In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Hayes’s inimitable baritone, honey-buttered delivery and recital segues helped define deep soul and laid the foundation for multiple styles, including disco and rap.

In 1964, the Stax record label hired the young Isaac Hayes as a backing musician for legends including Otis Redding. Hayes soon paired with songwriter David Porter, and together they penned more than 200 songs, including hits for duo Sam and Dave, including “Hold On! I’m Comin’” and “Soul Man.” Hayes and Porter’s dynamic creative partnership developed into lifelong friendship.

His early successes as a songwriter convinced the Stax label to sign Hayes to a record deal, and the subsequently released landmark album Hot Buttered Soul catapulted the young singer to stardom in 1969. He helped to establish the now-legendary Stax Records, and at the time of his death was preparing work for a new project to be released by the label.

In 1971, his “Theme from Shaft” from the film Shaft became a no. 1 single and garnered Hayes an Oscar and two Grammys. In an interview with the Associated Press in 1999, Hayes said the career-changing song was “like the shot heard round the world.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed Hayes in 2002, and in 2005, he and David Porter joined the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

A longtime BMI songwriter, Hayes received five BMI R&B Awards, two BMI Pop Awards, two BMI Urban Awards and six Million-Air citations. His songs generated more than 12 million performances throughout his life. A seminal American artist and cultural catalyst, Isaac Hayes was honored as a BMI Icon in 2003.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen will be issuing a Proclamation August 18, honoring Isaac Hayes and his contribution to the state of Tennessee and the entire nation.

August 3 at the BMI-sponsored Lollapalooza stage:

11:15-12:00 p.m. – Ha Ha Tonka: Ha Ha Tonka mix sanctified four-part harmonies and blistering rock, carving out songs that evoke the dichotomies that define their home. The Springfield, Missouri natives dubbed their new album Buckle in the Bible Belt in homage to their hometown. http://www.myspace.com/hahatonka

12:30 – 1:15 p.m. – Wild Sweet Orange: Birmingham, Alabama- based rock outfit Wild Sweet Orange convey hopefulness with their debut, We Have Cause To Be Uneasy. Songs such as “Ten Dead Dogs” and “Sour Milk” find the band honing an intimate and individualistic sound that veers unrestrained from aching intimacy to a turbulent, seething intensity. http://www.myspace.com/wildsweetorange

1:45-2:30 p.m. – Tally Hall: It’s easy to identify this quintet by their unique, outside-the-box rock music, which incorporates everything from Beatles-esque harmonies and poppy choruses to hip-hop rhythms, indie rock sensibilities and playful lyrics. Atlantic Records is set to re-release their debut Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum this year. http://www.myspace.com/tallyhall

3:00-3:45 p.m. – Newton Faulkner: Dreadlocked guitar wrangler Newton Faulkner has built a faithful following since the release of his 2007 U.K. smash Hand Built By Robots. With his hippy vibe and witty lyrics, Faulkner is poised to create an indelible impression stateside. http://www.myspace.com/newtonfaulkner

4:15- 5:00 p.m. – Eli “Paperboy” Reed & the True Loves: The New York Times likens this explosive young soul shouter to Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, the Boston Globe calls him a "star on the rise" and the Village Voice warns, "Amy Winehouse better watch her back." Backed by an impressive band, the True Loves, Reed has the chops to convert all naysayer’s to worshippers. http://www.myspace.com/elipaperboyreed

Indeed Roll With You is a vital, gospel-tinged mix of sweaty, up-tempo numbers and aching, lovelorn ballads — all originals — that connect instantly thanks to the passion of this young performer and his equally young band. The True Loves may employ classic soul stylings — such as anguished vocals and a raucous horn section — but they make the music their own by performing it with the youthful abandon that only a group of seven talented guys in their ’20s can muster. The fact that it’s soul music, and not, say, punk rock is merely incidental. “I think my songs take of a lot of different influences into account,” Reed says. “I just don't see that there's that much of a difference between us and any other rock band out there, except that our songs are better.”

