JOHN FOGERTY To Receive 'Johnny Mercer Award' At 2026 'Songwriters Hall Of Fame' Gala

The Songwriters Hall Of Fame announced today that John Fogerty will be the 2026 recipient of the esteemed Johnny Mercer Award at the Songwriters Hall Of Fame induction and awards gala slated for Thursday, June 11 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

The Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, is exclusively reserved for a songwriter or songwriting team who has already been inducted in a prior year and whose body of work is of such high quality and impact that it upholds the gold standard set by the legendary Johnny Mercer. John Fogerty was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2005.

Songwriters Hall Of Fame chairman Nile Rodgers said: "The first time I heard CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, I was a mere highschooler. 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."

John Fogerty wrote and recorded some of the most enduring songs in American popular music. As the songwriter, singer, lead guitarist, arranger, and producer for CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, his catalog includes "Proud Mary", "Fortunate Son", "Born On The Bayou", "Bad Moon Rising" and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain". Three of his songs — "Fortunate Son", "Bad Moon Rising" and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" — have each surpassed one billion streams, placing Fogerty in Spotify's "Billions Club." These songs have remarkably continued to appear on the Billboard charts for six decades now, cementing Fogerty's place as a true master of songcraft.

Fogerty continued to expand his body of work as a solo artist with 11 studio albums including "Centerfield" (whose title track is the only song ever to be inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame),"Blue Moon Swamp" (which earned a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album"),"The Blue Ridge Rangers" (1973),"Revival" (2007) and "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again" (2009). In 2021, he released his first original song in eight years called "Weeping In The Promised Land", a poignant, gospel-tinged reflection on the social and political climate.

In 2023, Fogerty was able to regain the publishing rights to his songs, a victory that took over 50 years to achieve. In 2025, Fogerty released "Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years", which marked a celebration of the reclamation of his storied catalog. The 20-track collection — produced by Fogerty and his son Shane, with executive production by his wife Julie — presents definitive new versions of his most beloved songs. The album debuted in the top 10 across multiple U.S. and global charts and earned widespread acclaim from Rolling Stone, NPR, The Guardian, Billboard, Los Angeles Times, Vulture, People, MOJO and more.

Fogerty's previous honors include an induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and the American Music Honors. BMI has presented him with the Icon Award (2010),Board Of Directors Award (2023),and the Troubadour Award (2025),plus NAMM awarded him with the "Music For Life" honor (2023). Fogerty also has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame (1998).

Past Johnny Mercer Award recipients include songwriting giants Stephen Schwartz (2025),Diane Warren (2024),Tim Rice (2023),Paul Williams (2022),Carole Bayer Sager (2019),Neil Diamond (2018),Alan Menken (2017),Lionel Richie (2016),Van Morrison (2015),Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff (2014),Elton John and Bernie Taupin (2013),Hal David and Burt Bacharach, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Smokey Robinson, Dolly Parton, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Stephen Sondheim, Julie Styne, Sammy Cahn, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Marilyn and Alan Bergman, and other writers of the same caliber.