With five wins out of five nominations, the country trio shook off the anti-Bush backlash and took the stage to pick up three of the night’s top awards—Record and Song of the Year for “Not Ready to Make Nice” and Album of the Year for Taking the Long Way—as well as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Country Album.

Funky foursome the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose Stadium Arcadium double-disc set was named Best Rock Album, took home a total of four trophies that also included Best Rock Song for the album’s single, “Dani California.”

American Idol alum Carrie Underwood came in with two, winning the coveted Best New Artist Grammy as well as Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her inspirational hit, “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”

Other double winners included “Crazy” duo Gnarls Barkley, Atlanta rapper T.I., neo-soul artist John Legend, r&b crooner George Benson, celebrated film composer John Williams and the late sax player Michael Brecker, who died Jan. 13.

Jazz innovator Al Jarreau joined Benson on the Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance win with their duet “God Bless the Child,” while gospel singer Yolanda Adams earned the Best Gospel Performance statuette for Victory. Singer Christina Aguilera‘s “Ain’t No Other Man” reeled in the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Also on the BMI winners list were soon-to-be BMI Icons Los Tigres del Norte, who won Best Norteño Album with their release, Historias Que Contar; Irish singer Enya (PRS), whose CD Amarantine was named Best New Age Album; country superstar Vince Gill, who picked up his 18th Grammy Award with a Best Male Country Vocal Performance win for “The Reason Why”; and heavy-hitters Wolfmother (APRA), whose song “Woman” earned the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy.

The Recording Academy also honored Eagles’ member Don Henley as the 2007 MusiCares Person of the Year during a gala dinner, concert and auction held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Feb. 9, two days prior to the Grammy ceremony. Proceeds from the star-studded event went to MusiCares’ Financial Assistance Program, which assists musicians and others in times of financial, medical and personal need.

Given only three months to live, Zevon passed up initial cancer treatment and headed to the studio to complete what would be his final album, The Wind. Infamous for his dark humor and fascination with death and dying, he faced his own mortality by writing the critically-acclaimed album as a goodbye to his friends and family. Released this August, The Wind debuted at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and featured guest appearances by friends and admirers including Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Dwight Yoakam, Joe Walsh, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne and others.

Born in Chicago to Russian immigrants, the classically trained pianist turned to pop music and the guitar, making his mark in Los Angeles as a commercial jingle writer, a bandleader for the Everly Brothers and songwriter for the Turtles when his 1969 debut album, Wanted Dead or Alive, failed to pay the bills. Although he was not well-known to the general public, Zevon was big on the LA music scene and his second album featured long-time friend and producer Jackson Browne, as well as guest stars such as Stevie Nicks, Don Henley and Bonnie Raitt. The self-titled record also included the song "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me," which Linda Ronstadt later covered and made a hit in 1977. His next and most commercial success was 1978's Excitable Boy, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard charts. He continued to record throughout the years up until his final release this summer.

Zevon, who was the sole guest last October on the "Late Show With David Letterman," was asked if he had learned anything about life and death since his diagnosis, to which Zevon answered: "How much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich."

Zevon is survived by his son Jordan, his daughter Ariel, and recently born twin grandsons.]]> 2003-09-09T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/233771 Burnett, T-Bone, Harris, Emmylou, Henley, Don, R.E.M., Thornton, Billy Bob, Yoakam, Dwight, Zevon, Warren, Pop, Rock, Feature As a songwriter, Warren Zevon is one of the most articulate and witty observers of the vicissitudes, absurdities and ironies of modern life. He's given us glimpses at the "Werewolves Of London, the "Excitable Boy" and "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner." He has called for "Lawyers, Guns and Money, done time in the "Detox Mansion, and shown us what it's like to be "Poor Poor Pitiful Me." And now the man who sang "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" is giving us all a lesson, tragic as it may be, in how to die with dignity and purpose.

Diagnosed with incurable lung cancer in August of 2002, Zevon promptly set out to do what he has done all along: take the tragicomedy of existence and fashion it into musical art. Given three months to live, he has already stuck around for close to a year in order to give us The Wind, likely his final album. "I was more prolific than I'd ever been, notes Zevon. "I had this goal and it kept me going." As a measure of the esteem his peers feel for Zevon, the set includes guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Bob Thornton, Ry Cooder, T-Bone Burnett, Tommy Shaw, David Lindley and John Waite.

