Valerie Simpson News

Valerie Simpson plays Aretha Franklin, in A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul. Simpson is a six-time Grammy Nominee and renowned singer and songwriter. She is half of the songwriting-performing-producing entity known as Ashford & Simpson.

The Van Wezel has announced special guests for the upcoming performance A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul on Wednesday Feb. 9th at 8 p.m.

Choreographer, director, and producer George Faison will receive the 2021 Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance, and DanceAfrica, an annual celebration of African and African-American dance, music, and culture, will receive this year's award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Dance.

To better serve creators internationally, the Wing has also forged a partnership with The Latin Recording Academy® and will work with the organization to better serve global creators who identify as songwriters and composers.

Judd joined other inaugural inductees, including Valerie Simpson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Roberta Flack, Tawatha Agee, Klymaxx, Deniece Williams, Jeri Keever 'Bunny' Hull and Veryl Howard.

Bunny Hull, Grammy Award winner and Founder and Executive Director of Dream a World Education will be inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame in a ceremony on June 25 at the Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Hosted by Elizabeth Hurley, Global Ambassador of The Estée Lauder Companies' Breast Cancer Campaign, the evening featured appearances by Jordana Brewster, Edie Falco, Cheryl Hines, Patti LaBelle, Lisa Ling, Joan Lunden, Carolyn Murphy, Emma Myles, Amy Robach, Molly Sims and others.

Currently, a third of the Recording Academy's voting membership identify songwriting or composing as part of their craft and these members will be automatically included in the new Wing.

With presentations from living rooms and home studios around the country, The ASCAP Foundation will virtually host The ASCAP Foundation Honors 2020 in recognition of this year’s remarkable young award winners.

Burgandy Williams has announced their debut single RAGE, available on streaming platforms December 8, 2020. RAGE is a House Music Dance single produced by Ghidrahmusic and written by the performing artist.

The Legendary Soul Man Sam Moore turns 85, and is celebrated today and this week by many of his colleagues.

Brian Stokes Mitchell, Broadway's favorite leading man, will headline an inspiring celebration of American song at NJPAC's annual Spotlight Gala @ Home on October 3. The concert portion of the evening, American Songbook at NJPAC will be broadcast on NJTV and njtvonline.org at 7PM EST.

Craft Recordings announces the release of The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection, a brand new, comprehensive compilation that spotlights The Gospel Truth Records.

The first single from Multi GRAMMY®-nominated vocal powerhouse Ryan Shaw’s forthcoming album IMAGINING MARVIN has its worldwide premiere today via Soul Tracks.

To usher in their 63rd year, The Monterey Jazz Festival is going virtual, live on their YouTube channel. Friday, September 25th through Sunday, September 27th from 5-7pm PST each day. Festival participants will be treated to never-before-seen archival footage plus exciting new performances and personal messages from the MJF family of artists, volunteers, patrons and board members.

Broadway composer/lyricist/author/musical director/vocal arranger/dance arranger/orchestrator/accompanist, best known for composing The Tornado, and Emerald City Ballet in the Broadway hit 'The Wiz,' Timothy Graphenreed, passed away March 1, 2020, at Mt. Sinai at the age of 68.

Multi GRAMMY®-nominated vocal powerhouse Ryan Shaw's new studio album IMAGINING MARVIN is set for a November 27th release via Shaw's own FORM (Fans Of Real Music) Records with distribution by Broadway Records. Inspired by one of Shaw's idols, Marvin Gaye, IMAGINING MARVIN is the powerful new project that originally premiered live in New York City.

The GRAMMY Museum® announced today it will release two Songwriters Hall of Fame programs from its archive while the Museum in Los Angeles is closed until further notice in light of COVID-19

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents Sugar Bar Comes to Newark featuring Valerie Simpson and Special Guest Dave Koz on Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

Sam Moore and Dave Prater – the groundbreaking duo, Sam & Dave, who brought their gospel roots to Soul music, were one of the primary chart stars at the Stax and Atlantic labels in the '60s. Bringing the passion of call and response to their wailing soul side, the duo were honored by The Recording Academy as one of the recipients of the Special Merit Awards, The Lifetime Achievement Award in May in Los Angeles.