Amy Allen, who in February became the first two-time Grammy winner for songwriter of the year, non-classical, added to her laurels on Thursday (April 30), winning ASCAP pop songwriter of the year at the 2026 ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Los Angeles.
Allen, 34, co-wrote five of ASCAP’s most-performed songs of the past year – “APT.” (ROSÉ & Bruno Mars), “High Road” (Koe Wetzel & Jessie Murph) and three Sabrina Carpenter hits (“Tears,” “Manchild” and “Bed Chem”).
“APT.” and “Manchild” were both nominated for song of the year at this year’s Grammys. Another Allen co-write, “Please Please Please,” was nominated in that category in 2025.
“Die with a Smile” was named the ASCAP pop music song of the year. Co-written by ASCAP songwriter James Fauntleroy and published by Warner Chappell Music, the Lady Gaga/Bruno Mars collab spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 60 weeks on chart — a longer chart run than any other single by either artist. It also topped Billboard’s year-end Hot 100, becoming the first duet by a female and male soloist each in lead roles to do so in the chart’s 67-year history.
“Die With a Smile” received a Grammy nod for song of the year. Fauntleroy won in that Grammy category in 2018 for cowriting an earlier Mars smash, “That’s What I Like.” Fauntleroy, 41, is a four-time Grammy winner.
ASCAP Pop Music Publisher of the Year went to Sony Music Publishing. Its winning hits include songs written and recorded by ASCAP members such as “Blue Strips” (Jessie Murph), “Folded” (Kehlani), “It’s OK I’m OK” (Tate McRae), “Man I Need” (Olivia Dean), “Messy” (Lola Young), “Mutt” (Leon Thomas), “Ordinary” (Alex Warren) and “Pink Pony Club” (Chappell Roan).
As previously announced, Laufey received the ASCAP Creative Voice Award. The award recognizes ASCAP members “whose significant career achievements are informed by their creative spirit and their contributions to the role that a creator can play in the community.” Previous winners include Questlove, Wyclef Jean and Lyle Lovett.
The award was presented by Suki Waterhouse, the British singer/songwriter, actress and model who was the opening act on the North American leg of Laufey’s A Matter of Time tour. Laufey received the award one night after she picked up the Innovator Award at the Billboard Women in Music event, which was held at the Hollywood Palladium.
Laufey, 27, also won a Grammy earlier this year, when A Matter of Time was named best traditional pop vocal album. It was her second win in that category. Her previous album Bewitched took the honor in 2024.
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Other 2026 ASCAP Pop Music Award-winning songwriters include Jack Antonoff (“Manchild,” “luther,” “squabble up,” “tv off”), EJAE (“Golden”), Cirkut (“Abracadabra,” “APT.”), Justin Bieber (“DAISES,” “YUKON”), Max Martin (“The Fate of Ophelia,” “Dancing in the Flames,” “Opalite,” “Twilight Zone”), Myles Smith (“Nice to Meet You”), Ashley Gorley (“Love Somebody”), Audrey Hobert (“That’s So True”), Daniel Nigro (“Pink Pony Club”), David Guetta (“Forever Young”), Dijon “Mustard” McFarlane (“tv off”) and Timbaland (“Sticky”).
The ASCAP Pop Music Awards honor the songwriters and publishers of the most-performed ASCAP pop songs of 2025. The winning songs are determined by data for terrestrial and satellite radio and for programmed and on-demand audio streams, all provided by Luminate Data LLC in accordance with ASCAP’s publicly available rules.
For a full list of 2026 ASCAP Pop Music Awards winners, go to the ASCAP site.