Such admiration is the just due for one of the bravest songwriters of his day, maybe ever. Zevon explored the dark side in song like a film noir private eye — and became friends with such crime fiction masters as Ross MacDonald and Carl Hiaasen — which seems only natural for a Los Angeles-reared artist who reveled in complexity and contradiction.

Trained as a classical pianist, Zevon first made his mark writing pop songs for The Turtles and playing with The Everly Brothers. The 1976 release of Warren Zevon brought him immediate critical acclaim, and '78's Excitable Boy album hit the Top 10. His stature was such that in the late 1980s, members of R.E.M. played on Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene and formed a side group with him, The Hindu Love Gods. In recent years, Zevon continued to prove his ongoing creative fire with the ironically titled albums Life'll Kill Ya and My Ride's Here (his ride being a hearse).

Being at death's door has taught Zevon "to value every moment, and do so with typically dark humor and aplomb. When David Letterman recently devoted an entire show to the singer/songwriter, Zevon noted how facing his own mortality showed him "how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich."

And as he presciently noted in 1983, "If you're lucky, people like something you do early and something you do just before you drop dead. That's as many pats on the back as you should expect." But thanks to his music and indomitable spirit, Zevon's legacy shall no doubt live forever.

Sheryl Crow

Eminem

Norah Jones

Other BMI writers who received multiple nominations included four each for country darlings the Dixie Chicks, producer Arif Mardin and Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger (including Record of the Year for the Nickelback smash "How You Remind Me"). Newcomer Vanessa Carlton picked up three. Fellow BMI pop divas Pink, Britney Spears and Michelle Branch garnered two nominations each, as did blues legend B.B. King, film composer Thomas Newman and gospel giant Fred Hammond.

BMI's 2003 Grammy nominees:

FIVE NOMINATIONS

Sheryl Crow
Eminem
Norah Jones

FOUR NOMINATIONS

Dixie Chicks
Chad Kroeger (SOCAN)

THREE NOMINATIONS

Vanessa Carlton
Floetry (Marsha Ambrosius, Natalie Stewart)
Arif Mardin
Pat Metheny

TWO NOMINATIONS

Michelle Branch
Michael Brecker
The Chieftains
Madukwu Chinwah
Natalie Cole
Dirty Vegas (PRS)
Foo Fighters
Carlos Franzetti
Kenny G
Pat Green
Herbie Hancock
Nellee Hooper (PRS)
B.B. King
Diana Krall (SOCAN)
Rashid Lonnie Lynn
Nappy Roots
Willie Nelson
Thomas Newman
Nickel Creek
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Dolly Parton
Pink
Britney Spears
Ralph Stanley
3 Doors Down (Brad Arnold, Todd Harrell, Chris Henderson, Matt Roberts)
Doc Watson
John Williams