Spoken with the swagger of a true soul man. For Reed, a 24-year-old native of Brookline, MA, playing soul music is simply a matter of having good taste. A walking encyclopedia of the genre’s history, Reed grew up listening to his music critic father’s collection of gospel, blues, country, soul, and R&B records and eventually taught himself to play guitar, piano, and harmonica. Then, at age 18, he got a first-hand education when he moved to Clarksdale, MS, one of the birthplaces of the blues, in the North Mississippi Delta, where he sang and played guitar with various soul, R&B, and blues bands at local clubs, and received informal lessons in performing from legendary blues drummer Sam Carr. “I learned a lot about singing because the audiences are very tough,” says Reed, whose has both a spine-tingling soul scream and a pleading falsetto in his vocal arsenal. “You really have to be on your game just to be able to last the night. If you’re going to perform for three or four hours, you’ve got to have stamina.” After spending nine months in Mississippi, Reed enrolled at the University of Chicago and got himself a gig singing and playing piano on the city’s South Side at a church run by former Chess Records’ soul singer-turned-minister Mitty Collier, using the $50 a week he earned to buy records for his college radio show.

In 2004, after a year of school, Reed returned to Boston and began to assemble the True Loves, which has undergone several line-up changes in the last three years, but now features Mike Montgomery (bass), Ryan Spraker (guitar), Paul Jones (tenor sax), Ben Jaffe (tenor sax), Patriq Moody (trumpet), and Andy Bauer (drums). Reed self-released an album of soul covers and originals, entitled Eli “Paperboy” Reed Sings Walkin’ and Talkin’ and the band played out all over the Northeast, earning glowing praise from the local press. The Boston Phoenix called Reed “a gifted young singer and guitarist,” while the Boston Globe raved about Reed’s “authentic and sincere music and vision,” calling him “a consummate musician.”

Through it all, Reed and the True Loves have proved that soul music is a social leveler that cuts across age, race, and musical taste barriers. “We’ve played shows in basements with punk bands and the punk kids love it,” Reed says. “We play rock clubs and kids my age are dancing. Then there will be the old guy who comes up and says, ‘I saw Otis Redding in the ’60s. Give me a hug.’ That has happened on more than one occasion.” No doubt the fans are responding to the energy of the band’s live show — a high-voltage experience the band captures to full effect on Roll with You, which was recorded at Boston’s Q Division studio with in-house producer Ed Valauskas. The album delivers from start to finish from the lead-off barnstormer “Stake Your Claim,” to the swaggering “The Satisfier,” to the dance-floor clarion call “(Doin’ the) Boom Boom” to the gospel shuffle of “Take My Love,” through to the longing ballads “(Am I Just) Fooling Myself” and “It’s Easier.” “I’m all about love songs,” Reed says. “The best songs in the world are boy/girl songs; everyone can relate to them.”

Of course it also helps that Reed is an electrifying showman who puts his heart into every song with a depth of feeling that would do his musical forefathers proud. “I just want to make people feel something,” he says. “You’ve got to get the audience emotionally involved and make people feel what you’re feeling. That’s the whole point of soul music. You have to make them feel like they got their money’s worth.” Consider it done. Roll With You will be released by Q Division Records in the Spring of 2008.

• Who, in 1958 at the age of 14, joined the Royal Teens (Top Five hitmakers with "Short Shorts")?


• Who, in 1960, began his career as a BMI songwriter with a number called "My Kinda Love," which was recorded by Anastasia?


• Who has written hundreds of songs, all part of his BMI catalog?


• Who co-wrote "This Diamond Ring," the 1965 pop chart-topper for Gary Lewis and the Playboys? The song, incidentally, is approaching four million radio performances.


• Who, also in '65, helped create Bob Dylan's hard, radically new rock & roll sound (and, by extension, what came to be known as “folk rock") when he played the organ — for his very first time on a released recording — on Dylan's epochal single, "Like a Rolling Stone"?

• Who, in the mid-'60s, was a member of the Blues Project, the New York-based band that was among the first in this country to spread the joy (and pain) of black-influenced white electric blues?


• Who, in 1967, founded Blood, Sweat & Tears, the pioneering ensemble that melded rock with the hippest horn arrangements?


• Who, in 1968, came up with the concept of "Super Session," and produced the hit LP on which he co-starred with guitarists Michael Bloomfield and Stephen Stills?


