RIAA Honors Celebrates Artist of a Lifetime Garth Brooks, Disney Music Group President Ken Bunt, US Representatives Nathaniel Moran & Madeleine Dean

Event's Fifth Edition Highlights Unifying Power of Music, in Partnership with Billboard

WASHINGTON, DC - Common ground can be hard to find in DC, but music often changes that tune. The crowd packing the Recording Industry Association of America^® (RIAA) headquarters last night proved as much, coming together to celebrate our shared culture and the power of bipartisan leadership to solve big problems and lift Americans up. The capstone of the evening was the presentation of RIAA's first-ever Artist of a Lifetime award to Garth Brooks, the only artist in history to earn 10 Diamond album certifications. His incredible career was recognized alongside Disney Music Group President Ken Bunt and US Representatives Nathaniel Moran (TX-01) and Madeleine Dean (PA-04) for their work to protect creators and advance important music policy such as the NO FAKES Act to prevent theft of someone else's voice and likeness using AI.

RIAA Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier welcomed attendees from government, media and the creative community for the fifth installment of RIAA Honors saying, "as America begins to gather to celebrate its 250^th Birthday, we recognize four amazing people tied together by a simple, profound and fundamentally American, idea - showing up and doing the work."

Exclusively revealing this year's honorees, Billboard again joined the celebration with Senior Finance Correspondent Elizabeth Dilts Marshall sharing, "RIAA Honors always brings together the best in music, business and policy. Billboard is proud to help bring these amazing honorees together and cover the next chapter in each of their stories."

RIAA Chief Policy Officer Morna Willens recognized Policymaker of the Year Representative Moran to the stage. Accepting the award for his ongoing work as cosponsor to pass the NO FAKES Act and expressing the importance of a federal right to protect one's voice and likeness, Moran said, "what I hear from people in East Texas is the same thing I hear from each one of you - that if you create something, it's yours. And for music to touch the soul, it has to emanate from the soul. Your work, your voice, your name, those belong to you, that's a foundational miracle, an American principle, and it should remain steady, regardless of advances in technology."

Morna then introduced video remarks from fellow Policymaker of the Year Representative Dean, who was fittingly stuck on Capitol Hill for an Appropriations Committee markup. Echoing support for the landmark legislation as a cosponsor of the bill, she commented, "As we approach our nation's 250^th anniversary, we must continue to meet this moment. We must encourage creativity in our creators, and we must work urgently to protect the privacy. dignity, and intellectual property of every American."

Disney Music Group President Ken Bunt received the next accolade from RIAA President & COO Michele Ballantyne, who presented Label Executive of the Year. Reflecting on a career that reaches from the recording studio, live stages and movie screens worldwide, the longtime RIAA Board Member said, "I'm just thrilled to do what I do and help make human connections. I think that's the thing that I love most about music, [it] really connects people."

Mitch returned with Universal Music Publishing Group, North America President Evan Lamberg and Blue Note Records President Don Was to bestow the final award of the night. Don shared, "no one [he's] ever worked with projects charisma through a microphone the way Garth Brooks does." Evan then added, "artists don't trust many people in general, but for some reason that's still a little unknown to me, Garth put his trust in me. And for that, I'm eternally grateful."

Over roaring applause, Artist of a Lifetime recipient Garth Brooks explained, "They say that gratefulness is the seed of happiness, and I am grateful every single day to have been given this shot. A lot of people get the shot. But Bob Doyle told me early on that getting the shot wasn't going to be the hard part. The hard part was going to be hanging on to it. I can't thank God and the people enough for my life and the career I have been so lucky to have."

Excitement continued from the first chord as he rolled through a medley of his own hits and songs that have inspired his career along the way from James Taylor's "Carolina In My Mind" / "Fire and Rain" into "The River," Bob Seger's "Turn The Page" leading to "The Thunder Rolls." The highly-adored showman wrapped his acoustic set with George Strait's "Amarillo By Morning" into his own classic hit "Friends in Low Places," which had the room on their feet and singing along.

The tangible energy from music connecting friends and strangers still permeating, Mitch offered a closing sentiment, "Wow, what an incredible gift to us all, Garth! And congratulations to all of our RIAA Honorees tonight who remind us that music matters and our voices are worth protecting. Thank each of you for being part of this community and working alongside us."