Adam Sandler turned a songwriting salute into a short history lesson about how his comedy has always leaned on a guitar. He accepted the ASCAP Founders Award during ASCAP’s annual membership meeting at the Skirball Cultural Center on Feb. 12, opening the organization’s one-day ASCAP Experience conference for writers, composers and producers.
In remarks at the ceremony, Sandler traced his first ambitions to music and described a scrappy stretch in New York City when he tried to stay in the city between his freshman and sophomore years at New York University. He said he cycled through three jobs, got fired from all of them, then decided to sing in subway stations for money. “Music’s the best. It’s always been there for me,” he told the room, calling the subway sets “nerve-racking.”
ASCAP announced the honor on Feb. 10, saying it was recognizing Sandler’s songwriting across comedy, film and popular culture, and noting he has nearly 450 registered works with the organization after 33 years as a member. In that announcement, Paul Williams called Sandler “a giant of comedy” whose funniest moments often arrive through music and song, citing staples such as The Chanukah Song and Grow Old with You.
Sandler’s speech also nodded to a family thread that has become part of his act. He and Jackie Sandler have two daughters, Sadie (born 2006) and Sunny (born 2008), who have appeared in several of his films and stepped into larger roles in Netflix titles such as You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah and Happy Gilmore 2. Sunny has taken the stage with him on tour; at an Oct. 5, 2025, stop in Milwaukee, she sang I Hope while Sandler accompanied her on guitar.
Behind the jokes, ASCAP used the gathering to press its case for songwriters in a business reshaped by streaming, licensing fights and new tech. In prepared remarks at the meeting, ASCAP leaders told members the organization would keep “creators first” while pushing for transparency and stronger advocacy as policy debates and technology changes accelerate.
