The Student Alumni Association announced Mark Foster as the recipient of the 2026 George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement.
The honor is awarded annually in anticipation of SAA’s Spring Sing, a campus-based music competition evaluated by celebrity judges. The Foster the People frontman will be recognized with the award at the event, which will return to Royce Hall on May 16 after several years at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Throughout his career, Foster has gained recognition as a producer and multi-instrumentalist. The band itself has been nominated at the GRAMMY Awards, Billboard Music Awards and Teen Choice Awards. In its Instagram announcement, SAA highlighted Foster’s humanitarian work, alongside his musical achievements.
[Related: Spring Sing 2025]
Foster the People partnered with The Do Good Bus during their North American tour in 2011 to spread awareness and fundraise to support wildfire relief, food banks and books for elementary schoolers, while also providing clothing for runaway youth, according to PR Newswire. In 2016, Foster and his bandmate Isom Innis traveled to Uganda as part of a World Vision fundraising campaign, which seeks to expand clean water access. That same year, Foster and bandmate Mark Pontius canvassed for Bernie Sanders in Iowa for two days while on tour.
[Related: Gallery: Foster the People “pumps up” fans on “Paradise State of Mind” Tour]
The lead singer also released an essay critiquing self-interested behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, around the time of the band’s “It’s Ok to Be Human” release. The band has a long-running history of using its music as an avenue for sociopolitical commentary, such as in “Pumped Up Kicks,” which speaks to anti-gun violence sentiments. In a 2014interview with the Los Angeles Times, which took place around the release of “Supermodel,” Foster said he felt discomfort toward the industry conditions that enabled the band’s overnight success. The indie-pop band is currently on its Good Mourning Sunshine tour and will perform at the Greek Theatre on Oct. 23.
[Related: The Temptations receive 2025 UCLA Spring Sing George and Ira Gershwin Award]
Named after renowned songwriters, the Gershwin award was established in 1988 and is used to recognize individuals with notable achievements in the music industry. The Gershwins were known for their work as composers on musicals, including “An American in Paris” and “Strike Up the Band,” the latter of which they adapted into UCLA’s 1936 fight song. Tickets for Spring Sing are available through the Central Ticket Office, with a student rate of $20.
