "Each of these special artists has created his or her own unique legacy in the music industry, and each has contributed significantly both to the music community and to the community at large. They have inspired us, and continue to do so. The New York Chapter is proud to recognize an outstanding group of peers who have become our heroes."
In its seventh year, the New York Heroes Awards honors outstanding individuals whose creative talents and accomplishments cross all musical boundaries and who are integral to the vitality of the music community. The Heroes Award is the highest honor bestowed by the New York Chapter and recipients embody the high standards of excellence and integrity that the Academy champions and promotes.
The 2002 honorees continue the tradition of past recipients who have reflected the astounding diversity of talent and achievement in our music community.
Marc Anthony is one of the hottest pop artists on today's music scene. After becoming a major star among Latin listeners, he made his English-language debut with the 1999 album Marc Anthony. That album launched the hit single "D�melo (I Need to Know)," which won a Latin GRAMMY Award for Song Of The Year at the first-ever Latin GRAMMY Awards in 2000. Also a GRAMMY winner, Anthony's album Contra La Corriente won a Best Tropical Latin Performance GRAMMY at the 41st Annual GRAMMY Awards.
Burt Bacharach and Hal Davis are among pop music's greatest songwriting teams. Songs in their catalog include "Don't Make Me Over," "What the World Needs Now Is Love," "The Look Of Love," "Raindrops Keeps Fallin' On My Head," and "(They Long To Be) Close To You." They also have each achieved great success penning hits with other writing partners. In addition, David has served as president of ASCAP and the Songwriters' Hall of Fame, while Bacharach also has found success as a recording artist. Together they received the Academy's National Trustees Award in 1997, as well as a GRAMMY for Best Score From An Original Cast Show Album at the 12th Annual GRAMMY Awards for the album Promises, Promises.
Clive Davis, Chairman and CEO of J Records, is the legendary executive who opened Columbia Records to the world of contemporary rock, founded Arista Records in 1975, and nurtured many of today's top musical artists. He is considered one of the recording industry's most creative and influential executives. Among the artists who owe their success to his guidance are Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow, Kenny G and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. In 2000, Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the only non-performer in a class with other legends such as Eric Clapton, Earth, Wind & Fire and James Taylor.
Beverly Sills has always been a favorite of the opera public and among the most effective spokespersons the arts have had in America. As one of the world's great sopranos, Sills performed with the New York City Opera for more than two decades. Following her retirement as a performer in 1991, she joined the board of the Metropolitan Opera, and four years later became head of New York's Lincoln Center, from which she is soon to retire.
Five-time GRAMMY-winner Dionne Warwick is a unique figure in popular music with her aching alto voice and is considered among the most sophisticated interpreters of pop music. Her hits include "Don't Make Me Over," "Walk On By," "(Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls," "Do You Know The Way To San Jose" "Anyone Who Had A Heart," "I'll Never Love This Way Again," and "That's What Friends Are For."
Past Heroes Awards recipients include Tony Bennett, Mary J. Blige, Michael Bolton, Chuck D, LL Cool J, Philip Glass, B.B. King, Carole King, KISS, Linda Moran, Bernadette Peters, Tito Puente, Lou Reed, Diana Ross, Salt 'N Pepa, Russell Simmons, and Carly Simon.
