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26 February 2013
MELISSA ETHERIDGE WINS 2013 GRACIE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING TALK SHOW
FEBRUARY 26, 2013, BURBANK, CA—Benztown Radio Networks today announced that The Melissa Etheridge Radio Show has won the Gracie Award for Outstanding Talk Show – Entertainment/Information category. Presented each year by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, the Gracies honor programming that is created by women, for women and about women, and recognizes individuals who have made valuable contributions to the industry. The 38th Annual Gracie Awards will be presented on May 21, 2013, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Listen to the winning entry:
The Melissa Etheridge Radio Show is a nationally syndicated five-hour daily program that features Melissa Etheridge, the talented and beloved two-time Grammy-winning rock star and Oscar winner, as she connects with audiences across the U.S. about life, family, and music. Listeners engage with Melissa on-air and online in show segments including “Ask M.E. Anything” and “The Music That Moves You”. Melissa’s radio listeners also hear fun, behind-the-scene stories and firsthand accounts from Melissa about people she knows that listeners care about—including Bruce Springsteen, Steve Jobs, Bono, Steve Wonder, Bill Clinton, and countless others. The show is produced and syndicated by Benztown Radio Networks.
Melissa Etheridge said: “I have won Grammys and an Oscar, but there is something especially meaningful about being recognized with a Gracie. I love radio, and it’s important to me to bring the voices of women to our audiences, as they share their respective truths about life, love and family—and as I share the same with them. It’s also a great pleasure to provide a forum where we can connect with each other about the music that moves us. I’m honored that people are responding to the show across the country and I thank the AWM Foundation for this award.”
Dave “Chachi” Denes, President, Benztown Radio Networks, said: “We are so pleased and proud to work with Melissa on her amazing radio show, and congratulate her on this remarkable and well-deserved honor. Melissa is a natural storyteller and gifted radio talent with a unique ability to connect in a personal way with listeners, many of them women. Her show is warm and real, and integrates Melissa’s love of music into the show in a fresh and organic way. People are responding, and for good reason. It’s a great show and it’s fun to listen to.”
For 60 years, the Alliance for Women in Media (formerly American Women in Radio and Television/AWRT) has served as the voice and resource for women in the media. And for more than three decades, the Foundation has been a leader in celebrating and honoring programming created for women, by women and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the industry. The Gracies strive to encourage the realistic and faceted portrayal of women in entertainment, commercials, news, features and other programs. The awards were named for comedy legend Gracie Allen, who enjoyed a long radio and television career as half of the iconic Burns & Allen team.
For more information about The Melissa Etheridge Radio Show, visit www.benztown.com or call (818) 842-4600.
About Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge has been a core Island Records artist since the release of her critically-acclaimed eponymous RIAA double-platinum debut album. For several years, Melissa’s popularity built around such memorable songs as “Bring Me Some Water” (from her debut), “No Souvenirs” (from Brave And Crazy) and “Ain’t It Heavy” (from Never Enough), for which she won her first Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal.
Melissa hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album the six-times platinum Yes I Am, featuring the massive hits “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window. The album went six times platinum and spent more than two and a half years on the album chart. Her highest charting album to date, Your Little Secret (#6 on the Billboard Top 200), included the hit single, “I Want to Come Over.” Her astounding success led Etheridge to receive the Songwriter of the Year honor at the ASCAP Pop Awards, two Grammy awards, and the Academy Award® in 2007 for her song “I Need To Wake Up.” In 2011, Melissa made her Broadway debut as St. Jimmy in Green Day’s rock opera, American Idiot, and received her Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Melissa is currently touring in support of 4th Street Feeling, her 12th studio album for Island Records.