• Who has recorded as a sideman with, among many others and in addition to Dylan ("Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde"): the Rolling Stones (piano, organ and French horn on "You Can't Always Get What You Want"); Jimi Hendrix (piano on "Long, Hot Summer Night"; The Who (on the LP "The Who Sell Out"); George Harrison (arranged and played keys on the hit "All Those Years Ago"); Simon & Garfunkel; Alice Cooper; the Butterfield Blues Band; Moby Grape; Taj Mahal; B.B. King; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Judy Collins; Joan Baez; Phil Ochs; Roger McGuinn; Tom Petty; Joe Cocker; Betty Wright; Rita Coolidge; ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman; and Trisha Yearwood? In an issue devoted to the 500 Greatest Recordings of All Time, Rolling Stone magazine included 12 albums with serious participation by our mystery man.


• Who has produced commercially successful and publicly acclaimed discs by Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd (he discovered them and produced their first three albums, which spawned the mega-hits "Sweet Home Alabama," "Free Bird," and "Saturday Night Special"), B.B. King, Rick Nelson, the Tubes (who gave the world the timeless "White Punks On Dope"), Shuggie Otis, Don Ellis, Nils Lofgren, and Joe Ely?


• Who has written original soundtrack music for films like Hal Ashby's The Landlord and John Waters's Cry Baby, as well as Michael Mann's television series Crime Story, and was music director for the 1991 cable TV special "Ray Charles: 50 Years in Music"?


• Whose songs have been recorded by a diverse roster of artists that includes Freddie Cannon; Lorraine Ellison; Keely Smith; "Gene Pitney ("I Must Be Seeing Things"); Bobby Vee; Lulu; Billy Fury; the Rockin' Berries; the Blues Project ("Flute Thing" and "Wake Me, Shake Me"); Ten Years After ("I Can't Keep from Cryin' Sometimes"); the Staple Singers and Rufus; Lynyrd Skynyrd ("Mississippi Kid" and "Cheatin' Woman"); Roger McGuinn; the Beastie Boys; Jay-Z; Alchemist; Dakota Staton; and Betty Wright? Then there is "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know," the heart-tugging soul ballad that was recorded by more than 25 artists, including Donny Hathaway, Kenny Lattimore, and Carmen McRae).

Answer: Al Kooper.

Any way one looks at it, Brooklyn-born (in 1944) Al Kooper has had an unusually variegated, extraordinary career. He credits Bob Gaudio for giving him his start. Gaudio later found international fame as a member and chief songwriter for the Four Seasons before producing LPs (including Frank Sinatra's Watertown, the songs for which he also co-composed) and, more recently, for writing the music for the smash Broadway, multi-Tony-winning, Jersey Boys. "He was the Royal Teens," recalls Kooper of Gaudio, "and without him hiring me I never would have begun as early as I did."

In 2008, as he celebrates his first half-century in music, that career is still moving forward. Kooper is the consummately versatile music business pro. He is, of course, a singer/songwriter. He's a multi-instrumentalist (keyboards, guitars, mandolin, synthesizers, French horn), and a producer and an engineer. Kooper also has nearly 20 albums as leader to his credit, including the excellent two-disc retrospective from Sony Music, Rare and Well Done.

Further, he warrants induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a sideman, if only for the instantly recognizable approach to the organ he created during Dylan's paradigm-shattering work of the mid-1960s. And changing the subject slightly, he's hosted and imaginatively programmed his own spot on Britain's Radio Caroline.

Kooper continues to tour with two different bands, as well as presenting a one-man show that is by turns, affecting and witty, surveying his life in music through song and anecdote. First and foremost, though is the Funky Faculty, at which he's been at the helm for the past decade. The Faculty, a sextet, is made up of veteran instructors at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, and their specialty is an engaging mix of rock, blues and jazz. Kooper himself formerly taught at Berklee and in 2001 he received, along with the late, innovative drummer Elvin Jones, a Doctorate of Music. (He also holds a doctorate from Long Island's Five Towns College.) When in New York, he often fronts an all-star foursome that also features guitarist Jimmy Vivino and bassist Mike Merritt (both from Conan O'Brien's house band) and drummer Anton Fig, from Late Show with David Letterman.

