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

Born to a taxi-driving father and pharmacist mother, Winehouse grew up in the Southgate area of northern London. Through a close relationship with her mother’s side of the family, which included several professional jazz musicians (her paternal grandmother was reportedly once romantically linked with British jazz legend Ronnie Scott), she began absorbing the musical lessons of such giants as Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.

Once she’d hit her teens, however, she quickly found herself attracted to such then-current American r&b and hip-hop acts as TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, and the Fugees. By the end of 2003, when she was 20 years old, Island had released her debut album, Frank, in the U.K., racking up impressive reviews and sales and paving the way for her 2006 breakthrough Back to Black.

That album includes probably her most famous song, “Rehab,” inspired after she fired her management company for suggesting she check herself in for her extracurricular problems. One month after Winehouse won Best Female Artist at the Brit Awards in February 2007, Universal released Back to Black in the U.S. and found itself with an album that charted higher than any other American debut by a British female recording artist.

Winehouse rode that success to five Grammy Awards (making her the first-ever British female artist to win so many in one night) and the eventual release of Frank in the U.S. (slightly tweaked, with two songs removed and one added). Nevertheless, according to interviews at the time, Winehouse had never really set her sights on conquering America.

“I just did an album that I’m really proud of, that means a lot to me, and I really stretched myself doing it,” she said. “The fact that I get to come to other places other than where I live and I’m from, and do shows, that’s just icing on the cake. I’ve said it before and I'll say it again: I’m a really lucky girl.”

However, that noted edginess also bubbled up: “I’m not interested in writing songs so people can find out who I really am. There’s stuff that I wouldn’t want people to know.”

As she continues to fight her demons off the stage, however, word comes that Winehouse is actively starting work with Black co-producer Mark Ronson. A rep confirmed, “She just went into the studio to record with Mark two or three weeks ago. She was writing in her home studio before that.”

While no date has been set for the album’s release, Winehouse is set to play several festival dates in Europe this summer.

First time winners include Mark Ronson for British Male Solo Artist, who also performed “Valerie” with Amy Winehouse; Adele (PRS) for Critics Choice; and Mika for British Breakthrough Act. Previous Brit Award winner Kanye West walked away with his second International Male Solo Artist honor and the Foo Fighters won awards for International Album and International Group.

Established in 1977, the Brit Awards is a charity event that donates all proceeds to the British Record Industry Trust, better known as the Brit Trust, an organization that encourages the exploration and pursuit of the educational, cultural and therapeutic benefits of music.

Check out live photos from the event

Full BMI Grammy Award Winners List

Unable to attend the ceremony due to a tardy issuance of her visa, Winehouse watched, accepted awards and performed twice via satellite in London. Her innate vintage cool and authentic emotion echoed through her performances of Record and Song of the Year, “Rehab,” along with “I’m No Good.” After claiming the most Grammys of any artist throughout the evening, including Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album, Winehouse’s ubiquitous artistic shadow was most certainly in attendance.

Charismatic rap star Kanye West further emphasized his staying power with wins in Rap Album and Solo Rap Performance of the Year. Honored both as a songwriter and recording artist, West also earned Rap Song of the Year bragging rights for “Good Life.” In addition to garnering accolades for his solo work, West claimed Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his collaboration with Common on “Southside.”

“What a beautiful day this is in Los Angeles!” Herbie Hancock’s visible surprise while accepting his Album of the Year trophy provided a sublimely extemporaneous moment during the telecast. The first jazz project in 43 years to win Album of the Year, Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters features collaborations with numerous contemporary stylists, including Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae. The project also garnered Best Contemporary Jazz Album honors.

BMI’s preeminent rock family enjoyed a successful night as well. The unfaltering Foo Fighters took home Best Hard Rock Performance honors for driving single “The Pretender,” while their Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace earned Rock Album of the Year. Critical darlings and rock purists The White Stripes claimed Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the title track to Icky Thump, which also garnered Best Alternative Album bragging rights for the enigmatic duo.

Beloved jazz saxophonist and composer Michael Brecker received posthumous awards for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (Individual or Group) and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. Perennial favorites The Clark Sisters also secured honors for Best Gospel Performance and Best Gospel Song.

