NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group (UMG), will be honored by Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) as the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award at the Annual Induction and Awards Dinner slated for Thursday, June 14th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
The Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award, named after one of the SHOF’s distinguished founders, is specifically tailored for an artist or “star maker” in the music industry who has been responsible for a substantial number of hit songs for an extended period, and most importantly, recognizes the genuine significance of the song and songwriter.
Previous Hitmaker Award honorees include Garth Brooks, Clive Davis, Gloria Estefan, Whitney Houston, Sir Tom Jones, Doug Morris, Phil Ramone, Diana Ross and Seymour Stein.
“While today Sir Lucian runs the world’s leading music company, he began his career nearly 40 years ago as a ‘song plugger’ for April Blackwood Music. His career in music publishing continued over the years, including launching Polygram Music Publishing U.K. and building it into one of the biggest publishers. He epitomizes what the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award represents,” said SHOF Co-Chairs Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff.
SHOF President and CEO, Linda Moran, stated, “Throughout his rise to the top of the music industry, from ‘song plugger’ to a mega power player and star maker, Sir Lucian, has always recognized that it all truly begins with a song and has never ceased championing songwriters.”
