Holland-Dozier-Holland To Receive Songwriter's Hall Of Fame Johnny Mercer Award During Mercer Centennial Year

NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) - The Songwriter's Hall of Fame, the organization founded by in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond, will award the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award to the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland during the 2009 centennial year celebration of Mercer's life and legacy. The Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards dinner gala is slated for June 18 at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel.

The Johnny Mercer Award is given out yearly and reserved for songwriters who have already been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and whose body of work is of such high quality and impact, that it upholds the gold standard set by the legendary Johnny Mercer. Past Johnny Mercer Award recipients include songwriting giants: Paul Anka, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Billy Joel, Jimmy Webb, Hal David, Burt Bacharach, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Paul Simon, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Stephen Sondheim, Cy Coleman, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.

Mercer would have turned 100 in 2009, and The Johnny Mercer Foundation is coordinating an ambitious, year-long slate of activities celebrating his legacy, including the publication of a new Mercer anthology book, an educational program at Northwestern University, a documentary film to air on PBS, new CD releases, and much more. Additionally, Mercer's hometown Savannah, GA will mount its own year-long program of concerts, galas, historical presentations and cultural activities.

It's almost impossible to go a day without hearing a Johnny Mercer song. Tunes like "Moon River," "Hooray for Hollywood," and "That Old Black Magic" are woven into the fabric of American life. He wrote more than 1500 songs in a career that spanned nearly fifty years. His work appeared in over 90 films and he was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards, winning four. Mercer wrote six Broadway shows, and was himself a top radio personality and recording artist. He co-founded Capitol Records, and nurtured the talents of musical legends such as Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole.