Photos: Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo, Jack Antonoff, & More Attend Variety Hitmakers Brunch

On Saturday, December 7, Variety hosted its eighth annual Hitmakers celebration looking back at the year in music and recognizing the writers, producers, publishers, managers and executives who helped make—and break—the 25 most-consumed songs of the year, as measured by Luminate. See photos from the event below!

Honorees in attendance included Aaron Bay-Schuck (Executive of the Year), Amy Allen (Songwriter of the Year Award), Avery Lipman (Record of the Year Award), Benson Boone (Newcomer Award), Charli xcx (Hitmaker of the Year Award), Daniel Nigro (Producer of the Year Award), Doechii (Hip-Hop Disruptor Award), Grace Bowers (Next Gen Award presented by Sony Audio), Jack Antonoff (Producer of the Decade Award), Lainey Wilson (Storyteller of the Year Award), Laufey (Crossover Award), Quavo (Changemaker of the Year Award), RAYE (Triple Threat Award), Tom Corson (Executive of the Year), Yoshiki (International Achievement in Music Award), Young Miko (Trailblazer Award) with presenters DASHA, Gregory Jackson, Justin Tranter, Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo and Reba McEntire.

This year’s event sponsors included Presenting Partner AFEELA, a mobility brand developed by Sony Honda Mobility Inc. They showcased its prototype vehicle of their brand AFEELA and offered exclusive hands-on demos to attendees, providing a unique, up-close experience with the future of mobility. AFEELA was also proud sponsor of the Newcomers Award to Shaboozey and Benson Boone. Wells Fargo was a premier partner of the event, and Spotfiy was an official partner of the event.

“This really means the world to me,” said Jack Antonoff while onstage accepting the Producer of the Decade Award from Lana Del Rey, Antonoff continued “There’s two kinds of work, two kinds of love and two kinds of relationships…things that take from you and things that give to you. When I think about the music I made that led to this, all the relationships have given me so much power, so much love, allowed me to find myself, allowed me to understand the harsh realities of my own limitations and allowed me to even have a partner and a marriage.” 

Onstage while accepting the Changemaker of the Year Award for his work in gun control, Quavo said, “This award is for everyone fighting for change and fighting for my brother Takeoff who inspires me every day and let’s keep pushing.” 

While accepting the Storyteller of the Year Award presented by Reba McEntire onstage, Lainey Wilson said, “Storytelling has always been at the heart of everything that I do.” Wilson continued, “I realize that every story really does have the potential to grow into something much bigger than ourselves and the cool thing about storytelling is that it out lives all of us.”

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