LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - November 07, 2016) - Today The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) reveal the recipients of the ASCAP Vanguard Award. Jess Glynne and MNEK will both be honoured with the award at the 2016 ASCAP Awards, London. The annual celebration of songwriters and composers will take place on Thursday 10 November 2016 at One Embankment.
The Vanguard Award recognizes the impact of outstanding ASCAP members on musical genres that will help shape the future of music. Previous recipients include Walk The Moon, St. Vincent, fun., Kendrick Lamar, Diplo, Calvin Harris, Janelle Monáe and more.
Jess Glynne is a Grammy Award-winning pop singer, songwriter and performer. She is the biggest selling debut UK artist of 2015 having achieved a record-breaking five #1 singles which have sold over 10 million copies and a #1 debut album which has sold over 1.7 million copies worldwide. At the end of the year she will embark on her first highly anticipated UK arena tour.
MNEK has also achieved numerous accolades over the past few years. Grammy Award-nominated and aged just 21, he is a luminary songwriter and producer who, in addition to his own artist career, has been involved with 13 UK Top 20 singles.
MNEK's most recent hit single "Never Forget You" has achieved over 3.5 Million sales globally.
ASCAP President Paul Williams said: "We are thrilled to honour both Jess Glynne and MNEK with the ASCAP Vanguard Award. Both artists are extremely unique British talents. Jess has reached a multigenerational demographic with her soulful pop music and inspired songwriting. MNEK's outstanding songs for superstars such as Beyoncé, Madonna and Kylie Minogue have made him an unmistakable force in music."
Jess said: "The Vanguard award marks the end of a special couple of years for me. To be recognised not only by the public but by your peers, by other songwriters, for the music you are making is so heart-warming. When I look at the names that have won these awards on both sides of the Atlantic I can't even believe that I have been put in such a category. I just want to say thank you so much and I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."
MNEK said: "I am so grateful to have won this award. My first love and passion is music and writing songs, so to be recognized in this extraordinary way by my peers, friends and colleagues is simply incredible. I am honoured and humbled by this wonderful accolade -- It's a really dope feeling!"
As previously announced, the ASCAP Awards, London will include the presentation of the prestigious ASCAP Golden Note Award to Duran Duran, as well as the announcements of the ASCAP Global Impact, Song of the Year, Top Digital Song, Top EDM Song and Film Score of the Year. The evening will be attended by some of the top names in the music and entertainment industry.
The 2016 ASCAP Awards, London take place on Thursday 10 November at One Embankment.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business -- from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With 600,000 members representing more than 10 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook.
About Jess Glynne
The deep and soulful vocal tone of London-based Jess Glynne became widely known when streams of "My Love," her collaboration with Route 94 -- the house-focused alias of dubstep producer Dream -- appeared online in late 2013. The track went on to hit the U.K. #1 spot in March 2014, but not before "Rather Be," featuring another Glynne guest spot -- this time with the inventive chamber music-meets-house act Clean Bandit -- had reached the same chart position that January. "Home," a solo track produced and written by Bless Beats of Big Life Management, appeared online that February. Two further singles became Glynne's first to chart under her own name: both "Right Here" and "Real Love" (the latter featuring Clean Bandit again) hit the British Top Ten before the end of the year. In 2015 Glynne hit #1 again as a featured act (on Tinie Tempah's "Not Letting Go"), but she also topped the chart as a solo act with "Hold My Hand." Glynne's debut full-length, I Cry When I Laugh, followed in August of 2015 on Atlantic. Buoyed by her success on the singles charts, I Cry When I Laugh debuted at #1 on the U.K. albums chart.
About MNEK
Born to Nigerian parents in the South London district of Lewisham, Uzoechi Osisioma Emenike -- better known as MNEK -- had been involved in the creation of two U.K. #1 singles before he reached the age of 19. Although he started using the MNEK moniker in 2008, he'd already been creating '80s and '90s soul-inspired pop for a good four years. Recognition of his songwriting talent came in the form of a deal with EMI Publishing in 2009, but it was another two years before his debut solo single, "If Truth Be Told," was issued on Moshi Moshi Records. During this period, Brian Higgins of the Xenomania songwriting and production team enlisted his help on the Saturdays' track "All Fired Up." Not only did the single hit the Top Ten in the U.K., but a MNEK-penned lyric from the track went on to inspire the title of the British-Irish group's third studio album, On Your Radar. Summer 2012 brought further success when MNEK co-wrote and produced "Home Run," the debut single by Manchester-born, eighth-season X Factor semifinalist Misha B. Little Mix, the winners of that same series, also benefited from his programming work on their July 2012 U.K. #1, "Wings." Early the following year, MNEK co-wrote Duke Dumont's house-inspired U.K. #1 "Need U (100%)," and was also involved in the composition of four tracks on Home, the debut album from London-based electronic act Rudimental. In 2014, he was featured on the British Top Ten hit "Ready for Your Love" by Gorgon City, while his own "Every Little Word" and "Wrote a Song About You" entered the British singles chart as well. Those two songs, as well as "The Rhythm" -- his first solo U.K. Top 40 hit -- formed the basis of the 2015 EP Small Talk. A July single featuring vocals by Swedish vocalist Zara Larsson, "Never Forget You," reached the Top Ten across Europe, including #1 in Larsson's native country.
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