SINGLE NOMINEES

Aaliyah
Will Ackerman
John Adams
Christina Aguilera
Darol Anger
Audio Adrenaline
Bacilos
David Balakrishnan
Charli Baltimore
Banda El Recodo De Cruz Lizárraga
Jeff Bass
Daniel Bedingfield (PRS)
Big Tymers
Eddie Blazonczyk
The Blind Boys of Alabama
Kevin Bond
Ryan Bowser
David Bowie (PRS)
Brandy
Norman Brown
Solomon Burke
Burning Sky
R.L. Burnside
Gary Burton
Gary Calamar
Michel Camilo
Cam’Ron
The Canton Spirituals
Capleton (PRS)
Caribbean Jazz Project
Cee-Lo
Lauren Christy
The Clinch Mountain Boys
Andy Colver (PRS)
Commissioned
Common
Creed
Bill Cunliffe
The Charlie Daniels Band
Diamond Rio
Michael Doucet
Dave Douglas
Don Edwards
Danny Elfman
Enya (PRS)
Faith Evans
Tommy Flanagan
The Flaming Lips
Béla Fleck
Michael J. Fox
Allison Brewster Franzetti
The Funk Brothers
Peter Gabriel (PRS)
David Lee Garza y Los Musicales
Osvaldo Golijov
Gov’t Mule
Al Green
Grits
Dave Grusin
Deitrick Haddon
Fred Hammond
Roy Hargrove
Jesse Harris
Don Henley
Faith Hill
Dave Holland Big Band
David Holt
Intocable
Etta James
Jars of Clay
JaRule
Jay-Z
Maxi Jazz (PRS)
Little Joe & La Familia
Elton John (PRS)
The Jordanaires
Juanes
John P. Kee
Salif Keita (PRS)
R. Kelly
Kinky
Kitaro
Jennifer Knapp
Knoc-Turn’Al
Korn
Dave Koz
Jeff Koz
Alison Krauss
Femi Kuti (SACEM)
kd lang
Jim Lauderdale
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Don Letts (PRS)
Lonestar
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
The Light Crust Doughboys
Limi-T 21
Israel “Cachao” López
Taj Mahal
Lloyd Maines
Maraca
Martina McBride
Delbert McClinton
Freddie McGregor (PRS)
Lee Thomas Miller
Mingus Big Band
Moby
Charlie Musselwhite
Meshell Ndegeocello
The Neptunes
Newsong
Nickelback (SOCAN)
*NSYNC
The Oak Ridge Boys
Makoto Ozone (JASRAC)
Lee “Scratch” Perry
Pharrell
Queens of the Stone Age
Busta Rhymes
Riders In the Sky
Peter Rowan
Nancy Rumbel
Nicky Ryan (PRS)
Roma Ryan (PRS)
Mingo Saldivar y Sus Tremendos Cuatro Espadas
Santana
John Santos and the Machete Ensemble
Al Schmitt
The John Scofield Band
Earl Scruggs
Wayne Shorter
Jon Sidel
Siggno
Allan Slutsky
Arthur Smith (PRS)
The Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Scott Spock
Ralph Stanley II
Sting (PRS)
Angie Stone
Omar Sosa
Luciana Souza
Jimmy Sturr
Take Six
Susan Tedeschi
John Tesh
The Temptations
Eric Tingstad
Tobymac
Trick Pony
Kathy Troccoli
Los Tucanes De Tijuana
McCoy Tyner
Jai Uttal
Bebo Valdés
Carlos “Patato” Valdés
The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Scott Wenzel
Kenny Werner
Lucinda Williams
Robin Williams
Dean Wilson (PRS)
BeBe Winans
The Roland White Band
Pete Woodruff
Yellowjackets
Joe Zawinul

There's British-billy Elton John joining the maestro in the down-home Elton/Bernie Taupin tour de fields "Country Comfort." Sounding anything like a "Sir," Elton launches visions of a rocker gone country, adorned not in glitter but in jeans, and rocking not on stage but in a wooden chair on an Appalachian front porch.

Enter Kentucky hillbilly Dwight Yoakam, joining forces on "Borrowed Love," a Yoakam/Scruggs (Earl and son Randy) dirge, warning that borrowed love is never cheap. A real Billy - Billy Bob Thornton - adds his unique Texas/Hollywood take to the Merle Kilgore/June Carter Cash classic "Ring of Fire."

Those anticipating the high, lonesome sound of traditional bluegrass, elevated so elegantly through the years by such masters as Scruggs, Lester Flatt and Bill Monroe, are in for a shock with the appearances of global superstars who rushed to record with Scruggs: Rocker-billies Sting, Don Henley and John Fogerty; movie-billy Steve Martin, who handles his banjo solo with aplomb; cosmic-billy Leon Russell and veteran country-crooner blueblood billies like Rosanne Cash, Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart, Vince Gill, and Travis Tritt.

This is not an album review. Its just one indication of the importance the music world regards the legend of Earl Scruggs.

Add Paul Shaffer and Melissa Etheridge to the heady company for the still-unassuming North Carolina native whose farmer/bookkeeper father also played some pretty mean banjo and fiddle, as did Earl's brothers and sisters. Early on, Earl lost his father, then lost himself in the banjo, rubbing melodies from his genie of wood and strings. At the tender age of 10, he honed a three-finger picking style that revolutionized the role of that instrument. Earl's obsession with the five-string banjo increased during his high school years in Boiling Springs, N.C., where he improved his stylings every chance between schoolwork and farm chores.

Young Scruggs played his banjo with abandon until he suddenly realized he was using three digits instead of two. For an entire week, he perfected the song "Ruben" using the three-finger method. He applied it to other songs, in different tunings, smoothing and straightening rollicking melodies into what has become known as the "Scruggs Style."

More expertise came as a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, where he and fellow member Lester Flatt later split to form the famed Flatt & Scruggs duo, scoring the first number one bluegrass smash, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," the theme song to the hit TV show The Beverly Hillbillies. Earl's evergreen "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" gained international fame when featured in the movie Bonnie and Clyde. Flatt & Scruggs broke up in 1969 when Earl formed the Earl Scruggs Review, backed by his sons, Randy (producer of the new album and an acclaimed musician himself), Gary and the late Steve. Keeping it in the family, Earl's wife, Louise, has been his long-term manager - not an easy calling in the then-female glass-ceiling Nashville days of the '50s and '60s.

