Jimmy Webb

Chairman

Jimmy Webb, the Oklahoma-born son of a preacher, is a critically-acclaimed songwriting talent whose music has thrilled audiences over more than forty years with a chain of memorable hits. Webb is the only artist to ever receive Grammy awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration. He has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and, in 2003, was the recipient of the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s prestigious Johnny Mercer Award. He has been married to WLIW TV executive and popular personality Laura Savini since 2004.

Though best known for the instant classics he provided for such artists as Glen Campbell ("By The Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston"), Richard Harris ("MacArthur Park,” “Didn’t We"), The Fifth Dimension, ("Up, Up and Away”), The Brooklyn Bridge ("Worst That Could Happen"), Art Garfunkel ("All I Know"), Joe Cocker ("The Moon’s A Harsh Mistress") and many more, Webb continues to write new songs that are as carefully crafted and magical as his legendary hits. Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson hit #1 in the late ‘80s with a new Webb standard: “The Highwayman,” a ballad which won him yet another Grammy for Best Country Song of the Year, and a CMA Award for Single of the Year. Linda Ronstadt, who has recorded a multitude of his songs throughout her career, included four of his efforts on her double platinum album Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind, and scored a top ten in 1990 with her rendition of Webb’s “Adios.” Webb’s songs continue to grace a galaxy of major recording artists’ albums, from Tony Bennett and Rosemary Clooney to Urge Overkill and R.E.M.

In addition to writing songs for other artists, Webb has been releasing albums of his own for many years, including the acclaimed 2010 release Just Across The River, which features such artists as Billy Joel, Vince Gill, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell joining Webb on a selection of his songs. In 1999, Webb wrote Tunesmith, which was acclaimed as the “finest book about songwriting of our time,” by Musician magazine. Webb was named Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame in January 2011.