September 30, 2004

Loretta Lynn To Be Honored As BMI Icon at BMI Country Awards November 8

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NASHVILLE, September 30, 2004 – Legendary BMI songwriter and recording artist Loretta Lynn will be honored as a BMI ICON at the performing rights organization’s 52nd annual Country Awards. The gala awards and dinner will be held November 8 at BMI Nashville’s Music Row offices.
Lynn, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, will be saluted for her “enduring influence on generations of music makers.”
A BMI affiliate for 45 years, the Kentucky-born Lynn launched her career in 1960 with her self-composed “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.”  Soon she was topping the charts with feisty female classics she wrote, including “You Ain’t Woman Enough” (1966), “Don’t Come Home A’Drinkin’” (1966), “What Kind of Girl (Do You Think I Am)” (1967), “Fist City” (1968), “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1970), “You’re Lookin’ at Country” (1971), “Rated X” (1972) and “The Pill” (1975). The first woman ever to become the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year, she released her 73rd album, the acclaimed Van Lear Rose, earlier this year.
Lynn joins a distinguished list of BMI ICONs, including country songwriter/artists Bill Anderson and Dolly Parton; pop songwriting master Brian Wilson; R&B legends Chuck Berry, James Brown, Bo Diddley, Al Green, Isaac Hayes and Little Richard; Motown songwriting trio Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland; and blues/rock/soul artist Van Morrison, who will receive his honor at the BMI London Awards on October 5.
The annual BMI Country Awards recognize the songwriters and publishers of the 50 most performed songs of the past year.  The ceremony will culminate in the announcements of Songwriter of the Year, Publisher of the Year, and Most Performed Country Song of the Year (the Robert J. Burton Award). BMI President & CEO Del Bryant, President Emeritus Frances Preston and BMI Nashville Vice President Paul Corbin are hosts of the invitation-only event, which is the oldest awards program recognizing country music creators.

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Caroline Davis:  615/401-2728
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