Though a debilitating condition permanently robbed him in 2001 of two-thirds of his sight, it's not stopped Kooper from taking the Funky Faculty to Norway, Denmark, Italy, England, Spain and all sorts of faraway places; late in 2007 the Faculty played for enthusiastic audiences in the Czech Republic and Japan, and more travels are in the works. Also planned for 2008: an updated edition of Dr. Kooper's autobiography, "Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards," which is a fresh, funny, and compelling read. Then there is his forthcoming disc, tentatively titled White Chocolate, due from A Minor Record Company, for which Kooper is CEO. The album is highlighted by two new songs on which he collaborated with the legendary lyricist Gerry Goffin.

During 2007 Kooper also garnered two individual honors: he was honored in New York by the Mix Foundation with the Les Paul Award, receiving an autographed Les Paul guitar from the great man, who was present for the ceremonies. Shortly thereafter, on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, Kooper dipped his hands in cement in the Rock Walk of Fame during festivities that also honored Otis Redding and the Mamas & the Papas.

Perhaps closest to Kooper's heart, however, is the scholarship that Berklee formed in his name: The Al Kooper It Can Happen Fund assists handicapped students in overcoming any difficulties that would prevent them from attending Berklee. "They do a great job," says Kooper, "and I'm very proud of what has been accomplished thus far."

As he prepares to embark on his sixth musical decade, Kooper reflects with typical straightforwardness, and speaks of BMI's significance in his career: "I've been ripped off voluminously by record companies, managers, etc. I always thought of BMI as the cavalry, coming to rescue me from a hand-to-mouth existence. When times were really tight, and it seemed as if the end might be around the corner, that BMI check would come crashing through the mail slot and bring me back to the real world. To this day, I could not exist without it."

“This is a concept album that follows a bold vision,” she declares. “The touchstones are Billie Holiday, Otis Redding, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald — what I used to call my ‘fun music’ when I was a little girl.”

A double album, Basics utilizes an orchestra, choir, string quartet and jazz horns throughout, ranging from a 1920s-style blues feel on “I Got Trouble” to the delicious Andrews Sisters-influenced “Candy Man” and the zoot-suit riot of “Ain’t No Other Man.”

But lest longtime fans fear that Aguilera’s trying to be the next Rosemary Clooney, there are still plenty of modern sounds, from the emotionally naked “Save Me from Myself” to the risqué “Nasty Naughty Boy” and the straight-ahead club track “Still Dirrty” (a reference to her previous ode to raunch, “Dirrty,” from the 2002 album Stripped). It’s been quite a journey from her early days as a member of “The New Mickey Mouse Club” (alongside fellow future stars Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears). Aguilera’s first self-titled album showed off her pipes and pop smarts via such instant hits as “Genie in a Bottle” and “What A Girl Wants,” while 2000’s My Kind of Christmas album was a strong seller.

It was her appearance alongside Pink, Mya and Lil’ Kim on the Moulin Rouge cover of “Lady Marmalade,” however, that brought the former teen queen’s sexuality to the fore, something that was emphasized on Stripped. With Back to Basics, the artist reveals just how mature she’s become.

“When you’re 17-years-old, green and inexperienced, you’re grateful for any guidance and direction you can get,” she recalls. However, within a few years, “I felt trapped. I was under the thumb of people who were mostly interested in keeping me doing exactly the same thing.

“But I’m not blaming anyone,” she quickly adds. “You learn fast in this business and, once I knew where I wanted to go, I didn’t let anyone get in my way.”

The prolonged layoff after Stripped — combined with her 2005 marriage to music executive Jordan Bratman — helped re-energize her. “I needed a break,” she states. “I began realizing that I should be experiencing a bit more of life than TV and recording studios, hotels and green rooms.”

Good thing she caught her breath when she did: On the heels of Basics going straight to No. 1 on the Billboard chart, Aguilera’s currently in the midst of a world tour that will last at least through spring 2007.

“I’m driven,” she understates with a laugh.

Pictured after the ceremony are R&B Foundation Chairman Kendall Minter and his guest, BMI's Del Bryant, legendary musician Lloyd Price and R&B Foundation board member Judy Tint.

Two-time Grammy winner Thom Bell, credited as one of the architects of the "Philly Soul" sound, adds this prestigious award to a trophy collection that includes his recent induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Leon Huff, Kenny Gamble, Eddie Holland and Brian Holland gather on stage to reminisce about Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Berry Gordy, Jr.

