Entertainment Leader John Sykes to Receive Lifetime Music Industry Achievement Award at TJ Martell Foundation Honors Gala
Sting and Bryan Adams Set to Perform and President Bill Clinton to Present Award Tuesday, October 22, 2013
New York, New York, October 8, 2013 - Clear Channel President of Entertainment Enterprises and one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative leaders, John Sykes, will receive the Lifetime Music Industry Achievement Award at the 38th annual T.J. Martell Foundation Honors Gala to be held on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at Cipriani on 42nd Street in New York City. The Lifetime Music Industry Achievement Award is the T.J. Martell Foundation’s most prestigious music industry honor and is awarded to a person who has made profound contributions to the music and entertainment industries.
The T.J. Martell Foundation has also announced that Sting and Bryan Adams will perform at the star-studded annual event. President Bill Clinton, also a past T.J. Martell Foundation honoree, will present longtime friend John Sykes with the prestigious award.
John Sykes has been a music and entertainment industry leader for over 30 years, and continues to create enterprising, recognizable television brands and events that reach millions of people around the globe. Prior to joining Clear Channel, John built and operated a number of leading entertainment brands. He was a member of the original team that founded MTV in 1981 and spent 21 years at Viacom. John was the President of VH1 from 1994-2002 and led the rebrand of the television network to a music and pop culture channel. He served as chairman and CEO of Infinity Broadcasting from 2002-2005.
As the current President of Clear Channel Entertainment Enterprises, John is responsible for developing new business partnerships and platforms across a range of media including television, digital platforms and live events. He also is co-executive producer of Clear Channel’s annual iHeartRadio Music Festival, one of the most recognized, record-setting music festivals in history seen and heard here in the U.S. and around the world. Sykes also guides the company’s relationship with Ryan Seacrest Productions on the creation and distribution of television programming, as well as the development of other media and entertainment content.
John has made history through an array of philanthropic projects, producing some of the world’s biggest benefit concerts. In 2012, he co-produced the special one-night-only concert event “12-12-12” (A Concert for Sandy Relief), which raised over $53 million to support victims of Hurricane Sandy, which was nominated for two Emmy Awards. In October of 2001, following the attacks on the World Trade Center, he co-produced “The Concert for New York City” at Madison Square Garden with Harvey Weinstein and James Dolan, which raised over $50 million to provide support for the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. In addition, while serving as President of VH1 he created the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, which has raised over $45 million to rebuild music education programs in public schools across America. John has also been instrumental in serving the New York community as a Board Member of the Robin Hood Foundation for nearly two decades. He also serves on the boards of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School.
“John Sykes is not only one of the music and entertainment industry’s most extraordinarily talented leaders, but an exceptional human being who we are thrilled to be able to honor at this year’s T.J. Martell Foundation Honors Gala,” said Tony Martell, Founder & Chairman of the T.J. Martell Foundation. “With the help of John’s influence this year, Sting and Bryan Adams are set to perform at one of our most important fundraisers of the year which helps us continue to provide cutting-edge research for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS.”
Past honorees have included Former President George W. Bush and former President William J. Clinton, the late Frances Williams Preston, Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Anne Curry, Al Roker, Clive Davis, Arnold Palmer, Del Bryant, Scott Borchetta, Clarence Avant, Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, the late Gil Freisen, Irving Azoff, Russell Simmons, Monte & Avery Lipman, Bruce Lundvall, John Esposito, Joel Katz and the late Ahmet Ertegun. The T.J. Martell New York Honors Gala is sponsored by American Airlines.
Composer, singer, actor, author and activist – Sting formed The Police with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers in 1977. The band released five studio albums, earned six Grammy Awards and two Brits and in 2003 was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Since 1985, Sting has evolved into one of the world’s most distinctive solo artists. His 14th solo album, entitled The Last Ship, out this fall, is inspired by his forthcoming play of the same, drawing upon his childhood memories of the shipbuilding community of Wallsend in the North East of England where he was born and raised.
As a solo artist, Sting has earned an additional 10 Grammys, two Brits, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, three Oscar nominations, Billboard Magazine’s Century Award, and MusiCares 2004 Person of the Year. He has appeared in more than 15 films, Executive Produced the critically acclaimed “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” and in 1989 starred in “The Threepenny Opera” on Broadway. Also an accomplished author, Sting published a memoir entitled Broken Music in 2003, which spent 13 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list. He most recently released Lyrics, a comprehensive collection of lyrics, photos and personal commentary. Sting’s support for human rights organizations such as the Rainforest Fund, which he founded with his wife Trudie in 1989, mirrors his art in its universal outreach.
Also performing will be award-winning singer/songwriter/humanitarian Bryan Adams. As one of the world’s most highly acclaimed musicians, Adams’ career has spanned more than three decades, garnered 21 top 10 hits, earned nominations for three Academy Awards and five Golden Globes, in addition to Juno Awards in his native Canada, an American Music Award and five ASCAP Film and Television Awards for Most Performed Song from a Motion Picture. His music appeared on more than 40 movie soundtracks.
Adams has toured on six continents and continues to push boundaries, becoming the first westerner to play in both Pakistan and Vietnam. He has achieved No. 1 status in 40 countries and is the holder of the record for the longest running #1 hit in the history of the British charts (16 weeks). Bryan is currently touring in support of his most recent CD/DVD Bare Bones - Live at the Sydney Opera House interspersing his critically acclaimed acoustic tours with his full band stadium shows throughout the world.
His live performances have benefited His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Prince's Trust, Live Aid, Live 8, The Concert for Freedom for Nelson Mandela, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Net Aid, The Canadian Avalanche Foundation and Breast Cancer, as well as campaigns that have saved the rainforests, provided food and comfort for the needy and created whale sanctuaries. Through his namesake foundation, Bryan has helped build schools and orphanages and improve the lives of impoverished children around the world.
An accomplished photographer, Bryan has several books to his name including "Exposed" a retrospective of his photographic career to date and "Wounded: The Legacy of War" set for release this November.
ABOUT THE T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATION:
The T.J. Martell Foundation is the music industry’s largest foundation that funds innovative medical research focused on finding cures for leukemia, cancer and AIDS. The Foundation, headquartered in New York, is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was founded in 1975 by music industry executive Tony Martell and his colleagues in loving memory of his son T.J., who died of leukemia. The Foundation has provided more than $250 million dollars for research that supports twelve top hospitals in the United States. This year marks the 38th New York Honors Gala. For more information on the T.J. Martell Foundation go to www.tjmartell.org.