Second Annual American Music Honors Recipients include John Mellancamp, Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples, and Dion DiMucci

(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) — The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music has announced the honorees of its second annual American Music Honors event, to be held Wednesday, April 24 on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch.

The 2024 honorees are: John Mellencamp, who together with Willie Nelson and Neil Young, created Farm Aid in 1985. The social activism reflected in Mellencamp’s songs helped catalyze Farm Aid, the organization that has addressed the struggle of American family farmers that continues to this day; Jackson Browne, a long-time social justice, environmental and educational activist who has supported everything from anti-nuclear alternative energy resources to political freedom in Central America; Mavis Staples, who in the 1960’s was on the frontlines of the civil rights movement and continues to use her music to support racial equality in America; Dion DiMucci, who’s landmark recording of “Abraham, Martin and John” became an activist anthem in the late 1960’s and beyond.

“The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music is proud to honor these musically, culturally, and politically important artists,” said Robert Santelli, Founding Executive Director of the Springsteen Archives.  “All four artists—John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples, and Dion—have contributed mightily to the American music canon and have demonstrated how the power of song can act as an agent for positive change in our country.”

American Music Honors will take place in Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre.  Stevie Van Zandt’s Disciples of Soul will  serve as the event’s house band.  Award presenters include Bruce Springsteen and Jon Landau and 2023 American Music Honors recipients Van Zandt and Darlene Love.

Tickets for the event will go on sale to the public on Tuesday, March 23. Ticket information is available on the Archives’ website https://springsteenarchives.org.

“Monmouth University is proud to host this year’s American Music Honors and to welcome to our campus John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Dion, and Mavis Staples,” said Monmouth University president Patrick Leahy.  “These artists represent the best qualities of American music and together demonstrate why it is one of our most precious cultural resources.”

The Bruce Springsteen Archives serves as the official repository for the music of Bruce Springsteen, plus photographs, periodicals, oral histories, rare recordings, films, and artifacts related to Springsteen and the E Street Band.  The Center for American Music produces museum exhibitions, symposia and seminars, teacher workshops, concerts, internships, and various public programs to promote and .celebrate the many forms of American music and their impact on our culture and national identity.