Additional winners included Carrie Underwood for Best Female and Keith Urban for Best Male Country Vocal Performances; Calle 13 for Best Latin Urban Album; Ray Price and Willie Nelson for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals; Juan Luis Guerra for Best Tropical Latin Album; Vince Gill’s These Days for Best Country Album; Rihanna’s “Umbrella” for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration; Maroon 5 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals; and Alison Krauss for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Leona Lewis, 2006 X Factor winner, scored nods for British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough, which she’ll be vying for with Mika, who is up for British Single and British Male Solo Artist among others. Producer/DJ/artist, Mark Ronson received three nominations, including British Album, and British Single for “Valerie” featuring Amy Winehouse.

The Brit Awards also acknowledged a few stateside BMI songwriters in the international categories, including Kanye West (International Male Solo Artist) and Rihanna (International Female Artist). U.S. singer/songwriters up for two nods include the Eagles, the Foo Fighters and Kings of Leon vying for awards in the International Group and International Album categories.

Additional BMI 2008 Brit Award nominees include KT Tunstall, Editors, Klaxon, Newton Faulkner, Sugababes, James Blunt, and Mutya Buena.

Established in 1977, the Brit Awards is a charity event that donates all proceeds to the British Record Industry Trust, better known as the Brit Trust, an organization that encourages the exploration and pursuit of the educational, cultural and therapeutic benefits of music.

BMI 2008 Brit Award nominees:

Leona Lewis
British Female Solo Artist
British Breakthrough
British Single
British Album

Mika
British Male solo Artist
British Breakthrough
British Single
British Album

KT Tunstall
British Female Solo Artist

Editors
British Group

Klaxons
British Breakthrough
British Live Act

Mark Ronson
British male solo artist
British single (featuring Amy Winehouse)
British Album

Newton Faulkner
British Male Solo Artist

Sugababes
British Single

James Blunt
British single

Mutya Buena
British single

Kanye West
International Male Solo Artist

Rihanna
International Female Solo Artist

Eagles
International Group
International Album

Foo Fighters
International Group
International Album

Kings of Leon
International Group
International Album

West, a previous six-time Grammy winner, garnered the most nods including Album of the Year, Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance. His songwriting expertise is being recognized twice in the Best Rap Song category for “Good Life” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”.

Amy Winehouse, up for six, goes head-to-head with Kanye in the Album of the Year category. Winehouse received nominations including Song of the Year for “Rehab” and the coveted Best New Artist, which she’ll compete with BMI newcomer Taylor Swift.

BMI singer/songwriters dominated the Album of the Year category obtaining all five nominations with the Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace; Vince Gill’s These Days; Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters; Kanye West’s Graduation; and Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black.

In addition, T-Pain received his first-ever Grammy recognition garnering five nods in categories including Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocals and Best Rap Song. Ne-Yo also scored five nominations, including Best Contemporary R&B Album mention for Because of You.

Daughtry, Tim McGraw, Rihanna and Feist scored four nominations each. Daughtry’s explosive self-titled album is up for Best Rock Album; McGraw’s Let It Go received a Best Country Album nod; Rihanna’s “Umbrella” earned a Record of the Year nomination; and Feist scored a Best New Artist nod.

Producer Mark Ronson received three nominations including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical and Record of the Year for his contributions to Winehouse’s Back to Black. Jack White of the White Stripes and Casting Crown's Mark Hall were also cited three times, as were Herbie Hancock, DJ Toomp and Common.

The Recording Academy will also honor Max Roach, The Band and Earl Scruggs with Lifetime Achievement Awards, as well as Jac Holzman and Willie Mitchell with Trustee Awards.

BMI attained a sizable percentage of the rock field achieving four-of-five nominations in the Best Rock Song and the Best Rock Album categories. The domination continued with BMI’s traditional strength in the Latin, Rap & R&B, Gospel, Jazz categories, and sweeps in the New Age and Traditional Blues categories.

When Amy Winehouse’s (pictured, top) Back to Black debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in March, it marked the highest bow by a British female solo artist ever. A few weeks later, Joss Stone’s Introducing Joss Stone smashed her record by debuting at No. 2. James Blunt, Corrine Bailey Rae, KT Tunstall and Snow Patrol are striking gold, if not platinum, in the U.S.

“The current British invasion is due to a number of factors,” posits Evan Lamberg, EMI Music Publishing EVP of Creative for North America. “Top 40 radio is playing less and less hip-hop and rap. This is leaving more opportunity for great non-urban songwriters. VH-1 has done a tremendous job being early champions of these British acts. [Also], these acts are coming over to the U.S. again and again. Nothing replaces the good old-fashioned way of getting your hands in the dirt and taking your music to the people.”

