Randy Newman to be presented with this year’s ICON Award for Longevity in the field of Artistic Excellence

–

Newman, the veteran singer, songwriter and composer will be presented with his award the 2014 ICON Awards gala to be held in June in Beverly Hills.

–

–

Randy Newman contribution to the music industry as well as his longevity will be acknowledged in this year’s 2014 ICON Award gala to be held on the  5^th  June at the Montage Hotel  in Beverly Hills, California

The ICON Awards were created to recognize individuals from all walks of life who have gone on to become legends in their fields, whilst serving as role models for healthy and active living, with Randy Newman being picked out this year to represent the entertainment industry.

Newman, now he is the early seventies, has been a feature on the music scene for more than fifty years during which time, he has shown his tremendous versatility through creating pop music classics, most of them verging on the controversial and often satirical satirical.  Randy is best known for creating a number of unforgettable film scores, many of which have been rated as musical masterpieces enjoyed by generations.

During his lengthy career, Randy has been the recipient of a number of awards amongst them Grammys, Emmys as well as  Academy Awards, although this year’s award will be to recognise his healthy living habits.

Founded in 1991, the UCLA Longevity Center, has become known as one of the leading authorities on their advances of leading a healthy lifestyle, sponsoring a team of  researchers, and students whose role it is  the power of interdisciplinary collaboration to address real-world challenges most improving the quality of life. In particular the UCLA Longevity Center has distinguished itself as a pioneering leader in the study of healthy living, and  aging well, with Newman being recognized as a classic example of both.

–

–

Despite beginning his career as a pop musician, Randy Newman has focused for more than 30 years in writing music for film. His repertoire includes the background music for Ragtime, Awakenings, The Natural, Cats Don’t Dance, Meet the Parents, Cold Turkey, Seabiscuit and The Princess and the Frog to name but a few.

In recent years Newman has been recognised for composing  the music for seven Disney-Pixar Studios movies including Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Cars, Toy Story 3, with his most recent production being Monsters University.

One of Randy’s most well-known songs in recent years “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” was first written and recorded by Randy Newman. as the theme song for the 1995 Disney/Pixar animated film Toy Story, which became the anthem for the film’s  sequels, Toy Story 2 , released in 1999 and Toy Story 3 ten years later . “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” was nominated for both the 1996 Academy Award for Best Original Song and the 1995 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song

Throughout his career Newman has been nominated for a total of 20 Academy Awards, winning an Oscar on two separate occasions statue twice,  as well as three Emmys, six Grammy Awards, and the Governor’s Award from the Recording Academy.

Newman contribution to the music industry has been acknowledged on several occasions, beginning with him being  inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002, following that up five years later by being named as a Disney Legend.

Randy’s early musical roots were recognized almost 50 years later when he was inducted into the  Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

Randy Newman was born into a talented musical family with three  of his uncles, Alfred, Lionel and Emil working as musical score composers in Hollywood

Newman was always likely to fall in the footsteps and went on to study music at the University of California, Los Angeles, however dropping out just before he completed his B.A. Degree.

Newman, who  has been a professional songwriter since his midteens has consistently cited the late Ray Charles as his greatest musical influence.

In the early days of his career Randy was particularly prolific as a songwriter with his early compositions being recorded   by stars of the early to mid sixties such as Gene Pitney, Jerry Butler, Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, the O’Jays and Irma Thomas, among others.

Ironically Randy Newman’s talents  as a songwriter will particularly appreciated in the United Kingdom where he enjoyed considerable chart  success with one of his best-known hits being the  Alan Price Set’s catchy “Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear” which reached the number 4 spot in the charts in 1967

During this spell in the sixties, Newman set off on Wall Street become a long-lasting  professional collaboration with Lenny Waronker, a music producer with the Los Angeles based independent label Autumn Records, later bringing in talented pianist Van Dyke Parks, to participate on a number of highly successful recording sessions for the label, recording quality music with some of the leading pop stars of the day including “ Mama”  Cass Elliot, Art Garfunkel, the Everly Brothers, Dusty Springfield, Nina Simone, Lynn Anderson, Wilson Pickett, Pat Boone and Peggy Lee.

Over the years,  Newman’s stridently unusual vocal tones were heard less and less, although he did score a surprise hit in 1977 with his controversial composition “Short People”.