From the Grand Ole Opry to grand new Grammys, Scruggs has enjoyed a career that's now at its zenith: BMI, CMA and Grammy awards, appearances on Letterman and Leno, and a role in the new Faye Dunaway movie, Colored Eggs.

Bluegrass music has come and gone in favor more often than Michael Jordan comebacks. But Scruggs has the perspective gained by a half century on the job: "It will always have its peaks and valleys," he observes. "But any good music is going to stay around."

Toby Keith

Martina McBride

Brooks & Dunn

Faith Hill

Among the multiple nominees, Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Hill, Alison Krauss & Union Station and McGraw could pick up an additional nomination since all have clips in the running for Flameworthy Video of the Year. The five final nominees will be announced at the beginning of the telecast of the Flameworthy Awards on June 12.

Alison Krauss

Tim McGraw

Montgomery Gentry

keith urban

This premiere CMT event is an unofficial kick-off to the 31st annual Country Music Fan Fair, the world's biggest country music festival. Actress Kathy Najimy ("Sister Act," "Veronica's Closet," "King of the Hill") will host the show on Wednesday, June 12 at 9:00-11:00 PM, ET on CMT: Country Music Television. Fans can vote online at CMT.com through June 9.

Congratulations to these BMI nominees:

FLAMEWORTHY BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"Where The Blacktop Ends" keith urban
"I'm Movin' On" Rascal Flatts

FLAMEWORTHY VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Mark Seliger for "Mendocino County Line" (Willie Nelson)

FLAMEWORTHY VIDEO COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
"Easy For Me To Say" Clint Black with Lisa Hartman Black
"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" Earl Scruggs & Friends - Glen Duncan, Randy Scruggs, Steve Martin, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Gary Scruggs, Albert Lee, Jerry Douglas
"Inside Out" Don Henley
"Mendocino County Line" Willie Nelson

FLAMEWORTHY LOVE YOUR COUNTRY VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"Only in America" Brooks & Dunn
"Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly" Aaron Tippin
"America Will Survive" Hank Williams Jr.
"Riding With Private Malone" David Ball

FLAMEWORTHY "LOL" (LAUGH OUT LOUD) VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"I Wanna Talk About Me" Toby Keith
"When God-Fearin' Women Get The Blues" Martina McBride

FLAMEWORTHY FASHION PLATE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"Jezebel" Chely Wright
"There You'll Be" Faith Hill
"Man Of Me" Gary Allan
"Where The Blacktop Ends" keith urban
"Blessed" Martina McBride

FLAMEWORTHY CONCEPT VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"My List" Toby Keith
"Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde" Travis Tritt
"Cold One Comin' On" Montgomery Gentry

FLAMEWORTHY GROUP DUO OF THE YEAR
"Only In America" Brooks & Dunn
"I'm Already There" Lonestar
"Cold One Comin' On" Montgomery Gentry
"The Lighthouse's Tale" Nickel Creek
"The Lucky One" Alison Krauss & Union Station

FLAMEWORTHY HOTTEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"Let Me Touch You For Awhile" Alison Krauss & Union Station
"The Cowboy In Me" Tim McGraw

FLAMEWORTHY FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"There You'll Be" Faith Hill
"Blessed" Martina McBride
"Saints & Angels" Sara Evans
"Shine" Dolly Parton

FLAMEWORTHY MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
"I Wanna Talk About Me" Toby Keith
"The Cowboy In Me" Tim McGraw

FLAMEWORTHY VIDEO OF THE YEAR
*Finalists announced on live telecast on June 12
"Only In America" Brooks & Dunn
"There You'll Be" Faith Hill
"I Wanna Talk About Me" Toby Keith
"The Lucky One" Alison Krauss & Union Station
"Angel Boy" Tim McGraw
"Mendocino County Line" Willie Nelson
"Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde" Travis Tritt

Little Richard

Bo Diddley

Chuck Berry

The BMI Pop Awards is an invitation only, black-tie event that recognizes the songwriters and publishers of the most performed songs of the past year. Preston along with Barbara Cane, Vice President & General Manager, Writer/Publisher Relations, Los Angeles, will present BMI Citations of Achievement during the awards ceremony and dinner.

