BMI celebrated the songwriters and publishers behind the year’s most-performed pop songs at the 65th Annual BMI Pop Awards, held yesterday at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The Awards were hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations Barbara Cane.
GRAMMY, EMMY and TONY Award-winning singer-songwriter, arranger, producer and musician, Barry Manilow received the honor (Below) of BMI Icon in recognition of his prodigious musical legacy and unparalleled career encompassing the worlds of Broadway, Film, TV, and popular culture.
He joins an elite group of songwriters who have received BMI’s highest honor for their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Previous recipients include Mann & Weil, Nile Rodgers, Stevie Nicks, Paul Simon, Carole King, David Foster, Sting, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the Bee Gees, among others.
Throughout the evening, the 50 best performing songs in BMI’s vast catalogue were named, leading up to the announcement of the BMI Pop Song of the Year, which went to songwriters Teddy Geiger, D.J. Kyriakides and Danny Parker for the infectious hit, “Stitches” performed by Shawn Mendes.
Ross Golan (Above) and Justin Tranter were both named Songwriters of the Year, collectively penning eight of the year’s most-performed songs. Those hits included “Dangerous Woman,” “Good To Be Alive (Hallelujah),” “My House,” and “Same Old Love” by Golan and “Cake By The Ocean,” “Close,” “Hands To Myself” and “Sorry” by Tranter.
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. scored the esteemed BMI Pop Publisher of the Year crystal with 17 of the year’s most performed songs.
Below : International Superstar Singer – David Bisbal
Barry Manilow is one of the world’s bestselling recording artists with more than 85 million albums sold worldwide. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Manilow has triumphed in every medium of entertainment with an iconic career touching virtually every aspect of music. He’s had an astonishing 50 Top 40 singles, including 12 #1s and 27 Top 10 hits, five of his albums were on the best-seller charts simultaneously, and he is ranked as the #1 Adult Contemporary Artist of all-time, according to Billboard and R&R magazines. Manilow is currently on tour in support of his new album, This Is My Town, earning his 26th Top 40 album, and recently appeared on the Today Show, The Talk and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to name a few.
Below: Singer-songwriter Rachel Platten
Special thanks to Entertainment Today’s Reporter/Photographer :
Joseph Csongei for this news story.
