by Jeroslyn JoVonn
June 19, 2024
Sza is celebrating her “value” as a songwriter after receiving the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Sza celebrates her “value” as a songwriter after receiving the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The Grammy award-winning singer was in New York City on Thursday, June 13, to attend the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. Sza took to the stage to accept the Hal David Starlight Award, presented by legendary musician and songwriter Nile Rodgers, Forbes reports.
The “Kill Bill” singer expressed her gratitude for receiving the honor, which she says “validates” her musical career.
“As an artist, I’ve been a lot of different people. I’ve been 200 pounds. I’ve been 130 pounds,” SZA candidly shared during her acceptance speech. “I’ve been someone who doesn’t dance at all onstage, someone that can only close their eyes and look down, someone that is dancing and trying their best.”
“I’ve just been all these things, and I feel like, ‘Oh man, I struggle at the artist thing.’ Like writing was where I felt like a person and that I had value and that I could show that I was smart, and it was beyond, ‘Am I pretty? Am I liked?’ And that basically meant everything to me,” she continued.
“It made me feel like a person, that I was doing something worth something. So basically receiving this award validates my entire career.”
Sza followed up her acceptance speech with a performance of an acoustic version of her acclaimed SOS single “Snooze.”
Now, with a Hal David Starlight Award under her belt, Sza joins a long list of acclaimed honorees, including Alicia Keys, John Mayer, John Legend, Lil Nas X, Ed Sheeran, Drake, and many more.
Others honored at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame include super producer Timbaland, Hillary Lindsey, Diane Warren, the late Cindy Walker, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan, and Mike Mills and Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
