Global Salute

The 2026 MPEG Awards will see Mike Chapman to be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Sydney. The Queensland-born songwriter-producer helped define radio’s DNA, crafting era-defining hits for Blondie, Suzi Quatro, Pat Benatar, Tina Turner and Toni Basil. This recognition underscores Australia’s outsized influence on global pop production.

Pop Architect

After moving to the U.K. in the 1970s, Chapman partnered with Nicky Chinn, igniting glam and power-pop with Sweet, Mud, Smokie and Quatro. His U.S. pivot proved decisive. He produced Blondie’s Parallel Lines in 1978, including the worldwide smash Heart of Glass, blending disco pulse with downtown cool. He kept momentum with The Knack’s Get The Knack and the searing My Sharona, cementing his knack for hooks that cut through formats.

Songcraft and Steel

Through the 1980s, Chapman co-wrote with Holly Knight, yielding Pat Benatar’s Love Is a Battlefield and Tina Turner’s Better Be Good to Me and The Best. His credits span Baby Animals, Rod Stewart, Bow Wow Wow, Divinyls, Australian Crawl, Agnetha Fältskog and Lita Ford. The breadth is staggering, and in 2014 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to music.

Mike Chapman

Established in 2022, the Music Producer and Engineers’ Guild of Australia created the MPEG Awards to spotlight studio excellence nationwide. Backed by Shure, the ceremony lands Wednesday, Feb. 25 at the Darling Rooms Dockside, Cockle Bay Wharf. Eleven categories will be presented, with nominations announced Jan. 15 following open submissions and peer judging.

Snapshot

This year’s shortlist reflects a thriving studio ecosystem. Producer nominees include Alex Burnett, Anna Lunoe, Aidan Hogg, Alice Ivy and Robby De Sa. Recognition stretches across recording and mixing stalwarts Simon Cohen, Eric J Dubowsky, Nao Anzai and Nick Herrera, plus mastering standouts Joe Carra and Nicholas Di Lorenzo. Studios like Pughouse, Empire, Synth Temple and 4000 testify to regional depth. The lineup also nods to self-producing artists such as Harvey Sutherland and Ninajirachi, and international achievers including Catherine Marks and Dom Dolla.

Why it Matters

Chapman’s catalog maps the evolution of pop from glam swagger to new wave sophistication and MTV-era maximalism. Celebrating Mike Chapman to be honored is also a statement about the unseen architecture of records: producers, engineers and writers shaping culture from behind glass. As streaming fragments genres, these awards help anchor discovery around craft, context and community.

Closing Note

Visit mpeg.org.au for full details and the complete nominees list. In a year of standout studio work, Mike Chapman to be honored feels both overdue and perfectly timed, reminding listeners where timeless songs begin.