LOS ANGELES, CA and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - April 6, 2010) - ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) will honor The Killers at its 27th annual Pop Music Awards, taking place April 21, 2010 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. The Las Vegas quartet will be presented with ASCAP's Vanguard Award, which recognizes the impact of musical genres that help shape the future of American music.
As announced previously, rock icon Patti Smith will be honored with ASCAP's Founders Award and will perform with her band at the awards ceremony. Also confirmed to perform are some of ASCAP's 2009 Pop Award-winning songwriters, including Jason Mraz, All-American Rejects and Jessi Alexander, who wrote the hit song "The Climb" for Miley Cyrus.
The annual, invitation-only event salutes the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's most performed pop songs of the previous year, with top awards being presented to the Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year and Publisher of the Year.
Past ASCAP Vanguard Award honorees include Santigold, All-American Rejects, Arcade Fire, The Mars Volta, Jack Johnson, The Strokes, Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Beck, and Bjork.
Formed in Las Vegas in 2002, The Killers belong to a lineage of rock bands that have found both commercial success and critical acclaim. Comprising vocalist/keyboardist Brandon Flowers, guitarist Dave Keuning, bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci, the band quickly rose to the forefront of pop music in the mid-2000s with the release of their debut album, "Hot Fuss," which spawned four singles including "Mr. Brightside" and "Somebody Told Me." With its sexy new wave rock grooves, it became one of the biggest releases in 2004, selling millions of copies worldwide, and led to two years straight of touring. Their second album, 2006's "Sam's Town," took on more of a classic rock sound and revealed the band to be a musically ambitious act with a playful knack for reinvention. The album spent 42 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 and moved 4.4 million units abroad. In 2007, the band released "Sawdust," a compilation album containing B-sides, rarities, and new material. They also found time to fit in appearances on "SNL," "The Tonight Show" and more. Their third studio album, "Day & Age," released in 2008, saw The Killers experiment with new instruments and darker lyrical themes. To date, it has sold over 3 million copies globally. Besides the sales figures, the band has received seven Grammy nods and won a variety of MTV, BRIT and NME awards. They've sold out Madison Square Garden and headlined some of the biggest festivals in Europe.
Members of the press may apply for credentials at http://www.ascap.com/press/pressroom/popawards/.
The ASCAP Pop Music Awards will kick-off the 5th annual ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO, a three-day conference dedicated to songwriting and composing. This year's EXPO features Quincy Jones being interviewed by Ludacris, a conversation with Bill Withers, an interview with John Mayer, and numerous panels, workshops, master classes, One-on-One sessions, song critiquing, networking events, product displays, state-of-the-art technology demonstrations, performances, and more. The EXPO will take place April 22-24, 2010 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, in Los Angeles, CA. For more details, please visit www.ascap.com/expo.
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 380,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with similar foreign organizations so that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world where copyright law exists. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American PRO owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. www.ascap.com