Past BMI Pop Award winners include Don Henley, Babyface, Counting Crows, Macy Gray, Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, CAKE, Foo Fighters, Faith Hill, The Corrs, matchbox twenty, Sting, R.E.M., R. Kelly, Bush, Creed, 3 Doors Down, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Santana and many others. Last year's top winners included Cory Rooney (BMI Songwriter of the Year), “Breathe" (BMI Song of the Year) and EMI Music Publishing (BMI Publisher of the Year).

But the most timely of the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist's recent public appearances was her appearance at the post-September 11 Tribute to Heroes telethon, where she tapped into the mood of the time with a moving performance of her song "Safe and Sound" (also currently featured in the Jeff Bridges/Kevin Spacey flick K-Pax).

Crow has been defying expectations ever since she trekked from her native Missouri to California in 1986. It didn't take long for the former music teacher, who holds a degree in classical piano from the University of Missouri, to make connections at the highest rungs of the pop-music ladder, first as backup singer with Michael Jackson on his 1987 Bad tour and subsequently singing backup with Don Henley, Sting, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker and the late George Harrison. Celine Dion, Wynonna Judd and Bette Midler had covered her compositions by the time A&M released her breakthrough debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club - which yielded the hits "All I Wanna Do" and "Leaving Las Vegas" - in 1993.

The self-produced Sheryl Crow followed in 1996, producing the singles "If It Makes You Happy" and "Every Day Is a Winding Road," and establishing Crow as both a multi-platinum recording artist and a widely loved performer. 1998's The Globe Sessions produced "My Favorite Mistake" and "Anything But Down," while the live Sheryl Crow and Friends: Live in Central Park featured contributions from such famous friends as Eric Clapton, Chrissie Hynde, Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards and the Dixie Chicks.

Previewing her forthcoming album, Crow says, "There are more piano-based songs on this record. I've never really written songs on the piano because I wanted to rock a little harder."

It's apparent that the events of September 11 and Crow's participation in the Tribute to Heroes show moved the artist to consider reworking some of the lyrics on her forthcoming album. One of her new songs, for instance, bemoaned a lack of heroes in the world - an opinion she says she no longer holds. "I feel differently about all that now after what we've seen," Crow told the Los Angeles Times. "My home in New York City is right next to a fire station, and I had a lot of good friends and familiar faces in that department who are missing now."

In times of crisis, anger, and grief, the American people seek the comforting and unifying power of music to ease the collective pain of the nation. The phenomenon was especially evident after the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania when songs of patriotism, hope and platonic love surged in popularity for radio and television broadcasts and public gatherings.

"Music is a means of communication that helps express our emotions and fears," said Al Bumanis, a music therapist and spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association. "Music is a healing experience, and historically, music has been used in major life events, from prehistory on -- that's how people cope with these events."

"On a more negative note," Bumanis added, "that's also how people march into war. Music is a powerful societal influence. A case can be made that music is a powerful influence in the life of every human being. Music therapy is a profession that's based on that power."

It was during an international crisis that Lee Greenwood wrote "God Bless the USA" to deliver a message of concern and pride to his country and the world. His song has become a contemporary patriotic anthem, resurfacing repeatedly for America's milestones in the 18 years since the song was composed. "I wrote it on a piano in the back of my bus shortly after the Soviet Union shot down a Korean airliner in the fall of 1983," said Greenwood. "This was an atrocity that had to be answered."

Lee Greenwood

Greenwood said lingering feelings of remorse from the Vietnam War 20 years earlier, as well as an overwhelming sense of national pride were among his emotions when he composed the song. "It was a way of saying we are sorry for blaming the military for Vietnam," he said. "We should have welcomed the soldiers home. We needed to heal this nation about Vietnam."

"God Bless the USA" originally reached the Top 10 on the country music charts in 1984, and again rapidly climbed the music charts after the recent attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The song also was on the country charts in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War.

"The song is being used at burials, memorials, Thunderbirds air shows, boot camp, Eagle Scout and Boy Scout gatherings, even pageants," Greenwood said. He performed it in person at the "Prayer for America" ceremonies at Yankee Stadium on September 22. "It's just amazing how people say it gets their emotional level up and makes them feel good about who they are�Americans," Greenwood said.

Music became a rallying point in efforts to raise money for the families of victims in the terrorist attacks, as dozens of musicians and actors came together for a two-hour telethon, "America: A Tribute to Heroes," on September 21. Watched by more than 60 million people, the telethon has generated more than $150 million in contributions.

