Little Richard appears in...
Snoop Dogg, Drake, B.o.B, Lex Luger, Universal Music Publishing & More Honored at BMI Urban Awards
Urban music’s top creators shared the stage tonight at BMI’s Urban Awards at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. The annual event celebrates the songwriters, producers and music publishers of the past year’s most-performed r&b, rap and hip-hop songs in the BMI repertoire. The 2011 ceremony featured high-wattage star power and broke BMI records. The incomparable Snoop Dogg was honored as a BMI Icon. With seven songs among the most-performed, Drake…
Gregg Allman: The Long Rider

Gregg Allman is no stranger to the blues. As singer, songwriter, and organ player for the Allman Brothers Band, he has taken them about as far as they have ever gone. As skeletal 12-string Piedmont finger-picking stretches into swirling chromatic rhapsodies of improvisation, his Hammond B-3 sloshes against thundering double drummers and dueling Les Pauls howling through 100-watt Marshalls. The sound conjures electric ghosts…
Snoop Dogg to be Named BMI Icon at Annual BMI Urban Awards
Snoop Dogg will be saluted as a BMI Icon at the BMI Urban Awards, slated for Friday, August 26 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. BMI President & CEO Del Bryant will share hosting duties with Catherine Brewton, Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Atlanta, as the entertainment community gathers to celebrate the most-performed urban songs, songwriters and producers of the…
BMI @ SXSW: 25 Years and Counting

In 1986, BMI found a kindred spirit in a baby music festival with big ideas. 25 years later, the SXSW Music and Media Conference sets the industry standard, and anchor sponsor BMI is still one of the festival’s most dedicated supporters. At its core, SXSW’s and BMI’s relationship is one of shared values. SXSW has long-since perfected the marriage of raw musical thrill and real-stakes business machine—the same balance of…
The Genius of Billy Sherrill

The word genius is bandied about far too often. Sometimes flippant but often rooted in the depths of fervent, if over-eager, admiration, the label has lost some of its luster. “She’s a genius” just doesn’t sparkle like it used to. But listen: Billy Sherrill is a genius. Listen to Tammy Wynette’s “’Til I Can Make It on My Own.” The song seems to tremble…
Library of Congress Adds 25 Works to National Recording Registry

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has named the 25 new additions to the eighth annual National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, which will ensure that these cultural, artistic and historical recordings are always available to the American public. Included among them are works by such renowned BMI songwriters and composers as Little Richard, Howlin’ Wolf, Bill Evans, Loretta…
BMI Honors George Clinton, T-Pain, Lil Wayne and Many More at Urban Awards in New York

BMI saluted the world’s premier R&B, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers Thursday, September 10 at its annual Urban Awards. BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and Catherine Brewton, Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Atlanta, hosted the ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street, New York City. View videos from the event Hip-hop titans T-Pain…
George Clinton to Become BMI Icon at Urban Music Awards

Ceremony Slated for Sept. 10 in New York Funk originator George Clinton will be named a BMI Icon at the organization’s annual Urban Awards ceremony Thursday, September 10. Staged at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street, New York City, the event will also salute the world’s premier r&b, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers by celebrating…
Jacksons To Be Honored as BMI Icons

The Jacksons will be named BMI Icons at the organization’s eighth annual Urban Awards ceremony, to be held Thursday, September 4, in Los Angeles. Staged at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills, the event will also salute the world’s premier r&b, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers by touting the most-performed urban songs of the past year in the BMI repertoire. BMI President & CEO Del…
Fats Domino: Rock & Roll Royalty Revisited

Fats Domino’s signature dancehall piano playing and drawling tales of love made him Elvis’s top rival during the dawn of rock & roll. When pressed, Fats softly declares undying admiration for Presley. “I like Elvis myself,” Domino says over the phone from his New Orleans residence. “So does everybody.” With a humble air that warmly wraps around each of his concessions, Fats says he was simply “lucky”…