The R&B Foundation, which honors the genre's greats and seeks to preserve its legacy, revived its Pioneer Awards gala after a three-year hiatus due to money troubles. The organization now has the financial support of both the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania under a plan inspired by legendary BMI producer/songwriter Kenny Gamble, who was in attendance with his "Sound of Philadelphia" writing partner Leon Huff to present the award to Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.

Songwriter Eddie Holland, BMI's Charlie Feldman and Del Bryant, Eddie's daughter and songwriter Brian Holland share a table at a local Philly diner after the gala.

Singers Patti LaBelle and Smokey Robinson hosted the event at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue. In addition to Gamble and Huff, other presenters included BMI Icons Brian and Eddie Holland of Motown songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland, Ashford & Simpson, Bill Cosby, Jerry Butler, Boyz II Men, Bonnie Raitt and Jill Scott.

The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent, non-profit service organization whose mission is to foster public recognition and appreciation of rhythm & blues music and the artists who made significant contributions to the birth and development of r&b music, particularly from the 1940s through the 1970s. A year-round endeavor, the R&B Foundation produces the popular Pioneer Awards and administers significant medical and financial assistance endowments to those in need. Officially established in 1988, the Foundation was housed in Washington, D.C. and New York City until the recent move to Philadelphia in April of 2005.]]> 2006-07-09T18:00:01-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334612 Hayes, Isaac, Porter, David, Redding, Otis, Thomas, Carla, Recording Academy Honors Isaac Hayes and David Porter were among the recipients of the recent Recording Academy Honors presented by the Memphis Chapter of the Recording Academy. Co-sponsored by BMI, the gala awards celebrate outstanding individuals whose work embodies excellence and integrity and who have improved the environment for the creative community.

BMI's Harry Warner (center) congratulates legendary BMI producing and songwriting team Isaac Hayes and David Porter at the Recording Academy Honors. Photo: Rick Diamond/WireImage

Also honored at the ceremony were screenwriter/director Craig Brewer, multi-platinum artist Justin Timberlake and heritage r&b radio station WDIA. All proceeds went to the MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund.

Isaac Hayes and David Porter formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 1960s, defining the sound of Memphis soul. After playing on several sessions for Otis Redding, Hayes was tapped to play keyboards in the Stax house band, and eventually teamed up with David Porter, Stax's first staff songwriter. Under the name the Soul Children, the Hayes-Porter duo composed some 200 songs, reeling off a string of hits for Stax luminaries like Sam & Dave ("Soul Man," "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby," "I Thank You" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'"), Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y,") and Johnnie Taylor ("I Got to Love Somebody's Baby," "I Had a Dream").

Named a BMI Icon in 2003, Hayes was the first African-American composer to win an Oscar for Best Score for the timeless "Theme From Shaft," a #1 hit off the Shaft soundtrack. Porter went on to engineer the relaunch of the Stax label and is a current member of the Board of Trustees of the Recording Academy. The pair was recently inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.]]> 2005-11-08T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/234356 Artists, Black Eyed Peas, Green, Al, Jackson, Janet, Jackson, Michael, Legend, John, Redding, Otis, Snoop Dogg, Stephens, John, West, Kanye, Musical Styles, Pop, Urban, Musicworld, Feature Sometime around 2004, a New York singer/songwriter named John Stephens matter-of-factly changed his name to John Legend. The move was so bold, detractors easily could have dismissed it as delusional grandeur. But judging from the mountain of fawning press Mr. Legend has received for his debut album, Get Lifted , the name change was simply a case of destiny being fulfilled. Indeed, if he continues at this rate, legendary stature seems all but assured for the 25 year-old r&b multi-tasker.

In the days surrounding the release of Get Lifted (Sony Music), every major music publication seemed to weigh-in with a breathless review. Citing tracks like " Used to Love U," "Number One" and the disarming "Ordinary People," Rolling Stone called Legend's music "mannered, even elegant," while the New York Times described his voice as "supple and bold, echoing the gliding, curving lines and impulsive dynamics of Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder, the rasp of Otis Redding and the falsetto of Al Green." Vibe magazine gave Get Lifted its highest rating, writing that the album "advances the kind of genre-pushing spirit that made D'Angelo's 'Brown Sugar' so sweet."