Mariah Carey

Paul Simon

Among the patriotic and stirring selections in the telecast credited entirely or partially to BMI songwriters were John Lennon's "Imagine," performed by Neil Young; "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Paul Simon; Faith Hill's rendition of "There Will Come A Day," composed by Bill Luther and Aimee Mayo with Chris Lindsey; "Hero," performed by Mariah Carey, a song which she co-wrote with Walter Afanasieff; "New York State of Mind," written and performed by Billy Joel; "I Believe In Love," sung by the Dixie Chicks, written by Natalie Maines and BMI's Marty Stuart; "Fragile," written and performed by Sting: and "Safe And Sound" written and performed by Sheryl Crow.

"I believe every artist there participated out of a feeling of helplessness and concern for our country," said Crow. "I wanted to play 'Safe and Sound' because it was a song that was written out of my own concern for the future of our world. Because of this, I felt it could be a song of healing."

Sheryl Crow

Dixie Chicks

Faith Hill

One of the songs performed in the telethon, "El Ultimo Adios" (The Last Goodbye), written by Emilio Estefan and Gian Marco, was recently recorded by nearly 60 artists from several countries, to be released on a CD in both English and Spanish. Participants include Juan Luis Guerra, Gloria Estefan and Luis Enrique. Proceeds from the CD are designated for the American Red Cross and United Way.

"We share the pain of the victims and their families and pray that they be comforted through this most difficult time," Gloria Estefan said in a message posted on her web site. "But let's also move forward with renewed hope that we can become a better world, more united and more understanding in the knowledge that we all are one and we are all connected!"

		Michael Jackson went into the studio after the terrorist attacks to record his new song "What More Can I Give." The lyrics include the phrase "�to help the world's citizens find solace in the wake of the attack on America and to create a sense of global unity in the face of mindless violence and mass murder." Jackson is donating all proceeds from the recording to help survivors and families of victims of the attacks.
Michael Jackson

As radio programmers searched for music to reflect the emotions of their listeners, many previously released songs took on new meaning. Sara McLachlan's "Angel," and Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" were among them. The New York radio audience requested such songs as Ray Charles' arrangement of "America the Beautiful," Don Henley's "New York Minute," Don McLean's "American Pie," and Jeff Buckley's rendition of "Anthem," written by Leonard Cohen. Among rock radio listeners in Los Angeles, Alien Ant Farm's version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" has been popular with young people angered by the attacks on America.

Songs such as Bette Midler's 1989 version of "Wind Beneath My Wings," written by Larry Henley and Jeff Alan Silbar, and "Only In America," performed by Brooks & Dunn, written by Kix Brooks, Don Cook, and Ronnie Rogers, were among previously released songs that helped fill the emotional void of the grieving nation. Brooks & Dunn opened concerts with "Only In America" throughout the summer, but audiences began to interpret the song differently after September 11, said Brooks. "In times like these, songs take on special meaning," he said. "Songs like these really hit home right now. Everybody is looking for a flag to wave."

Some writer/performers are updating and re-issuing patriotic songs that were popular years ago. Aaron Tippin again shipped to radio stations his previous anthem from the Gulf War era, "You've Got To Stand For Something" (co-written with Kenny Beard and Casey Beathard), coupled with a new patriotic song titled "Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly." The latter song was co-written by Tippin, Kenny Beard and Casey Beathard more than two years ago.

"The song hadn't made it on to an album yet," said Tippin, "but we thought it might be an inspiration to people at this difficult time. The situation now is reminiscent of Saudi ten years ago. This song is an opportunity to speak to people - I hope it will be an inspiration to the soldiers, the men and women about to be (soldiers) and the Americans at home -- and help our country heal." Net proceeds from the single are being donated to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund.

Charlie Daniels has released a new version of his 21-year-old hit, "In America," (co-written with John Thomas Crain Jr., Joel Di Gregorio, Fred Laroy Edwards, Charles Fred Hayward, and James Marshall) and shipped it to radio stations. "We may be black, white, Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative or what have you on the outside," said Daniels, "but once you get past the superficial part of the people of this country, we all have one thing in common, we are Americans and damn proud of it, and when you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. God Bless America."

BMI Songwriter Julie Gold

Julie Gold performed her humanitarian hit "From A Distance"" at a sold-out benefit for the Red Cross just days after the September 11 disaster. She was joined at the BMI Benefit Showcase by Jo Davidson, Michael Kroll, Mary Anne Marino, Mieka Pauley, Tina Shafer, Itaal Shur, Sylvea Tosun, Jane Kelly Williams, and Peter Zizzo. This special showcase was the first of several planned by BMI to raise money for relief efforts. BMI is also contributing with other music industry organizations, including the Recording Academy,