Universal Republic president Monte Lipman, whose label handles Winehouse, Mika and Katie Melua in the U.S., calls these acts “a breath of fresh air. They don’t have a formula.”

For many of these artists, the first point of exposure for U.S. fans has been the Internet. “The industry has democratized where artists are empowered at a grassroots level like myspace,” says David Sinclair, a London-based journalist who writes for The Times.

The latest wave started in 2004 when Snow Patrol quietly crept onto U.S. shores with Final Straw. The Scottish-Irish quintet, with its often intense, always melodic, alternative rock, toured frequently in the U.S., slowly building an audience. By the time Eyes Open came out in the U.S. in May 2006, Americans were ready to hear more. That album’s “Chasing Cars” became the go-to song for hip TV shows, airing on outlets like Grey’s Anatomy, and leading the track to take up residency in the upper reaches of Billboard’s Adult Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts. According to Universal Music International, the album has sold close to four million copies worldwide.

Scotland is responsible for much more than one-half of Snow Patrol and has also given us KT Tunstall. The Scottish lass began promoting herself in the U.S. long before her Relentless/Virgin debut came out in February 2006. Among her memorable gigs was a stirring acoustic set at BMI/Billboard’s SXSW brunch in March 2005.

Her big break in the U.K. came when she performed “Black Horse & the Cherry Tree” on the influential British TV program Later with Jools Holland with less than 24 hours’ notice after another act cancelled. Eye to the Telescope, which had come out to little fanfare, was re-released and eventually shot up to No. 3 on the British album charts.

In the U.S., “Black Horse” has spent more than a year on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart while the second single, “Suddenly I See,” has been locked in the upper reaches of the chart for more than four months. Eye to the Telescope has been on the Billboard 200 for more than 65 weeks.

The latest Scottish imports impacting in the U.S. are The Fratellis. The first major U.S. exposure for the Scottish trio, all of whom have adopted bassist Barry Fratelli’s last name, came from iTune’s use of the utterly infectious “Flathead” in television ads. The trio’s debut, Costello Music (Cherry Tree/Interscope), revels in retro music that sounds instantly recognizable while new at the same time. The group can also be heard on the soundtrack to the movie Hot Fuzz.

While bands like Snow Patrol and the Fratellis are having their day, solo artists like former British Army captain James Blunt are leading the charge.

While many of the U.K.-based acts come to the U.S. via the American label’s U.K. affiliate, Blunt’s entry point was through Linda Perry’s Custard imprint. Perry signed the singer/songwriter after he’d linked with EMI Music Publishing in London. By the time Back to Bedlam came out in the U.S on Custard/Atlantic, the album had already hit No. 1 in the U.K. The first U.S. single, “You’re Beautiful,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first song by a British performer to top that chart in 10 years.

Blunt rode the success of Bedlam and “Beautiful” to five Grammy nominations.

Like Blunt, fellow Brit Corinne Bailey Rae had already hit No. 1 in her native U.K. when she came over here with her sweetly nuanced, mellow tunes. Her self-titled chart topper made her only the fourth female singer in the history of the British charts to debut at No. 1 with her first album. In the U.S., her rise has been no less spectacular, bolstered by major TV exposure via outlets like “Oprah Winfrey.” Rae snared three Grammy nominations, including the coveted best new artist. Her debut has surpassed the platinum mark here, pushed by first single “Put Your Records On.”

While Rae has gotten her share of press, seldom has an artist caused quite the media stir as Amy Winehouse. She’s a critical darling as famous for her beehive and tattoos as her shimmery, soulful, girl-group musical style.

The Enfield, England native’s Back to Black has already sold more than 1.2 million in the U.K. and helped Winehouse capture the Brit Award for best British female artist in February.

“She’s one part soul diva, one part jazz singer and one part rock star,” says Lamberg. “A deadly combo.”

“Fortunately for us, Amy loves to tour,” says Lipman, who notes she’ll play U.S. dates in June and this fall.

Winehouse’s U.S. labelmate Katie Melua was born in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, but ultimately settled in Surrey, England. At 15, Melua won a televised talent competition and was on her way. The classic pop singer released Call off the Search in 2003 and the album went on to sell 1.2 million copies in the U.K. alone. Her second album, Piece by Piece, moved 1.8 million copies in the U.K., with worldwide sales of more than 3 million.

