John Fogerty is set to receive the Johnny Mercer Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s highest honor, on Thursday in New York City. And yet with a career that includes iconic tunes like “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Fortunate Son” and more, Fogerty was recently left off The New York Times’ list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, something he doesn’t seem too upset about.
Asked about the snub by The Hollywood Reporter, Fogerty replied, “I mean, I would’ve been shocked but a lot of people weren’t mentioned. There’s only 30, and you have to be alive. It’s pretty tough.”
Along with Fogerty, artists like Billy Joel, Randy Newman and Stevie Nicks were left off the list.
“The funny thing is that everybody sees this through their own lens,” he continued. “There were all kinds of other really deserving people that weren’t on that list either.”
“It happens,” he adds. “Rolling Stone releases a list of the greatest records of all time. As time goes on, the records that I love or the artists that I love, more and more of them would be dropped away for newer things because the voters get younger and they vote for what they like. It’s kind of a natural progression.”
John Fogerty’s Legacy tour hits Lincoln, California, on June 26, and he has September dates booked with Steve Winwood. A complete list can be found at JohnFogerty.com.
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