Mike Chapman, the legendary songwriter and producer behind hits for Blondie, Susie Quatro, Pat Benatar, Tina Turner, Toni Basil and more, will be honored at the 2026 MPEG Awards.
The Nambour, Queensland-raised musician will be recognized as one of Australia’s most influential global music figures when he receives the 2026 MPEG Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony in Sydney next month.
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After relocating to the UK in the 1970s, Chapman teamed up with Nicky Chin and set out to change the face of pop music with hits for Suzy Quatro, Smokey, Mud, and Sweet.
The move to the United States proved to be a wise one, as Chapman went on to produce Blondie classics. parallel lines (from 1978) contains the international blockbuster “Heart of Glass.”
Chapman continued to produce hit songs. get the hang of it (1979), home of The Knack’s thumping “My Sharona,” and throughout the 1980s wrote a long list of smash hits including “Love Is a Battlefield” (Pat Benatar), “Better Be Good to Me” and “The Best” (Tina Turner), co-written with Holly Knight.
Throughout his illustrious 50-year career, Chapman has amassed a vast list of producing credits, from the Baby Animals to Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, Bow Wow Wow, The Divinals, Australian Crawl, Agnetha Fältskog, Lita Ford and more, and in 2014 was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his contribution to music.
Established in 2022, the MPEG Awards is the only national awards program established by the Music Producers and Engineers Guild of Australia (MPEG) to highlight excellence across Australian music production, engineering and studio work.
Shure is sponsoring the event, which will be held at Darling Rooms Dockside, Cockle Bay Wharf on Wednesday 25th February.
Eleven categories will be announced that night, with nominations to be announced today, January 15th.
“What really stands out this year is how strong our efforts are across the board,” commented Anna Laverty, Chairman and Founding Director of MPEG. “These nominations reflect an incredible amount of care, skill and creativity, and it means so much to be recognized by your peers in this way. Congratulations to all the nominees.”
All candidates were selected through an open call process, and entries were evaluated by a carefully selected panel of judges based on work released during the eligibility period. visit mpeg.org.au Learn more.
2026 MPEG Awards Nominated Works:
producer of the year
1. Alex Barnett
2. Anna Renoe
3. Aidan Hogg
4. Alice Ivy
5. Robbie de Sa
Breakthrough Producer of the Year
1. Xavier Dunn
2. Fletcher Matthews
3. Ninajirachi
4. Jonathan Tooke
5. Moss McGregor
6. Sophie Edwards
Writer and Producer of the Year
1. Anna Renoe
2. Robbie de Sa
3. Lucy Blomkamp
4. Rob Amaruso
5. Aidan Hogg
Recording Engineer of the Year
1. George Carpenter
2. Lewis Mitchell
3. Simon Cohen
4. Rohan Sforcina
5. Wayne Connolly
Mix Engineer of the Year
1. Simon Cohen
2. Eric J. Dubowski
3. Thomas Purcell pka wave racer
4. Nao Anzai
5. Nick Herrera
Mastering Engineer of the Year
1. Nao Anzai
2. Lachlan Carrick
3. Nicolas Di Lorenzo
4. Joe Kara
5. Andrew Edgson
studio of the year
1. Pug House Studio
2. Empire Studio
3. Synth Temple
4. 4000 studio
5. Audrey Studio
Self-Produced Artist of the Year
1. Harvey Sutherland
2. Alice Ivy
3. Anna Renoe
4. Ninajirachi
5. Skeleton
Overseas track record
1. Tim Tan
2. Katherine Marks
3. Stuarts Fuego
4. Keanu Beatz
5. Dom Dora
great community work
1. Song Makers
2. Cool School
3. Music producer training program
4. Music production for women
5. Resonate
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