John Lennon Scholarships

The John Lennon Award is an annual competition open to student songwriters and composers of contemporary musical genres including alternative, pop, rock, indie, electronica, R&B, and experimental. Over the past twenty years, more than $400,000 in scholarships has been awarded to talented young musicians throughout the United States, making this award one of the nation’s most esteemed accolades for emerging songwriters.

Established in 1997 by Yoko Ono in conjunction with the BMI Foundation, this scholarship program honors the memory of one of the preeminent songwriters of the 20th century. Lennon’s enormous creative legacy includes “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “Strawberry Fields,” “Imagine,” “I Am the Walrus,” “All You Need Is Love,” and “Come Together,” and continues to inspire and uplift new generations of music lovers around the world.

Through the generosity of Ono and Gibson Musical Instruments, three scholarships totaling $20,000 are presented annually for the best original songs submitted to the competition. Works are judged by a prestigious panel of music publishers, songwriters, musicians, and executives. BMI’s Vice President, Creative, New York Samantha Cox, and Tim Pattison, Director, Creative, New York, oversee the competition. Together they bring over 30 years of experience working with and developing the careers of emerging songwriters and artists.

Eligibility Requirements

All applicants:

1. must be between the ages of 17 and 24 as of February 15, 2025.
2. must be in residence in the United States or its territories.
3. may only submit one application per BMI Foundation awards program.
4. may not submit the same musical work to more than one BMI Foundation awards program.
5. may only submit works that have not been assigned to any major music publisher or major record label.
6. may only apply if they have not previously won the John Lennon Award. (Honorable mention may apply again.)

Co-Written Works

If your work is co-written, it must meet the following requirements:

• Co-written works can have no more than 3 total writers.
• All co-writers must meet eligibility requirements.
• One single songwriter of record must submit the application.
  • Songwriters can only be the writer of record on one submission.
  • Songwriters of record and their co-writers can also be co-writers on other submissions.
• Awards will be split evenly among co-writers for co-written works, and co-writers will each receive the award.  
• Only songwriters should be listed as co-writers for the award. No other artists should be listed (performers, producers, etc.).