Had the hosannas stopped there, Legend's status as one of the year's most talked-about newcomers would have been secure. But just weeks after his CD hit stores, the singer received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding New Artist (the award show airs on Fox on March 25). Legend has handed a similar vote of industry confidence when he was invited to perform at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards Show, singing "I'll Take You There" alongside Mavis Staples in a special tribute to r&b music.

Released in the waning weeks of 2004, Get Lifted hit the charts running, debuting as the #7 album in the country and the #1 R&B/Hip Hop album on the Billboard tallies. Fueled by the singles "Ordinary People" and featuring guest appearances by Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas, the album was the highest-charting debut recording the week of its release.

The media buzz begged the question: Just who is John Legend? Though often described as a protégé of urban pop wunderkind Kanye West, the record shows Legend is very much his own man. Far from being some sequestered studio artist, Legend built a loyal following performing in New York nightclubs and selling his own independently produced CDs. While still in his teens, he was tapped to play piano on Lauryn Hill's 1998 track, "Everything Is Everything." Before long, he was an in-demand session musician, playing and occasionally writing for such contemporary heavyweights as Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, Slum Village and countless others.

In 2002, he received the BMI-sponsored Abe Olman Scholarship for Excellence in Songwriting, given annually by the Songwriters Hall of Fame to honor five young composers and lyricists.

An Ohio native, Legend began playing gospel piano at age 5. Confidence was never a problem. "I used to watch Michael Jackson on television … I figured I could do what he was doing," Legend said in a recent interview.

Some 20-odd years later, the singer, songwriter, keyboardist, producer and arranger is fulfilling the promise of his childhood.

Isaac Hayes	David Porter	Steve Cropper

As a founding member of the legendary Booker T and the MG's, as well as an A&R man, producer and songwriter, Steve Cropper was involved in virtually every record issued by the seminal Stax recording label from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970. Some of his songwriting credits include the classics "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," "Knock on Wood" and "In the Midnight Hour." Cropper produced and played on sessions by Poco, Jeff Beck, Jose Feliciano, Yvonne Elliman, John Prine, Dreams and Tower Of Power. As a member of the original incarnation of the Blues Brothers, he recorded three albums with them, including the number one Briefcase Full of Blues. Over the past 20 years. Cropper has continued to be an in-demand musician and producer. His string-bending talents are showcased on CDs by Elton John, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Buddy Guy, Steppenwolf and Johnny Lang.

The Sherman Brothers

Isaac Hayes and David Porter were one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 1960s. After playing on several sessions for Otis Redding, Hayes was tapped to play keyboards in the Stax house band, and eventually established a partnership with songwriter David Porter. Under the name the Soul Children, the Hayes-Porter duo composed some 200 songs, reeling off a string of hits for Stax luminaries like Sam & Dave (the brilliant "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby," "Soul Man," "I Thank You" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'"), Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y,") and Johnnie Taylor ("I Got to Love Somebody's Baby," "I Had a Dream"). Named a BMI Icon in 2003, Isaac Hayes was the first African-American composer to win an Oscar for Best Score for his soundtrack to the film Shaft, the theme song of which became a #1 hit. David Porter went on to engineer the relaunch of the Stax label and is a current member of the Board of Trustees of the Recording Academy.

One of Walt Disney's most successful songwriting teams was that of brothers Richard and Robert Sherman. These incredible children's film composers created the music heard in Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Parent Trap, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Aristocats, and many more Oscar-nominated scores. The Shermans have won several Oscars for their scores and songs, many of which are warmly and firmly ingrained in our memories like "Chim Chim Cheree", "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)", "It's A Small World" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," which is about to open on Broadway with the Shermans' Academy Award-winning score. They also scored The Aristocats (1970) and 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which garnered them more Oscar nominations for Best Score and Best Song. The Sherman Brothers have also done freelance work on screenplays and scores including Snoopy, Come Home, Tom Sawyer, Charlotte's Web, Disney's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella, and The Magic of Lassie.

The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The NAPM/SHOF is also devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. BMI is a long-time supporter of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.