John Fogerty to Receive Johnny Mercer Award at Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala

NEW YORK (AP) - John Fogerty will receive the Johnny Mercer Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame's highest honor, at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala on June 11 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.

The Mercer Award is presented to a songwriter or songwriting team already inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame whose body of work upholds the high standards set by Johnny Mercer, the lyricist behind songs such as "Moon River" and "The Days of Wine and Roses." Fogerty was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.

Fogerty was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of Creedence Clearwater Revival. He is the 12th person to be inducted into the Rock Hall as a performer and to receive the Mercer Award, joining Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Dolly Parton, Phil Collins (inducted with Genesis), Elton John, Van Morrison, Lionel Richie and Neil Diamond.

As the songwriter, singer, lead guitarist, arranger and producer for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fogerty's catalog includes classics such as "Proud Mary" and "Born on the Bayou." Three of his songs - "Fortunate Son," "Bad Moon Rising" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" - have each surpassed one billion streams. Two years after CCR's original, Ike & Tina Turner redefined "Proud Mary" with a soulful version that reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award.

Fogerty topped the Billboard 200 with two Creedence Clearwater Revival albums, "Green River" (1969) and "Cosmo's Factory" (1970), and with his 1985 solo album, "Centerfield." The album's title track is the only song to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. CCR scored nine top 10 hits on the Hot 100, including five that reached No. 2, the most No. 2 hits without ever reaching No. 1 in chart history. Fogerty also landed a solo top 10 hit with "The Old Man Down the Road."

Fogerty won his only Grammy Award in 1998 for best rock album for "Blue Moon Swamp." He has received eight career Grammy nominations, but never in a songwriting category. In 2021, he released his first original song in eight years, "Weeping in the Promised Land," a gospel-tinged reflection on the social and political climate.

BMI has presented Fogerty with the Icon Award (2010), Board of Directors Award (2023) and Troubadour Award (2025). NAMM awarded him the Music for Life honor in 2023. Fogerty also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998.

In 2023, Fogerty regained the publishing rights to his songs after more than 50 years. In 2025, he released "Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years," a 20-track collection produced by Fogerty and his son Shane, with executive production by his wife, Julie, featuring new versions of his most well-known songs.

One of this year's Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees, Taylor Swift, also made headlines regaining control of her music, though in her case it was the masters, not the publishing rights. Swift, 36, will become the second-youngest SHOF inductee; Stevie Wonder was 32 when he was inducted in 1983.

Other inductees this year are Walter Afanasieff; Terry Britten and Graham Lyle; Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS; Kenny Loggins; Alanis Morissette; and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart.

SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said in a statement, "The first time I heard Creedence Clearwater Revival, I was a mere high schooler. It was also the first time I heard John Fogerty's voice, one of the most distinctive ever. To this day I've never heard anyone else sound like him. His unique songwriting ability is another quality. He's one of those rare talents who is unmistakably himself. His style of composition is rock and roll mastery. It's what I've always personally believed in, something I call 'the art of complex simplicity.' He's done what I believe all great songwriters do. He makes us feel. He deserves this award as much as anyone who's ever received it, or will receive it, in the future. I send my congratulations to John Fogerty."