LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) staged its 55th Annual Pop Awards on May 15 honoring the Bee Gees as its 2007 Pop Icons; Kara DioGuardi and Sean Garrett as Songwriters of the Year; “Because of You” as Song of the Year; and Warner/Chappell Music as Publisher of the Year. The awards were hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and BMI Vice President/General Manager, Los Angeles, Barbara Cane and held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. The black-tie, invitation-only dinner recognized the writers and publishers of the past year’s 50 most performed pop songs from BMI’s catalog of more than 6.5 million compositions.
A highlight of the ceremony was the musical tribute to legendary singing trio the Bee Gees. The brothers Gibb were honored as BMI Icons for their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Accepting the awards were Barry and Robin Gibb, and Yvonne Gibb, wife of the late Maurice Gibb. The tribute saw American Idol finalist Katharine McPhee perform “Immortality,” Bebe Winans singing a medley of “Nights on Broadway” and “How Deep Is Your Love” and Kelly Rowland performing “Emotion.” The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees signature three-part harmony has endured for more than four decades, and with this award they join an elite list of previous BMI Icons that includes Crosby, Stills & Nash, Paul Simon, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton and Carlos Santana.
Kara DioGuardi and Sean Garrett both tied for the coveted BMI Songwriter of the Year title, placing three songs each in the most performed list of 50. The trio of tracks earning DioGuardi her first Songwriter of the Year Crystal were “Real Thing” (Bo Bice), “Walk Away” (Kelly Clarkson) and “I’m Feeling You” (Santana featuring The Wreckers). Garrett picked up his first Pop Songwriter of the Year Crystal for penning “Run It!” (Chris Brown), “Check On It” (Beyoncé featuring Slim Thug) and “Grillz” (Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp).
“Because of You,” co-written by BMI songwriters Ben Moody and David Hodges, along with Kelly Clarkson, was named BMI Pop Song of the Year for scoring the most airplay of any song on the most-performed list during the award period.
Warner/Chappell Music (Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. & Unichappell Music, Inc.) claimed its BMI Pop Publisher of the Year prize. Warner/Chappell Music CEO Dave Johnson accepted the company’s 13th BMI Pop Publisher of the Year Crystal.
Also recognized were: “Miss Murder,” which earned Most Performed Song on College Radio kudos for AFI’s Hunter Burgan, Adam Carson, Davey Havok, Jade Puget; and “You’re Beautiful,” BMI’s Internet Song of the Year award for songwriters James Blunt (PRS), Amanda Ghost (PRS) and Sacha Skarbek (PRS), for tallying the most hits on BMI-licensed web sites during the award period.
Taking home two BMI Pop Awards each were Fall Out Boy’s Andrew Hurley, Patrick Stump, Joe Trohman and Pete Wentz; Mariah Carey; Ne-Yo; and Nickelback members Daniel Adair, Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger and Ryan Peake.
–Bob Grosswener and Jane Cohen
