May 05, 2006 11:32 ET

Annie Lennox and Green Day to Be Honored at the 23rd Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 5, 2006 -- The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) will honor Annie Lennox and Green Day at its 23rd Annual Pop Music Awards on May 22, 2006 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Lennox will be presented with the ASCAP Founders Award and Green Day will receive the ASCAP Creative Voice Award. The black tie gala will also honor the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's most performed songs of 2005.

Academy Award-winning songwriter Annie Lennox is one of the most influential singer/songwriters of our time. She came to prominence in the 1980s as part of the super-duo the Eurythmics with Dave Stewart and has gone on to a celebrated solo career. A true innovator in every sense of the word, Lennox has done it all with no compromise. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including four Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, Ivor Novello Awards, and the prestigious Billboard Century Award in 2002. In 2004, Lennox won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for her work on the original song, "Into The West," from the film "Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King."

The ASCAP Founders Award honors pioneering songwriters who have made exceptional contributions to music inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators. Each recipient is a musical innovator possessing a unique style of songwriting genius enriching future generations. Past Founders Award recipients include Ashford and Simpson, Burt Bacharach & Hal David, Garth Brooks, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, James Taylor, Tom Waits, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young.

ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman said, "Annie Lennox is one of the finest musical voices of our time -- unlike any other, uncompromising and unpredictable. Annie has worn every musical garment possible: Scottish folk singer, jazz singer, punk, rock -- changing her image, but never her commitment to originality and excellence. We are so pleased to honor the multi-talented Annie Lennox with ASCAP's Founders Award this year. Annie will join a very elite group of our Founders Award-winning songwriters, and we are proud to add her name to this list."

ASCAP will also present its Creative Voice Award to multi-Grammy Award winners Green Day. The ASCAP Creative Voice Award, presented for the first time to Metallica in 2004, is bestowed upon an ASCAP member or group whose significant career achievements are equally informed by their creative spirit and by their contributions to the role that a creator can play in their community.

Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool), one of the most popular and influential rock bands of the past decade, emerged from Northern California's underground scene with a large cult following in the early 90s. Their audience became international with the release of their Grammy-winning major label debut, "Dookie," in 1994. The disc featured such best-selling singles as "Longview" and "Basket Case," and has sold ten million copies to date. Over the years, Green Day have continued their chart-topping ways, with each one of their studio albums reaching the Top Ten -- 2004's "American Idiot," a critical favorite, debuted at #1. Green Day's latest effort, "Bullet in a Bible," a live album, is another smash. Green Day are known for their outrageous humor and frenzied live performances, but at the heart of the group's success is songcraft. Their ability to create memorable songs with lyrics that speak to their audience has made them a mainstay of contemporary music.

"Both as singers and songwriters, Green Day is one of the most musically ambitious, innovative groups, as relevant today as when they emerged on the scene as new artists. Never shrinking from controversy, gaining strength from album to album, the ASCAP Creative Voice Award is an honor they richly deserve,'' said Marilyn Bergman.

About ASCAP

Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 240,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members. ASCAP also represents the repertories created by the international affiliates of 70 foreign performing rights organizations. 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 Performing Rights Organization owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. www.ascap.com

MEDIA, PLEASE NOTE: For information on how to apply for credentials to cover the 23rd Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards, please go to ASCAP's Press Room (www.ascap.com/press), and follow the directions posted.