Carsten Windhorst; Danielle St. Laurent

Carsten Windhorst; Danielle St. LaurentOn May 16 in Beverly Hills, CA, Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne and founding Blondie members Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke will be honored by the performance-rights organization ASCAP at its 2019 Pop Music Awards.

Lynne will receive the ASCAP Founders Award, the organization’s highest honor, which is given to songwriters who’ve made noteworthy contributions to the music industry by inspiring and influencing other artists to create music.

“Jeff Lynne has led a singular career and we are all fortunate that his musical genius has been felt so widely,” says ASCAP President Paul Williams. “His legendary stature is well-deserved and ASCAP is very proud to present him with our highest honor.”

Harry, Stein and Burke will be honored with the ASCAP Golden Note award, which salutes songwriters, composers and artists who have achieved exceptional milestones during their career.

Williams notes that Harry, Stein and Burke “electrified an underground music scene and later, mainstream listeners, when they married punk and pop with Debbie’s enviably cool lyrics and voice. Their experimentation with nearly every genre — rock, punk, reggae, rap, disco — anchored by their roots in great songwriting, is what truly sets them apart.”

Previous Founders Award recipients include Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, The Eagles‘ Glenn Frey and Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, Jackson Browne, Steely Dan, Neil Young, Heart‘s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Tom Petty, Patti Smith, John Mellencamp and KISS‘ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

Among those who have received the Golden Note honor are Duran Duran and Lindsay Buckingham.

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