Like Melua, Mika is another British immigrant. His music was created out of the unending loneliness that Mika says often engulfed him after his family moved from Beirut to Paris and, ultimately, to London. Vocally, he’s a cross between Freddie Mercury (whom he references on his first single, “Grace Kelly”) and Robbie Williams. The colorful ’70s, psychedelic pop images that are the album art for Life in Cartoon Motion and his videos are as much a part of his image as his delectable, pop music.

“With Mika, the key word is different,” says Lipman. “Even though people respect the success you’re having, people [at pop radio] look at us kind of sideways and say ‘You expect me to play that?’ and we say your listeners have spoken.” Indeed, the album racked up several consecutive weeks as the No. 1 pop album on iTunes.

Like Mika, Lily Allen’s personality is as big as her music. Her music is classic pop, but she ties in ska, rap and her other influences to create a thoroughly modern and invigorating sound. Not surprisingly, Alright, Still has gone double platinum in her native England and platinum in Europe. It debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 and continues to sell well.

Part of the strength of the current British invasion is its diversity. British rapper Lady Sovereign caused waves of excitement when she became the first non-American female signed to Jay-Z’s Def Jam label.

The press excitement has outweighed sales so far, but Sinclair says that’s not surprising given how outside the mainstream her music is. “She’s a grime queen, it’s deep hardcore. It’s like East London rap, drum and bass.” But that edge is what has made the Wembley, England native such a phenomenon at 21. “She’s very alternative,” Sinclair continues. “She’s a name that people like to drop and frequently do.”

Her debut album, Public Warning, entered the Billboard Top 200 at No. 48, but her popularity is sure to rise when she opens for Gwen Stefani this summer.

Similar to Lady Sovereign, Don Corleon relies on street rhythms to propel his sound. The leading Jamaican dancehall artist/producer has helped advance the dancehall movement in the U.S. through his work with such acts as Sean Paul, Rihanna, Beenie Man, Capleton, Bounty Hunter and Wayne Wonder. Kartel, noting a resemblance between the two, allegedly gave Donovan Bennett the Don Corleon moniker, as a takeoff on Marlon Brando’s “Godfather” character, Don Corleone.

As these artists continue to make inroads in America, Sinclair expects today’s success to continue to swell: “Everyone in Britain is trying to make a record,” he says, with only a little overstatement. “It’s a river that’s burst its banks and it’s flowing in all directions.”

Amy Winehouse won Best Contemporary Song for “Rehab,” following up on her 2007 Brit Award for Best British Female Vocalist. She previously won an Ivor for her debut single, “Stronger Than Me,” while her debut album, Frank, was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize.

American band The Scissor Sisters showed their immense popularity in England by winning the PRS Most Performed Work award for “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’,” co-written by Scott Hoffman, Jason Sellards and Sir Elton John.

“A Moment Like This,” written by John Reid and Jorgen Eloffson and performed by Leona Lewis, won Best Selling UK Single, while five-piece band The Feeling won Songwriters of the Year.

The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Peter Gabriel, whose efforts as a vocalist, video artist, songwriter and social activist have won him worldwide fame and critical approval over the course of several decades.

George Fenton (l), winner of the Academy Fellowship, is pictured after the Ivor Novello Awards presentation with BMI's Brandon Bakshi.

The Academy Fellowship was awarded to film-television-theatre composer George Fenton. His film work ranges widely, from Groundhog Day to Ghandi, while his TV work includes the critically praised series The Jewel in the Crown.

Newcomer Amy Winehouse (PRS), who performed her 60s-tinged jazzy number “Rehab,” took home the British Female Solo Artist trophy. Glasgow-based trio The Fratellis (PRS) were named British Breakthrough Act, while American popsters Orson earned the International Breakthrough Act Brit Award.

Oasis (PRS), who dominated Brit rock in the 1990s, received a special award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.

Established in 1977, the Brit Awards is a charity event that donates all proceeds to the British Record Industry Trust, better known as the Brit Trust, an organization that encourages the exploration and pursuit of the educational, cultural and therapeutic benefits of music. The Brit Awards is one of the U.K.’s most exciting, most talked about and most successful music events, and is considered the equivalent of the Grammys.