NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It’s not every day you get a chance to meet an international superstar in an intimate gathering, get your photo taken with him and have it autographed in person.
It’s even more rare when that living legend is Chuck Norris, known globally for his movies, his TV shows, his martial arts championships, his columns in WND and his viral “jokes.”
But about 100 lucky people will get that opportunity Thursday, Feb. 26, at the National Religious Broadcasters convention at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in an intimate gathering to help celebrate his 75th birthday.
The NRB Chairman’s Award was instituted in 1988 and the recipient selected in a manner determined over the years as deemed appropriate by the sitting NRB chairman. This year’s chairman is Bill Blount, president of Blount Communications Group, a Christian radio network of six stations located throughout New England.
“Chuck Norris is the recipient of the award based on the high level of integrity, ethics and family friendly programming he has maintained through his productions,” explained the NRB in an announcement of the presentation.
Past recipients of the award include: Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; evangelist Billy Graham, Gary Bauer, former president of Family Research Council; FCC Commissioner James Quello; Josh McDowell of Josh McDowell Ministries; recording artists Steve Green and Michael Card and Laura Schlessinger, radio talk show host.
Norris will also be interviewed by WND founder Joseph Farah about his career, faith, charity work and politics in the climactic event of the 15th annual NRB convention.
Norris first made his mark as a renowned teacher of martial arts and was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middle Weight Karate Champion. He is the first man from the Western Hemisphere in the 4,500+ year tradition of Tae Kwon Do to be awarded an eighth degree Black Belt Grand Master ranking. He has also starred in 24 motion pictures. Furthermore, his television series, “Walker, Texas Ranger,” ran for 8 1/2 years and was the most successful Saturday night series on CBS since “Gunsmoke.”
Despite the unique and impressive resume and his stature as one of the biggest global celebrities, it’s not unusual for Norris to identify himself as an exclusive weekly columnist for WND, his commentary writing home for the last eight years.
“Chuck Norris is a legend in his own time,” noted Jerry Johnson, president and chief executive officer of NRB. “We are proud to honor him and his legacy at NRB15.”
Adding to that, Blount said: “On behalf of the NRB, it’s thrilling to present Chuck Norris with the Chairman’s Award. Chuck Norris has had an extraordinary career in martial arts and entertainment. However, through all his productions, he’s maintained a high level of integrity, ethics, and family friendly programming. Because of his superior standards, in a world that does not usually reward those ideals, we want to honor and recognize his achievements.”
“This appearance at NRB is going to be good fun,” says Farah. “Besides his incredible careers in martial arts and in film and TV, Chuck Norris maybe best known, especially to the younger generation, for his larger-than-life ‘Chuck Norris Facts’ – the countless viral jokes that portray him as an invincible superhero. He’s truly America’s real action hero – yet a down-to-earth humble human being who can laugh about his legend status.”
See a video on the star’s achievements:
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