Music man Don Kirshner to be honored

NEW YORK, May 2 (UPI) -- Don Kirshner, whose rock concert series is considered a predecessor to MTV, will receive a lifetime achievement award from the U.S. Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Kirshner will receive the first ever Abe Olman Publisher Award for Lifetime Achievement during the Hall of Fame's 2007 awards dinner June 7 in New York.

"He was a seminal figure in the modern music business," Hal David, Songwriters Hall of Fame chairman and Chief Executive officer, said Wednesday in a news release. "(His) songwriting stable has been responsible for scores of classic hit songs over the years, and up to the present day."

Because of the breadth of Kirshner's influence in the American music scene, David said, "we will honor him both as a publisher and music industry legend by combining elements of the Abe Olman Publisher and the Lifetime Achievement Awards."

Inductees at this year's event include Don Black, Jackson Browne, Irving Burgie, Michael Masser, Bobby Weinstein and the late Teddy Randazzo. Other honorees will be announced closer to the event.

Dolly Parton will receive the Johnny Mercer Award and John Legend will receive the Hal David Starlight Award.