According to the BBC...

 

Motown Records founder Berry Gordy will receive the Pioneer Award at this year's Songwriters Hall of Fame gala.

The producer signed the likes of Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson Five to his Detroit label.

The award, established in 2012, honours those who have had a "major influence on generations of songwriters", said Hall of Fame chairman Jimmy Webb.

The ceremony takes place on 13 June in New York, where a newmusical based on Gordy's life has just made its debut.

Gordy, 83, will be the first living person to receive the accolade, which was posthumously awarded to folk singer Woody Guthrie last year.

Webb, writer of such Glen Campbell hits as Wichita Lineman and Galveston, described Gordy as "an innovator and a visionary".

"He created a label but more than that, he created a genre," Webb said. "He pioneered a marketplace for African-American artistry and then he invited the world in to enjoy it.

"Berry Gordy and the Motown sound are essential to the American music story."

 

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21767921

 

 

 

1st living person to receive the award, well deserved too.