Tom Morello, Annie Lennox Headline 2026 SONA Awards in Los Angeles

Tom Morello received the first-ever Freedom of Expression Warrior Award in SONA's history on Thursday, headlining the Songwriters of North America's annual awards show at Los Angeles' Skirball Cultural Center. The 2026 ceremony honored Morello, Annie Lennox, Desmond Child, the songwriters behind KPop Demon Hunters and Kobalt Music CEO Laurent Hubert, in a night that celebrated under-appreciated hitmakers while rallying the industry on music's most pressing issues — censorship, copyright law and the rise of AI.

Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the famed Obama "Hope" poster, introduced Morello, whose award recognizes his and Rage Against the Machine's championing of First Amendment rights. The guitarist opened his speech by thanking the service workers working the event, then argued that every major social movement in modern history has been bolstered by a "great soundtrack."

What did Morello actually say?

He built the case in specifics. "Joe Hill's union anthems put wind in the sails of those fighting for an eight-hour work day. 'We Shall Overcome' steeled the resolve of freedom fighters during the civil rights movement. Jimi Hendrix's 'Star-Spangled Banner' channeled the moral cacophony of the Vietnam War through a Marshall Stack. And one or two Rage Against The Machine songs were heard pumping in the streets of Brazil after Lula defeated that fascist prick the other day," Morello said, referring to defeated former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro.

"In this proud tradition, I've always endeavored to create songs to fan the flames of discontent," Morello continued. "Harmonizing and hell-raising, rhythm and rebellion, poetry and politics. When protest music is done right, you can hear a new world emerging in the songs."

He closed with a pledge: he will "never put down my First Amendment rights." "Shut up and just play guitar? Sorry, but fuck you, I won't do what you tell me. It's time to change the world, brothers and sisters, or a bare minimum, to stir up a shitload of trouble."

Who else took home awards?

The night's full slate of honorees:

• Laurent Hubert, Kobalt Music CEO, named SONA's executive of the year
• Melanie Fontana, Lindgren, Danny Chung and Daniel Rojas, four of the KPop Demon Hunters songwriters, accepting the Global Impact Award
• Chris Redding, given the Emerging Songwriter award
• Desmond Child, receiving this year's Warrior Award
• Annie Lennox, taking the Artist Songwriter Award as the evening's final recipient

Child — the prolific writer behind generation-defining hits like KISS' "I Was Made For Loving You," Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca" — was introduced by KISS' Paul Stanley and fellow hitmaker Andreas Carlsson. "Anyone can write a song, but that doesn't make you a songwriter, you are the epitome of a songwriter," Stanley told Child onstage.

In his speech, Child called on the industry to keep fighting to protect songwriters' works, declaring that "copyrights are human rights." "Let us keep creating music that informs and inspires," Child said. "In a world that grows menacingly dark every day, let us warriors for truth be instruments of light and indestructible love."

What did the AI warnings sound like?

Hubert used his executive-of-the-year speech to address artificial intelligence directly, warning the crowd of songwriters and music publishers: "AI is here, and it won't wait for us to get comfortable with it." Still, he pushed back on doom. "Authenticity will always prevail," he added.

Lennox, introduced by fellow Scottish singer Shirley Manson, struck a similar chord from a different angle. She harkened back to hearing influential British acts like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, alongside American acts like the Beach Boys and Carole King, on the radio — the songs that shaped her love for music at a young age.

Her verdict on AI was blunt. "We're the real deal, creative human beings," Lennox said. "With real lives that we've lived. Real lived experiences. There is a difference, and that difference must be protected. Not only for writers like us, but for the future of all humanity. Every generation that comes after us, it's down to us to make that difference."

She finished the night with a performance of the Eurythmics' classic "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," joined onstage by co-hosts Bonnie McKee and Shane Stevens — a living argument, in front of the room, for everything the speeches had spent the evening defending.