Credit: Brandise DaneswichJackson Browne has long been a champion of human rights, social justice and environmental causes, and now the singer/songwriter has been chosen to receive the 2018 Gandhi Peace Award, in recognition of his philanthropic work and activism.
Browne will be the first music artist honored with the award, which will be presented at a ceremony held September 14 at the United Church on the Green in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Gandhi Peace Award, named after Indian activist and politician Mahatma Gandhi, has been given out annually since 1960 by the peace-advocacy group Promoting Enduring Peace to an individual or organization for their “contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will.”
Browne will receive a cash prize, as well as a medallion forged from metal taken from the control systems of U.S. nuclear missiles. The ceremony also will feature musical performances and speeches, while Jackson has been invited “to present a message of challenge and hope” during the event.
Over the course of his long career, Browne has participated in and organized many benefit concerts, and his songs often feature themes encouraging peace and a more humane society.
Following the infamous 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, Jackson founded Musicians United for Safe Energy, a.k.a. MUSE, which organized star-studded concerts to raise money to support non-nuclear energy options.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame, respectively, in 2004 and 2007.
Previous Gandhi Peace Award honorees include Eleanor Roosevelt, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King Jr., Benjamin Spock, Daniel Ellsberg, César Chávez and George McGovern.
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