BMI Award-Winning Singer/Songwriter and Producer Takes Center Stage at American Hotel & Lodging Association ForWard Conference

BMI award-winning singer/songwriter and producer Makeba Riddick-Woods closed out the first day of the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s (AH&LA) 2025 ForWard Conference held recently in Atlanta. Riddick-Woods kicked off the session by performing two songs she had written: “Ave Maria” (Beyoncé) and “Unlove You” from the TV show Star on Fox. After her performance, Makeba sat down with BMI’s Jessica Frost to share her musical journey in front of almost 1,000 hotel executives from across the country.
Riddick-Woods has written some of the biggest pop records of the last decade with 13 Billboard Hot 100 #1 records and countless Top 5’s and Top 10’s for the biggest artists in the music industry like Rihanna, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Common, Jessica Simpson and many others. She has also had songs featured in TV shows Star and Empire and is developing her own animated series, The Smash Kids. During her 18 years with BMI, Makeba has won three BMI Pop Awards, six R&B & Hip-Hop Awards, three Gospel Awards and one London Award.
ForWard is an AHLA Foundation initiative to celebrate and elevate women in hospitality through events, professional development, and community-building.
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